Giants at Chicago: Players to Watch
The New York Giants are coming off a Week 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football and will have to regroup quickly during a short week to avoid an 0-2 start for the fourth straight season.
The Giants are traveling to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears, who are fresh off a 17-point comeback victory over the Detroit Lions in their first contest.
Here is a look at the top Giants players coming off a rocky Week 1 showing but whose participation in Week 2's clash against the Bears could make or break the Giants' chances.
Tight End Evan Engram
Tight end Evan Engram earned Pro Football Focus' worst overall grade of any player on the Giants’ offense (30.9). With that, also came career lows in the passing game (38.8), pass blocking (18.2), and run blocking (32.9).
It has to get better for Engram, right?
In the blocking department, he might be called upon to help with corralling Khalil Mack and, if he's healthy enough to play, Robert Quinn, two very disruptive pass rushers in the mold of TJ Watt and Bud Dupree of the Steelers.
And don't expect the Giants coaches to send up the white flag in surrender by pulling Engram off the assignment.
“We don’t see Evan as a one-dimensional player," said offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. "We see him as a guy who can do all the things necessary to play tight end in this league, and his willingness to do that is something I think is really positive for our team.”
But let's talk about what should be a positive, and that's Engram the receiver, who will likely have to go against a pair of talented safeties in Eddie Jackson and Tashaun Gipson.
Jackson and Gipson are solid, but not unbreakable. Last week, the Bears allowed five receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown to Lions’ tight end T.J. Hockenson.
It remains to be seen how much Engram is used as a blocker and in the passing game, but whatever snaps he does get in each, he can't do any worse than he did in Week 1.
Left Guard Will Hernandez
Left guard Will Hernandez also had a poor outing, allowing a team-high five pressures while recording a 56.3 run-blocking grade, per PFF.
This week, Hernandez and the Giants' interior will see the likes of nose tackle Bilal Nichols and defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris. They each had three pressures and were stout against the run versus the Lions and are part of a defensive front that figures to run a lot of twists designed to fill defensive linemen.
“Bring it on,” said Hernandez on Friday when asked about playing another quality defensive front this week.
If Hernandez sounds a little chippy ahead of the game, that's probably because offensive line coach Marc Colombo couldn't have been too happy with what he saw on the tape from Monday night's game.
While Hernandez wasn't the worst of the offensive linemen, he also didn't pitch anything close to a shutout and was part of an offensive line that allowed three sacks, 11 tackles for a loss, and eight quarterback hits.
"Anybody who put that on tape deserves to be called out," Hernandez said. "We definitely learned from it. We had an attitude of we’re going to practice hard and we’re going to show it the next opportunity we get, which is this Sunday."
They better start playing to their potential soon, or it will be another long day for Daniel Jones and the offense.
Right Tackle Cam Fleming
Another offensive lineman that requires a better showing in Week 2 is veteran right tackle Cam Fleming.
Fleming had a rough night in his Giants debut, allowing four pressures (2nd most on the team) and a sack while earning a 51.4 grade per PFF.
Fleming struggled to contain T.J. Watt, but this week, he's not getting any breaks either, and he'll probably see a lot of All-Pro edge rusher and former Defensive Player of the Year Khalil Mack.
Mack lined up on the left side on 41 of his 67 snaps (61%) against the Lions. Although he had a relatively "quiet" Week 1, recording just four tackles and no pressures, Mack is still a significant threat as a pass rusher, having recorded 61.5 career sacks since coming into the league in 2014.
Fleming must tighten up as he will have to slow down Mack and potentially Robert Quinn if the Bears’ opt to move their guys around.
If Fleming does indeed draftMack as expected, expect the Giants to give him some help in slowing Mack's pass rush down.
Running Back Saquon Barkley
Last week was truly a game to forget for the Giants star running back. While it wasn't all his doing--he had no run blocking in front of him, it still had to have been frustrating for Barkley, who picked up six yards on 15 carries, and who was hit 11 times at or behind the line of scrimmage.
Barkley, who has faced the Bears twice already in his career, has historically found success, averaging 4.5 yards per carry on the ground.
And he's no doubt hoping that whatever struggles the Bears run defense had last week against the Lions' Adrian Peterson continue this week to allow Barkley back on track.
Edge Kyler Fackrell
Free-agent acquisition Kyler Fackrell did not have a memorable debut for the Giants as part of the outside linebacker rotation.
Playing 44% of the defensive snaps, Fackrell recorded zero pressures against the Steelers. He also had a missed tackle and gave up a completion in the lone pass in coverage against him.
Bears’ tackles Charles Leno and Bobby Massie each allowed two pressures in week 1. Their offensive line collectively surrendered 17 pressures, four quarterback hits, and one sack.
Fackrell is a player who had a career year with 10.5 sacks in 2018 under Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, then his position coach.
Graham knows how to maximize Fackrell’s potential, which makes the outside linebacker someone to keep an eye on in the coming weeks for that big defensive performance the Giants pass rush can certainly use.
