The New York Giants will try to get the offense back on track against the Carolina Panthers. It won’t be an easy task against one of the
league’s most athletic defenses
Phil Simms Jerseys 2019 , even if it hasn’t exactly been up to its previous standards early in the season. The Giants, meanwhile have some problems that need to be
worked out, but at least those problems can be identified. Let’s take a look at
what to watch when the Giants have the ball in this matchup:By the numbersFor
more explanation of these numbers, go here.The deep stuffIt’s been a topic of
discussion all week and for most of the season so far — the ball just isn’t
going down the field on offense. Per Next Gen Stats, Eli Manning has the
fourth-lowest intended air yards among qualified quarterbacks. Two of the
quarterbacks below him — Sam Bradford and Blaine Gabbert — are not their current
starters on their teams. Among full-time starters, only Blake Bortles than
thrown shorter average passes.We don’t need to get into the reasons why there
haven’t been many downfield passes, but we can get into why that needs to
change.Without the threat of a deep ball, there’s a ceiling put on the offense.
It’s a tough ask for the offense to drive down the field and get into the end
zone when the offense is only averaging 5.1 yards per play. Carolina could be a
team to exploit here — the Panthers are 30th in big-play rate allowed on
defense.There are some potentially easy fixes to this problem:Get Odell Beckham
involved earlyBy now you’ve seen the collection of Odell Beckham deep targets
from this season. There was a mixture of opinions that came from posting that,
but one of the things that struck me about it while putting it together was how
late in the game most of them came. Half of them were in the fourth quarter.
Only two were in the first quarter. Last week against the New Orleans Saints,
the Giants tried to get Beckham involved early but did so by giving him and
end-around handoff. Instead of that
White Doug Kotar Jerseys , letting Beckham go deep or even closer to intermediate on the first drive of the game could get him, Eli Manning, and the offense in
better rhythm.More downfield routesThis isn’t meant to mean a higher volume, but
instead more routes on a given play. There have been a number of plays with deep
routes called that only have two deep routes with a check down option. That’s
limiting the potential to stretch out the defense and will rarely give the
offense a numbers advantage deep. Route combinations are built with the purpose
of trying to make a defender pick between covering one route or the other. With
limited options downfield, that decision doesn’t have to made and it’s easier to
cover.Spread ‘em outAnother way to put stress on the defense is to use spread
formations with a tight end and/or running back in the slot or outside. It gives
the offense a potential mismatch should the defense stay in base personnel
without the offense running out four or five wide receivers. This should open up
more possibilities down the field and limit the number of pass rushers coming.
And if not, there should be an open outlet receiver. It’s something the Giants
have used, but not enough.Strength vs. strengthCarolina’s defense has been a bit
of a disappointment so far this season compared to where it has been in the past
— 20th in yards allowed per drive and 15th in points allowed per drive. But
there are places where the Panthers defense has been just as good as expected.
Carolina is eighth in DVOA defending against No. 1 receivers, sixth against No.
2 receivers, and ninth against running backs in the passing game (hello, Luke
Kuechly and Shaq Thompson). Well
Doug Kotar Jerseys 2019 , that just happens to be where the Giants’ strengths are on offense. Meanwhile, the Panthers are 22nd in DVOA against “other” wide receivers
and 30th against tight ends — but the Giants don’t have legitimate threats at
those positions at the moment. Shadow coverageGoing back to those numbers
against No. 1 receivers — the Panthers have allowed James Bradberry to follow
opposing top receivers. Per PFF, Bradberry was on Julio Jones for 70.4 percent
of Jones’s routes and allowed four receptions and 46 yards on seven targets. In
Week 3, Bradberry was on A.J. Green for 55.6 percent of Green’s routes with two
receptions for 12 yards on five targets. Among 71 qualified cornerbacks,
Bradberry ranks 28th in yards allowed per pass and 30th in success rate, per
Sports Info Solutions charting from Football Outsiders. Those numbers are almost
identical to Jalen Ramsey this seasonOn the other side, rookie Donte Jackson
ranks 17th in yards allowed per pass and 37th in success rate.Preventing
pressureStopping opposing pressure is always going to be a key for the Giants’
offensive line. That’s especially true against this Panthers defensive line.
Carolina hasn’t been a team that has created a ton of pressure — the Panthers
rank just 20th in defensive pressure rate — but the line has been one that
converts those pressures into sacks when they do. The Panthers are 11th in raw
sack rate and 14th in Football Outsiders’ adjusted sack rate.Kawann Short has
been able to penetrate from the interior with two sacks on four quarterback hits
and 5.5 pressures. Mario Addison, who was a regression candidate due to his high
sack conversion rate last season, is again converting with 2.5 sacks on three
quarterback hits and four pressures.Pace of playThe Giants have been one of the
slowest offenses in the league through the first quarter of the season. They
rank 31st in seconds per play in neutral situations — basically, non-garbage
time plays — per Football Outsiders. A slow offense that doesn’t gain a whole
lot of yards is not the greatest way to try to compete in 2018.Now the Giants
don’t need to go full Chip Kelly
White Harry Carson Jerseys , but running a little more hurry up and no huddle could be a benefit to creating mismatches against the defense. This slow pace is
also not what Shurmur worked with last season in Minnesota when the Vikings were
seventh in seconds per play in neutral situations then slowed down to 25th with
a lead of seven points or more. Good morning, New York Giants fans!Possible New
York Giants pick came up in the shadow of Mannings | New York PostPaul Schwartz
talks to Daniel Jones of Duke about his existing relationship with Eli
Manning.Ian Rapoport reveals how Duke quarterback Daniel Jones qualified for
Reese’s Senior Bowl, despite not being a senior - NFL VideosMore Jones. He took
an extra class in the fall to qualify for the Senior Bowl.Ten bold NFL draft
predictions for the 2019 Senior Bowl - nfldraftscout.comYes, we have already had
a day of practice. This is still worth a look.2018 NFL draft re-draft - Making
new picks for first two rounds, 1-64Re-drafts are kind of annoying. Still, an
alternate way things could have worked out.Count former teammate QB Trace
McSorley among those impressed by SaquonPenn State QB Trace McSorley had a front
row seat to watch Saquon Barkley at Penn State, and kept tabs on him during
Barkley’s rookie season.How the Jets and Giants can learn from Rams' rise to the
Super Bowl | SNY
