New York Giants: Top 5 Things to Watch in Week 6

The New York Giants pulled off the improbable last week against the Green Bay Packers, defeating them 27-22 in London to go 4-1 on the regular season.

After being down as many as 14 points in the first half, the Giants responded in the second half with 17 consecutive points, executing one of the biggest comebacks we’ve seen so far this season.

Up next, the Giants will take on the 3-2 Baltimore Ravens in what will be the Giants final home game before their Week 9 bye (New York will have back-to-back road games at Jacksonville and Seattle before the bye).

With plenty at stake for the Giants, we look at five players/position groups that figure to play integral roles in their quest for a 5-1 start.

OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux

The Giants first-round pick (No. 5 overall) has shown plenty of promise in his first three games of the season. Following a quiet outing with a limited snap count against the Dallas Cowboys, Thibodeaux ramped up his production over the last two weeks with his pass rushing, posting four pressures in each of the Giants last two games.

Though Thibodeaux hasn’t been able to secure his first sack of the season just yet, he’s come close on a few occasions in his last two games and has been a part of a defense ranked 11th in the league in sacks per pass attempt (7.14 percent).

This week, Thibodeaux and friends will be tasked with pressuring Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, protected by an offensive line that is 11th in pass-blocking efficiency (88.1 percent).

Thibodeaux has been knocking on the door, and it’s just a matter of when he will get his first sack as a Giant. Doing so against Jackson may be arguably his toughest challenge yet, but one that will certainly be rewarding.

QB Daniel Jones

Quarterback Daniel Jones delivered his best performance of the young season against the Packers in London, looking confident in the process. Jones, coming off that sprained left ankle and what might also have been a banged-up knee, threw for a season-high 217 yards, completing 77.8 percent of his 27 passes with zero turnovers.

Heading into Week 6 against the Ravens, Jones has another tough challenge. He's going up against the worst pass defense in the NFL, which has allowed 290.2 yards per game and 6.84 yards per pass play (20th in the league).

However, the Ravens' pass defense is opportunistic regarding being ball hawks. Led by All-Pro cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters, the Ravens are tied for first with interceptions (8) and have the fifth-highest interception rate (3.77) in the league.

Jones has been good with his decision-making and has only thrown two interceptions, one of which was more of a fluke. But this Ravens defensive secondary is, as we said, opportunistic, so more now than ever, it will be important for Jones to be on his game when it comes to decision-making.

Giants Offensive Line

The Giants offensive line's pass protection has gotten better following a rocky start, and aiding it has been the overall approach of quickly getting the ball out of quarterback Daniel Jones's hand.

But the fact remains that the Giants' pass-blocking, perhaps outside of left tackle Andrew Thomas who in 191 pass-blocking snaps, has only allowed six pressures (no sacks) and who has pitched a shutout in his last two games, hasn't been as crisp just yet.

While the Ravens don't blitz as often as they did when Don Martindale was running the show--Baltimore has thus far blitzed 24.4 percent of the time, whereas the Giants lead the league in blitzing (43.3 percent), the Ravens are sure to test the Giants offensive line this week.

New York has a pass-blocking efficiency rating of 83.7, tied for 25th with Seattle, and their 49 pressures allowed is tied for 14th most in the NFL.

Very few quarterbacks perform well when under constant pressure, Daniel Jones included. He's completed 54.7 percent of his pass attempts when under duress, so keeping him as clean as possible to take advantage of the league's worst-ranked passing defense (290.2 yards/game) will be a key.

RB Saquon Barkley

Saquon Barkley has done it all for the Giants offense. Currently second in the league in total rushing yards (533) and rushing yards per game (106.6), Barkley also has 143 receiving yards on 18 receptions and is second on the team in targets (23) behind receiver Sterling Shepard.

Amazingly, Barkley has not faced a lot of loaded boxes this season. Thus far, according to NextGen Stats, Barkley has seen 8+ men in a box in only 14.43 percent of his rushing attempts.

Barkley has delivered multiple big plays this season that have set up the Giants for points, including a 68-yard run against the Tennessee Titans in Week 1 and a 65-yard reception against the Packers last week. And when Jones went down with his ankle injury in Week 4, Barkley famously stepped in to run the Wildcat.

Unlike their pass defense, the Ravens run defense has held its own and ranks 12th in rushing yards allowed per game (108.0). Edge Odafe Oweh and interior defensive linemen Broderick Washington Jr and Justin Madubuike lead the Ravens in run stops, but the Ravens are also second in the league in most missed tackles (38) this season, behind the Houston Texans (39).

Will the Ravens, who have loaded the box against opposing rushing games 28.57 percent of the time this season (per SportsRadar), finally be the team that challenges the Giants run game to beat them through the air?

That's worth watching, as is the fact that the Ravens have conceded over 100 yards rushing in each of their last three games.

Giants Run Defense

If there is one major weakness on this Giants defense, it’s their play against the run. The Giants have allowed 131.6 yards per game on the ground (26th in the league) and have conceded an average of 5.02 yards per carry. They've also allowed 16 big-play runs of 10+ yards, three of which have gone for 20+ yards.

This week, the Giants run defense will now have to contain a Ravens rush attack ranked seventh in the league in rushing yards per game (144.6) and third in yards per play (5.44) that also has the best rushing quarterback in the league in Lamar Jackson (374 yards, two touchdowns).

The Giants are anticipating having defensive lineman Leonard Williams back this weekend. Williams is one of the best run stoppers on this Giants defense and has been sorely missed since suffering a knee injury in Week 2.

During Williams' absence, Jihad Ward and Jalyon Smith have stepped up to help curtail opposing rushing attacks as best as possible.

Thus far, the Giants haven't faced a rushing attack like Baltimore's where Jackson needs to be accounted for. Look for the Giants to assign a spy to Jackson--safety Xavier McKinney could get that role--to stop the Ravens from gashing them on the ground.

Join the Giants Country Community

Sign up for our FREE digest newsletter
Follow and like us on Facebook
Submit your questions for our mailbag
Check out the new Giants Country YouTube Channel.
Listen and subscribe to the daily LockedOn Giants podcast.
Subscribe and like the LockedOn Giants YouTube Channel
Sign up for our FREE message board forums
Get your Giants tickets today from SI Tickets!