| Giants
(1-4) Bills (3-2)
The Buffalo Bills three game winning streak came to an end when they traveled
to London to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bills were designated as the
home team, but the Jaguars were on the site more than a week earlier, having played
a game there the previous Sunday. Some jet-lag may have contributed to the Bills
low scoring 25-20 loss.
The Giants have been a low scoring team throughout
the season, and that's one of the reasons they are on a three game losing streak.
Two weeks ago they lost a home game to the Seattle Seahawks 24-3., and last Sunday
it was a 31-16 loss to the Miami Dolphins. In the four games they've lost, they
have been averaging eight points a game.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills had a bad stretch
of years from 2000 to 2016 where they never placed first in the AFC East or appeared
in a playoff game. In only two of those years did they finish as high as second
place in their division. Since Sean McDermott took over as the head coach in 2017,
they have been in the playoffs every year but one, and have won the AFC East division
title the past three years in a row.
The Giants current general manager Joe
Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll both spent
time during those successful years with the Bills, and got off to a good start
in 2022, the first year in their new positions. Things are not going so well now,
but their knowledge of the Bills operation and players may help them be better
prepared for this game than some of the others. Buffalo
Bills Offense
At
one point in his career, Giants backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor was a big part
of the Bills offense, with 53 career starts from 2015-2017, and that included
the Bills first playoff game after a 17 year stretch without one. Taylor was traded
to the Cleveland Browns, and Josh Allen was drafted in the 1st Round of the 2018
NFL Draft by the Bills, after Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold were already selected
before him.
Last season Allen threw 35 touchdowns, and he was the second leading
rusher on the team, scoring more touchdowns (7), than his top running back Devin
Singletary, who had 5. Singletary is gone now, and James Cook has stepped up into
the top role, as well as being the third leading receiver on the team. Wide receiver
Stefon Diggs is the standout on the team, with 50 receptions for 520 yards and
5 touchdowns. Gabe Davis is next on the list, with 4 touchdowns, and 15 of his
18 catches have gone for first downs. Buffalo
Bills Defense
Last season the Bills were ranked second in the league in points allowed, just
18 a game. That's not much of a drop compared to the year earlier, where they
ranked first, allowing 17. Right now opposing teams are managing less, just 16
points on average. The defense was a bit above average last year with 40 sacks,
and now they are at the top of the league in sacks with 21. Leonard Floyd leads
the team with 5.5. The Bills rushing defense would be their one area of concern,
as they are giving up about 30 more rushing yards per game than the 105 they did
last year.
The defense has had some injury issues to deal with. They started
the season without edge rusher Von Miller recovering from an ACL tear, but he
was back last week in a limited role. Miller 's presence will now help them tackle
running backs before they can get started. Top cornerback Tre'Davious White wasn't
available for part of the season at the start last year due to a knee injury,
and then he tore his right Achilles in the Dolphins game. Last week linebacker
Matt Milano, one of the best in the league, suffered a season ending knee injury.
Along with that, defensive tackle DaQuan Jones tore his pectoral muscle. NY
Giants Offense
Daniel Jones will not be
playing in this game with the Buffalo Bills. Jones had taken 11 sacks in their
Monday night game with the Seattle Seahawks. Then Jones took another 6 on Sunday
at Miami, and had to leave in the fourth quarter with a neck injury. Backup quarterback
Tyrod Taylor stepped in, and he will be the starter this time out. Quarterback
Tommy DeVito has been activated from the practice squad to be the backup. Last
week Taylor completed 9 of 12 passes for 86 yards, and was sacked once. The protection
Taylor will be offered by the offensive line will still not be at its best.
They will be missing tackle Andrew Thomas (hamstring), tackle Matt Peart (shoulder),
and center John Michael Schmitz (shoulder), and tackle Evan Neal is questionable.
The Giants have activated newly aquired Justin Pugh from the practice squad. Running
back Saquon Barkley has not been available, and the offense certainly misses what
he can do on the field, and he still might not be playing.
Matt Breida has
carried the ball 30 times for 82 yards and one touchdown, averaging only 2.7 yards
per carry. Breida has been more effective when they get the ball to him in the
air. He's 10 of 10 for 49 yards catching the ball. The Giants have a number of
talented receivers, but the issue has been giving the quarterback enough time
to make meaningful throws to them. Dealing with their offensive line issues, the
Giants have given up 30 sacks, the most in the league. Giants
Defense
The defense was overmatched last
week when they faced off with the the speedy Miami Dolphins. They gave up a lot
of big plays resulting in 524 totals yards that averaged 9.7 yards a play. In
the two games the Bills have lost, they couldn't get the running game on track
the way they wanted. Last week the Bills had 14 carries for only 29 yards, and
14 of those yards came from Josh Allen, who also scored the only rushing touchdown.
James Cook was held to -4 yards on his five carries. In the game before that,
a win over Miami, Cook rushed 12 times for only 29 yards.
The Giants could
key on Cook's running, and it starts with Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams.
Linebackers Bobby Okereke and Micah McFadden will also have to keep their eyes
on Cook and Allen, who is hard to tackle when he runs with the ball, averaging
6 yards a carry. Okereke leads the team in tackles with 42, and McFadden is next
with 31, and he leads the team with 5 tackles for loss. The defense last week
finally came up with their first three turnovers of the season, including safety
Jason Pinnock scoring the Giants only touchdown on a 102-yard interception return.
The Giants have only five sacks on the season, and Kayvon Thibodeaux has four
of them. The Bills are good in that area as they have given up only 9 in five
games. Any upfront pressure will be appreciated by the Giants secondary, with
cornerbacks Deonte Banks and Tre Hawkins having to deal with receivers Stefon
Diggs and Gabriel Davis. Overall
If the Giants beat the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, it will be a real shocker. The
odds are in the Bills favor but can the Giants be overlooked? As the record says,
the Bills are a 3-2 team that has taken two losses in the five games they've played
so far this season. The question is, are the Giants the kind of team that can
beat the Bills? The ones that did are the Jets and Jaguars. The Giants defensive
unit will need to play well to support the struggling offense, and any knowledge
head coach Brian Daboll can share with his team about the Bills can only help. NFC
East Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Commanders
(2-3) at Falcons (3-2)
Sunday at 4:25pm Eagles (5-0) at Jets (2-3)
Sunday
at 8:20pm Giants (1-4) at Bills (3-2)
Monday at 8:15pm Cowboys (3-2) at Chargers
(2-2)
The Eagles and Cowboys are the NFC East teams favored to win in these
games.
Check out.
Giants
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Next Games
Oct
22 Commanders at Giants
Oct 29 Jets at Giants
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