Five Reasons the 49ers Will Beat the Giants Despite all the Injuries
The 49ers have every excuse to lose to the Giants.
The Niners are on the road. They’re playing on a crummy field. And they’re missing nine of 22 starters -- almost half the starting lineup.
So they’re not even the real 49ers. They’re the junior varsity 49ers. And they still will beat the Giants by more than a touchdown.
Here are five reasons the J.V. 49ers will win on Sunday.
1. The 49ers have a better run game than the Giants.
Even without George Kittle, Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman, the 49ers should run the ball well. They still have the best left tackle in the league, Trent Williams. One of the best run-blocking right tackles in the league, Mike McGlinchey. An excellent left guard, Laken Tomlinson. The NFL’s best fullback, Kyle Juszczyk. And Jerick McKinnon, who’s averaging 16.3 yards per carry this season. Plus they have Jeff Wilson Jr., who ran well last season, and JaMycal Hasty, who ran well in training camp.
The Giants have nothing. They have a terrible offensive line and a terrible run game. They used to have Saquon Barkley, a phenomenally gifted runner, but he’s out for the season with a knee injury. And when he was healthy, even he couldn’t succeed behind the Giants horrendous offensive line. He averaged 1.7 yards per carry in Weeks 1 and 2. His backup, Dion Lewis, is averaging 1.9 yards per carry this season. So they signed Devonta Freeman, who averaged 3.6 yards per carry for the Falcons last season.
The Giants offense is a one-dimensional mess.
2. The 49ers have a better quarterback than the Giants.
The Giants have Daniel Jones, who is more physically gifted than Nick Mullens -- Jones was the sixth pick in the 2019 draft, and Mullens was an undrafted free agent in 2017. But Jones isn’t good yet. His career quarterback rating is 85.6, while Mullens’ career rating is 89.3. Plus Jones has fumbled 19 times in 15 career games. He’s a turnover waiting to happen. Plus he’s learning his second offensive system in two seasons, while Mullens has been in one system for four years. Plus Mullens has a run game and Jones doesn’t.
Advantage: Mullens.
3. The 49ers have a better defense than the Giants.
They both have excellent defensive tackles and both lack edge rushers. That’s what these defenses have in common. The difference is the 49ers have excellent linebackers and the Giants don’t. And the Giants have a terrific cornerback, James Bradberry, and a terrible secondary everywhere else, while the 49ers have two good safeties and subpar corners.
Both defenses rank high. But the 49ers defense has given up the sixth-fewest points this season, while the Giants defense has given up the 11th-fewest points. Even without Nick Bosa, Dee Ford, Dre Greenlaw and Richard Sherman, the 49ers defense will make Daniel Jones’ life miserable.
4. The 49ers have a better coaching staff than the Giants.
The 49ers have Kyle Shanahan, one of the best head coaches and offensive coordinators in the NFL. And they have Robert Saleh, one of the league’s best defensive coordinators.
The Giants have Joe Judge, a first-year head coach who spent the past five seasons as the New England Patriots special teams coach. They have The Clapper -- former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, who hasn’t had a creative idea in his life. That’s the Giants offensive coordinator. And they have defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, who last season was the defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins who gave up the most points in the NFL under Graham’s direction.
Is it any wonder the Giants are 0-2?
5. The 49ers have more at stake than the Giants.
The 49ers expect to go to the Super Bowl and win it this season. Or at least now that Bosa’s out for the season, they expect to make the playoffs.
The Giants have no expectations. Actually, that’s wrong. They expect to lose. They have a brand-new coaching staff, they’re rebuilding and they don’t need to win right away. They’re allowed to start the season 0-3.
The 49ers are not allowed to start 1-2, no matter how many players they have out. The Niners will be the more urgent team, and they will win an ugly, low-scoring game.
