Malik Nabers’ massive Week 5 workload shows Giants are ready to lean on him

During the New York Giants' Week 4 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Malik Nabers had his best game of the season, yet still managed to complain about his usage, specifically in the second half--as of his six receptions for 112 yards and a score, he caught just one pass for 28 yards in that final 30 minutes.

So of course, it was going to be in the cards for the Giants to get their star receiver the ball more in Week 5 against the Washington Commanders that one of the worst teams in the league at defending the pass. The stars were aligned to get him the football, and he took advantage of the opportunity.

In the mind-boggling 27-27 tie on Sunday, Nabers went for his second consecutive 100-yard game, but in addition, he also had his first 10-catch game of the season. He hauled in 11 passes for 121 yards and a clutch game-tying touchdown, and alongside Isaiah Likely, was the main reason this offense showed signs of life through the air for the first time since Winston replaced Jaxson Dart.

But that's not all. Jameis Winston looked his way a staggering 20 times--and that marked a career high. Additionally, 16 of his 20 targets came in the second half or overtime because New York was playing from behind and needed to air out the football--and they kept calling his number on go balls.

And while addressing the media after the game, Nabers told reporters he'll "take it", and he should--because he's finally looking like the focal point of this offense he was before his ACL tear.

Malik Nabers’ increased workload paid off for the Giants in Week 5

Even though he did have an Odell Beckham Jr.-esque moment, it's one he apparently needed to have. It was a wake-up call to this Big Blue coaching staff, and evidently, the message was received to the point that finding more ways to get him the football was a priority for OC Matt Nagy on Sunday.

So when he was getting fed, good things happened. That should make him feel validated for his request, and should make Giants fans feel a little better about the lack of maturity from last week. Because these last two weeks he's been setting off fireworks and reminding the league he's back.

He averaged 6.5 targets per game across the first month of the season, and a game where the Giants went down early (against a bad Washington secondary) made it an easy opportunity to play the appeasement game, but it's not appeasement when he deserves elite-level usage every single week.

It's no coincidence that Nabers' best performance of the season came on the same day where Famous Jameis had his best start, as he threw for 326 yards and three scores. But don't expect the G-Men to shy away from this now when they're gonna need points to beat the Saints in Week 6.

When Malik Nabers gets the ball, fireworks are ignited, so the more targets he gets, the better. And based on what we’ve seen over the last two weeks, he’s certainly starting to look like his old self again.

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