The bye week has come and gone for the NY Giants and it’s time to get back to business for Brian Daboll and his team. While the Xavier McKinney injury update was a bit of a downer to kickstart Week 10, don’t forget for a second that this team is still 6-2.
The Giants are looking like a postseason squad and more big victories are sure to be on the way. With nine more games left in the campaign, we have a feeling the Giants are going to give fans a lot of reasons to smile the rest of the way. Here’s five predictions we have for this team, including a special move on the way from general manager Joe Schoen.
5. NY Giants win the race to sign Odell Beckham Jr.
There’s no free agent out there with more eyes on him than Odell Beckham Jr. With OBJ almost fully recovered from his torn ACL suffered in the Super Bowl win for the Los Angeles Rams, teams are going to be lining up to try and land his services. Schoen admitted that he’s been in contact with Beckham’s reps.
He’s not the only one, as Beckham has been linked with a possible move to NY, Green Bay, Dallas, Kansas City and Buffalo. It’s easy to see why so many squads are after him. When Beckham is fully fit, he’s one of the most explosive wideouts in the game. He’s a special talent – NY fans know all about that.
Beckham clearly wants to go to a contender and a reunion with the Giants is on his mind. Yes, Schoen has steep competition to land Beckham, but it just feels like it’s written in the stars for him to come home. Saquon Barkley would love to ball out with his former teammate and Daniel Jones would surely enjoy throwing him the ball. Our gut tells us NY pulls this off.
4. Saquon Barkley tops Nick Chubb and Derrick Henry for rushing title
The battle to finish No. 1 in rushing yards for the 2022 campaign continues to get more intriguing. Right now, Derrick Henry is currently No. 1 on the list with 870 yards, while Nick Chubb is right behind him at 841 and Barkley is in third place at 779. These three are bonafide studs with the ball in their hands.
For Barkley, this has been a year to remember for so many different reasons. At the top of the list, though, has to be that he has silenced so many of his haters. After a down year in 2021, everyone was saying that Barkley’s time as a No. 1 option for an offense was over and there was no way he’d ever be a star again.
Oh, how wrong those folks were. Saquon is back to his old self and he’s looking like one of the best RBs in the game. He has been massive for first-year offensive coordinator Mike Kafka this season. The Giants will keep relying on No. 26 to deliver for him. We think Barkley will do just that, and close out the campaign as the rushing champ. Book it.
3. Daniel Jones plays his way to a new contract
Other than Barkley, there’s no player who has done more of a 180 for the Giants than Jones. Danny Dimes is living up to his nickname, helping the Giants post six wins thus far this campaign. Heck, a lot of people thought the Giants would win six games in total for the 2022 season, but there’s plenty more Ws to be had.
Jones has had some struggles running the offense this fall, but overall, he has played solid for Kafka, making plays with both his strong right arm and his wheels. The fact that he’s been able to break free for some big runs has been fun to watch. Jones is also having to work with arguably the worst wide receiver group in the NFL.
With Kadarius Toney out of town, Kenny Golladay injured, Sterling Shepard out for the season and Wan’Dale Robinson also dealing with an injury early on, Jones hasn’t had reliable weapons to work with. Despite that, he’s done more than enough to help the G-Men record some upset victories – including the win over Jacksonville, which led to NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
The Giants didn’t pick up Jones’ fifth-year option, so a tough decision will be coming for Schoen this offseason on what to do with the former No. 6 overall pick. While we don’t think Jones will get a mega-deal, something tells us he and the Giants will agree to a team-friendly extension. We think Jones will be back under center come September of 2023.
2. Kayvon Thibodeaux will post seven sacks the rest of the way
If you take a look at his stats, one might assume that No. 5 overall pick Kayvon Thibodeaux hasn’t had much of a role for the Giants defense. That wouldn’t be the correct take. Thibodeaux may have one sack to his name in 2022, but he’s been a force in the trenches for the NY defense and he’s surely in line for more QB takedowns in the near future.
Thibodeaux is getting better and better in each game. We saw his potential in the win over Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, as no one will forget about his strip-sack of the Baltimore signal-caller. MetLife Stadium exploded in celebration seeing the rookie make that giantic play.
Thibodeaux entered the season hoping to record a sack a game, and he’s fallen way short of that goal. However, we like this kid’s chances of really making a splash with nine games left on the schedule. Look for Thibodeaux to post seven more sacks this year, bringing his total to eight. He no doubt has what it takes to get that job done.
1. NY Giants take down the Seahawks in the Wild Card Round
Things didn’t go according to plan for the Giants in their trip to the Pacific Northwest in October, with the Seahawks handing Big Blue a 27-13 defeat. The two Richie James fumbles proved to be costly for NY, but hey, it’s time to put that in the past and focus on the rest of the season. Having said that, could these two sides face off again?
The Seahawks are 6-3 on the year after taking down the Arizona Cardinals in Week 9. There’s a scenario where Seattle could finish as the No. 3 seed in the NFC. We could end up seeing the Giants as the No. 6 seed. If this goes down, then the Hawks would end up hosting the Giants in the Wild Card Round.
Revenge would be on the minds of Daboll’s men, who would be motivated to take the Seahawks in the postseason. Lumen Field would indeed be poppin’ for that one, but the Giants have what it takes to record yet another upset W. This time, it will happen with a trip to the NFC Divisional Round on the line. Giants 24, Seahawks 17. Yup, that sounds about right.
4 negatives for the NY Giants to overcome following the bye week
The Giants are remarkably 6-2 this season, but they have quite a few flaws and unsustainable trends they must fix in order to keep stacking the Ws in 2022