5 New York Giants to Watch in Week 5 Game vs. Packers
Following a costly 20-12 win against the Chicago Bears last Sunday, the New York Giants will be in London, England, to take on the Green Bay Packers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
A lot is resting on this game for both teams, who enter this showdown with 3-1 records. The Giants are looking to keep up with the undefeated NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles. The Packers, meanwhile, are aiming to separate atop the NFC North.
As always, the Giants need all hands on deck to thwart a good opponent. These five players/position groups figure to be extra instrumental in helping the Giants move to 4-1.
CB Adoree’ Jackson
Adoree’ Jackson hasn’t been in great form in the last two games. In a total of 12 targets he’s faced in their previous two games, Jackson has allowed ten receptions for 145 yards and a touchdown. Before the Giants' game against the Dallas Cowboys, Jackson had only allowed 27 yards with no touchdowns.
What makes this concerning is not just the high numbers but also the fact that this happened against quarterbacks Cooper Rush and Justin Fields. Now, Jackson is going up against future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers and could be in store for yet another challenging day.
One of Rodgers' top targets figures to be wide receiver Adam Lazard, who has gotten better since returning from an ankle injury in Week 2. Last Week against the Patriots, Lazard had six receptions for 116 yards, which included a diving 32-yard catch in the third quarter. If Jackson is covering him, he’ll likely face rookie Romeo Doubs who appears to be Rodgers’ favorite wide receiver with a team-leading 24 targets.
From Lazard’s strength to Doubs’ speed, Jackson will need to bring his A-game this weekend regardless of the assignment.
Inside Linebacker Tae Crowder
Last week, Tae Crowder delivered his best game of the young season. On top of his 11 combined tackles, Crowder had two pressures (including his first sack of the season) and a forced fumble. To add to his impressive run-stopping play, Crowder only had one missed tackle and came away with a season-high six stops.
The issue for Crowder, however, has been consistency. After being tested by the Bears rush offense last week, Crowder will be tasked with bottling up a menacing, two-headed monster in Aaron Jones and backfield mate A.J. Dillon. The Packers are seventh in the league in rushing yards per game (145.0) and average 5.0 yards per run play.
Though the Packers have Rodgers at the helm, they aren’t afraid to use their running backs to move the chains. Last week, the Packers ran the ball as many times as Rodgers threw it (35).
In Week 2 against the Bears, the Packers completed 38 rush attempts versus just 25 pass attempts. The Packers will look to establish the run early and often. If Crowder can duplicate last week's performance, that will go a long way toward slowing down the Packers' offense.
QB Daniel Jones
After suffering a sprained ankle in last week's win over the Chicago Bears, there was some early week concern about whether starting quarterback Daniel Jones would be able to play this weekend.
Not only did Jones avoid the dreaded high ankle sprain, but thanks to his diligence in pursuing treatment, Jones finished the week of practice as a full participant and without an injury designation.
The same, however, can't be said of backup Tyrod Taylor, who is in the concussion protocol. New York is expected to elevate Davis Webb from their practice squad by Saturday's 4:00 p.m. deadline.
Webb has yet to play a regular-season snap, but he did have a solid preseason this summer for the Giants. In 127 preseason snaps, Webb completed 74.1 percent of his passes for 475 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.
But getting back to Jones, while he appeared to move well in practice this week, he'll face a menacing Packers pass rush that is fifth in the league in sacks (11), five of which have come from the edge rusher Rashan Garry. Rounding out the Packers' pass rush are edge rusher Preston Smith and defensive lineman Kenny Clark, the trio posting 42 pressures.
Pass Rush
After a quiet showing against the Dallas Cowboys, the Giants pass rush has been trending in the right direction since. Last week, Dexter Lawrence had eight pressures, two of which were sacks; rookie edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux had four pressures; and Azeez Ojulari had three pressures (which included a sack) against a Bears offensive line that is last in the league in pass blocking efficiency.
This Sunday, however, the Giants will face a Packers offensive line that is 12th in the league in pass-blocking efficiency (87.2) and a much better quarterback. The Giants will also be without Ojulari (calf), who didn't make the trip to London with the team.
Add to that trick of balancing being aggressive against quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a master at burning defense that gets too frisky against him, and it all adds up to Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale's biggest challenge to date this season.
RB Saquon Barkley
Given the Giants injury woes at receiver and the remaining questions about Daniel Jones's ability despite his being cleared to play, the assumption is that running back Saquon Barkley will be called upon to carry the load for the Giants' offense.
With good reason, Barkley leads the NFL with 463 rushing yards on 84 carries (5.5 yards per carry) and 115.8 yards per game to go along with 15 receptions for 107 yards. But so far this season, Barkley has only faced a loaded box on 11.9 percent of his carries, according to NextGenStats.
The Packers run defense, meanwhile, ranks in the bottom third of the league in rushing yards allowed per game (126.8) and per attempt (5.0). Three of their four opponents have topped 125 yards on the ground this season, with two opponents recording 165+ rushing yards.
It would be logical to think that the Packers, who have not loaded up the box against opponents this season due to some struggles by their safeties in run support, will look to do so this weekend to take away what seems to be the only healthy threat the Giants have on offense.
But can the Giants' brass come up with yet another plan to thwart attempts to slow the running back down? Their chances of victory might very well depend on it.
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