It’s finally here! Game 1 of the New York Giants season. It’s always the hardest game on the calendar to predict, but what transpires can tell us a lot about what to expect as the season carries on.
Knowing that, there’ll be some storylines to watch in this one. I have them listed below.
1. Proving last season’s strong offensive finish is for real
After Victor Cruz went down last season, the Giants’ offense slowed a bit, but they soared down the stretch with Eli getting hot complemented by the emergence of Odell Beckham Jr.
Nothing’s changed for Beckham or Eli, so many expect the offensive juggernaut to continue. But remember, they were putting up big numbers against some pretty weak opponents at the end of 2014–Washington, Tennessee, St. Louis, and a bad defensive Eagles team.
They need to prove their offense can compete against the better defenses. Dallas’ young d-line and talented but inconsistent defense will be a good test to prove if New York’s offense is for real.
2. The secondary vs. Cowboys receivers
Big Blue has as scary a safety situation as any in football. If if works out it really could turn out OK, but it’s the biggest “if” that this team is facing.
The first question is can they, will they (hopefully) stay healthy. The second: can they stop the big plays?
Dallas has enough playmakers on offense to put them to the test. Dez Bryant and Terrace Williams can stretch the field and Jason Witten still can dominate the middle and may not retire until 2030. There’s no question Dallas’ offensive will attack the back end–we’ll have to see what Steve Spagnulo’s plan is to stop slow them down.
3. Rueben Randle vs. Rueben Randle
This goes along with number one. Will we see the Randle who posted close to 300 yards in the final two games of 2014? Or will we see the inconsistent received who runs the wrong routes and got benched on multiple occasions in 2014 for doing so.
I’m a fan of Randle’s. He’s talented, long, and can stretch the field. Many are saying his 2014 was a big success after nearly posting 1,000 yards. His potential exceeds 1,000 hard though, and it’ll be a big question to watch this season to see if he’ll finally reach it.
4. Protecting Eli Manning
It seems like the Giants won the Super Bowl and since they haven’t been able to protect the quarterback. I’m saying it “seems…” but it actually just has been that way.
Again the Giants enter the season shuffling around the o-line, they have a rookie starting at left tackle, and a journeyman at right tackle. It’s a questionable unit as the season kicks off.
Dallas has two talented ends in Mincey and Crawford who could cause some raucous off the edge tonight. We’ll see if the tackles can keep Manning in the pocket–it’ll be something to watch all season.
5. Rotating ends
The news about Jason Pierre-Paul continues to get bleaker, and here we are on opening night. Who are fans going to see coming off the edge? Will it primarily be Robert Ayers and Kerry Wynn? Will Damontre Moore be on the field more than we expect? And how much can we realistically expect from high-motored rookie Odighizuwa?
I don’t have an answer to these questions–the Giants are relying a lot on a talented if unproven unit. While they are capable of generating pressure without Jason Pierre-Paul, they need to prove it on Sunday night. And it’s something they’ll have to show they can do on a consistent basis for 16 regular season games, maybe, hopefully four more games after that…