The New York Giants are coming into the 2020 season with some new fresh faces. With a new head coach in Joe Judge, along with teaching coaches like Jason Garrett, Patrick Graham, and others. Big Blue also picked up Blake Martinez, Kyler Fackrell, James Bradberry, and others in this year’s free-agent class and drafted Georgia tackle Andrew Thomas fourth overall.
Other than the COVID restrictions and delays, the Giants have a tough opponent in Week 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers. Big Ben Roethlisberger is returning from an elbow injury and is hoping to turn the heat up on an offense that finished in the bottom-tier of the league.
However, the Blitzburgh defense finished in the top-tier of the league last year. Expectations are high for a pass-rush that has returning players like T.J. Watt, Bud Dupree, and Cameron Heyward.
The Giants have a couple of different difficult tasks to win against the Steelers. Here are three keys to winning against the Pittsburgh Steelers:
3. Get the Run Game Going
In an underwhelming stat, the Steelers’ defense was 19th in the league in rushing last season. This is a perfect opportunity for Saquon Barkley and the Giants to take advantage of.
Barkley was injured for part of 2019 with an ankle injury and spent much of the games after trying to get back to his normal self. Despite the injured ankle, Barkley reached 1,000 yards. His biggest game was against the Washington Football Team as he rushed for 189 yards.
If the offensive line blows out holes for Saquon Barkley, it will help ease the pressure off of Daniel Jones and give Jason Garrett more selective options as far as play-calling goes.
2. Put the Pressure on Big Ben
Ben Roethlisberger is coming off an elbow injury that ended his season in 2019. He has multiple weapons on offense like his old pals JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, and James Washington, along with newcomer second-round pick Chase Claypool.
The New York Giants ranked in the bottom-tier of the defensive rankings last year. Joe Judge hired his pal from New England to be the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham. Though Graham did not handle all the play-calling duties when he was the Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator, the defense ranked worst in the NFL last year. The talent was not the greatest either.
However, Patrick Graham has some new coaches and new talent to work with. The Giants upgraded the cornerback position with the drafting of Darnay Holmes and the signing of James Bradberry. They also upgraded the linebacker position with the signing of former Green Bay Packer Blake Martinez. Along with Kyler Fackrell, Blake Martinez had his best season in Green Bay, while Graham was the linebackers coach.
Lorenzo Carter is coming into a make or break season, Oshane Ximines is coming off an impressive rookie year, and Markus Golden is returning as well.
The key is to put pressure on Roethlisberger early. Steelers’ veteran right guard David DeCastro is expected to be out Monday night. Stefen Wisniewski is expected to start at right guard, Zack Banner will start at right tackle and Matt Feiler will start at left guard on Monday in their new offensive line configuration after Ramon Foster retired.
The Giants were 17th in pass-rush win rate last year and were 22nd in sacks last year. A slight improvement from 2018. With low expectations for the pass-rush, Patrick Graham is expected to utilize his defensive backs differently from last year with James Bettcher. Expect to see some three safety looks. One of Joe Judge’s main mottos was playing players to their strengths and with Patrick Graham’s multiple schemes, the defense is expected to improve.
Putting pressure on Big Ben will be one of the keys to making this Steelers’ offense limited and one-dimensional.
1. Slow Down the Pass-Rush
As mentioned, T.J. Watt, Bud Dupree, and Cameron Heyward are returning for another season in Pittsburgh. The defense was first in sacks last season with 53.
The New York Giants have a new offensive line with new players at new positions. Nick Gates will start at center for the first time in his career, rookie Andrew Thomas will start his first career game at left tackle, and veteran free-agent acquisition Cameron Fleming will start at right tackle.
Watt finished last season with eight forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, 59 pressures, and 14.5 sacks. However, no matter the tackle he lines up against, he will be an impact and will be looking to force the ball out of Daniel Jones’ hands. Jones is coming off a season where he fumbled 18 times and lost 11 of them. That was the most in the league.
Dupree finished with half the forced fumbles and fumble recoveries as Watt did with 11.5 sacks and 28 pressures. Defensive tackle Cameron Heyward finished with one forced fumble and one recovery last year, meanwhile, he had nine sacks and pressured the quarterback 33 times. Nick Gates will be going against Heyward in his first matchup at the center position.
Limiting the pressure on Daniel Jones will make Jason Garrett’s game-planning easier and if the night is right for the Giants, their players will develop faster and smoother.
