The New York Giants are headed into a contest against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday night, and they will be without starting cornerback James Bradberry. The expectation is that Daniel Jones will also be limited if not inactive, which would indicate a Colt McCoy start for the second time this season.
Last week, Jones struggled to progress through his reads, and poor playcalling by Jason Garrett and the lack of separation by the wide receivers undoubtedly played a significant part in his struggles.
However, Jones relies on his legs to make up for his deficiencies in the passing game and lack of awareness in the pocket. Without his mobility, DJ struggled to get things going on offense against the Arizona Cardinals, who surprisingly stacked the box with linebackers and played man coverage for a majority of the game.
This loss came on the back of an improbable victory over the Seattle Seahawks in week 13. The Giants started backup quarterback Colt McCoy, and while he only threw for 105 yards, he didn’t lose the game for the Giants, which was a major storyline.
They managed to win 17-13, thanks to a fantastic defensive performance by Patrick Graham’s unit. Nonetheless, McCoy presented an adequate passer that got the job done and made some plays down the stretch, which is all the Giants needed him to do.
Head coach Joe Judge had positive words for New York Giants’ QB Colt McCoy:
I think he did a lot of things well [against Seattle]. First off, I love the way he just controlled the flow of the game, the tempo of the game. Colt was on the line of scrimmage, identifying what the defense was in, putting us in the right place, made some big plays for us down the stretch with some key completions to continue drives. He did a good job when he had to go ahead and check from a run to a pass or vice versa. I thought just his experience really showed up in that game. The biggest thing he’s very good at is Colt’s a very positive guy. He’s a competitor and he’s a very positive guy. He understands the flow of we’re always getting ready for a 60-minute game. If things aren’t going well initially, you’re never going to hear him complain or tap out. He’s very committed to the process. Any adjustments you have to make, Colt’s a smart dude. He’s always in tune to talking on the sideline about, ‘hey, what do you guys think about maybe changing this up?’ or ‘do you want to stick with this?’ He may come back and say, ‘hey, I like this play, call it again.’ Colt’s very, very mentally into the game. That carries over and really gets the rest of the guys involved as well.
We can expect a few things from McCoy, notably average play and nothing extraordinary. He’s not going to throw for 300 yards and piece together an incredible offensive masterpiece. He will do just enough not to lose the game for the New York Giants but rather make subtle adjustments, and complete high percentage passes.
Ultimately, it comes down to his wide receivers and if they can create separation. Cleveland has decent corners but have had trouble against slot receivers in the past. If I were Freddie kitchens, I would be looking for Golden Tate early and often in this matchup.
Also, based on Kitchens’ past, expect quick first reads and plenty of running backs coming out of the backfield as pass catchers. They will try to dumb down the offense for Colt and increase his completion percentage, but one this is for sure, they will need to hit on a few chunk plays to keep up with Cleveland’s offense.