After three bad weeks for the New York Giants (0-3), Big Blue will be looking to right the ship when they travel down to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers (1-1). The Buccaneers are a young team with a lot of promise. Led by quarterback Jameis Winston, their offense has the potential to be as dangerous as any around the league. However, the Giants have the opportunity to turn it around and win. Here are the three Giants Keys to Victory they need to do if they want to come away from Tampa with their first victory of the season.
Week Four New York Giants Keys to Victory
1. A Conservative Use of the Hurry-Up Offense
The hurry-up offense, or no-huddle offense or the “HUNH” is a very useful tool for offenses. Increasing the offensive speed can be a good way to spark a stagnant offense, take advantage of a favorable defense, or a good way to quickly score.
However, using a hurry-up offense for a majority of the game is not a smart tactic. The biggest draw back from the hurry-up is what is does to your defense. If the offense is in the hurry-up and fails to drive down the field or score, the defense is going to be asked to stay on the field for a long period of time. That’s exactly what happened to the Giants.
The Giants defense was on the field for 62.5% of the time against the Philadelphia Eagles. That is too long for any defense to be on the field. It could be the ’85 Bears, the ’86 Giants or the ’00 Ravens. Having a defense on the field for 62.5% is guaranteed to take a dive, exactly as the Giants did. The Giants defense was unable to hold the lead late in the game because of the amount of time they were asked to be on the field.
If the Giants do want to run the hurry-up offense against Tampa, it needs to be used conservatively. Use it as a spark but don’t put the defense in the same predicament that they were in last week.
2. Continue With the Quick, Short Passing Game
Eli Manning was on fire last week, especially in the fourth quarter. Manning’s release time, according to Pro Football Focus, was 1.86 seconds. That quick release allowed Manning to have his best game of 2017 by far. He went 35-for-47 (74.5%), with 366 yards and three touchdowns to two interceptions. All of this while never being sacked.
A lot has been said about the New York Giants offensive line this year. Yet, this quick release helped the ailing line against a good Eagles defensive front. Exceptional play is going to have to be replicated against Tampa. The Buccaneers have a good line led by three time AP All-Pro Gerald McCoy and former New York Giant, Robert Ayers. To keep these two, and the rest of the Buccaneer pass rush off of Eli, the Giants need to continue this quick release offense.
3. Contain Mike Evans & DeSean Jackson
On the defensive side, all eyes will be on their wide receivers. Mike Evans, the 2016 All-Pro receiver, and DeSean Jackson, the three time Pro-Bowl receiver and Giant killer, are an explosive duo. Jackson, over his 16 games against the Giants, has racked up 63 receptions for 1,051 yards and nine total touchdowns. One of those being a punt return touchdown that haunts the dreams of the Big Blue faithful.
Janoris Jenkins, Eli Apple and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie are going to have to play their best football on Sunday to contain these two mega-targets for Winston. Considering the Giants offense has been lackluster, outside of one quarter this year, the play of these three corners could very well end up being the deciding factor for the Giants against the Buccaneers.
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