The New York Giants are gearing up to face off against the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon in week two of the 2020 regular season. Coming off a tough loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Giants and new head coach Joe Judge will look to turn things around and secure their first victory of the season. Playing against an inconsistent quarterback in Mitchell Trubisky and another tough defense, Big Blue have their work cut out for them in some areas.
Tight end Evan Engram was expected to start the year with a bang, but subsequently failed to prove his worth against Pittsburgh. He finished his first game back since week nine of the regular season in 2019 with two receptions and seven targets for 9 yards.
His underwhelming performance sparked rage within the Giants’ fan base, but hopefully, he can bounce back with a strong against the Bears.
Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett stated on Friday that the Giants “don’t look at Evan [Engram] as a one-dimensional player.” This virtually means they want to keep him active in the running game as a blocker.
Despite his inability to produce in the passing game, Engram was a liability in run blocking. He failed to hold down his assignments and was consistently beat to put Saquon Barkley in tumultuous positions.
The former undrafted free agent signed a new contract with the New York Giants this off-season, and they moved him to center despite never having taken a live rep at the position.
In his first game in the middle of the offensive line, Gates was tossed around like a ragdoll. He did a poor job executing on his assignments and failed to communicate across the line. It was an unfortunate outing for Gates, but I believe he will take a massive step forward in week two against the Bears. Head coach Joe Judge stated that teams often take their biggest leap from week one to week two.
The Giants also have Spencer Pulley on the roster in case Nick continues to struggle, and if they decide to switch things up, he could swing out to right tackle. For now, I expect him to remain at center and continue competing for starting reps.
Quarterback Daniel Jones was pressured 26 times in week one, the most in the NFL. The second-place quarterback was only pressured 14 times, giving you an idea of just how much she was under duress.
Right tackle Cam Fleming played a big part in these numbers, helping to allow three sacks on Jones. In addition, Fleming’s run blocking was atrocious and desperately needs to improve in week two. While the Giants will have an easier task ahead of them in a Bears defensive line composed of just Akiem Hicks and Khalil Mack, those are two talented players who dominate in their own right.
I expect to see Jones audibling to the opposite side of Mack, giving Saquon Barkley more room to work with and holes to run through. All Fleming has to do is hold up in pass protection, which will be a tough task against an elite pass rusher.
This post was published on 2020-09-19 08:00
