After a week off to recharge and hopefully get some players back from injury, the New York Giants return home to take on the (1-6-1) Houston Texans on Sunday. This will be just the sixth meeting between these two franchises, with New York holding a 4-1 advantage.
There’s a ton of intrigue to see if the New York Giants can continue their winning ways and what adjustments Brian Daboll and his team have made during the bye week. The Giants did suffer a major setback during the bye week as safety Xavier McKinney will be out for at least the next four games after having surgery on his fingers following an ATV accident.
Despite the loss of McKinney, Big Blue comes into this game five-point favorites, and the Giants are expected to have their best performance of the season against one of the worst teams in the league.
On Sunday, we’ll likely see a few players have their best game of the year. With that said, here are three bold predictions for the Giants for Sunday’s game.
Davis Mills tosses at least two interceptions to New York Giants
This is a bold statement, to say the least, considering the New York Giants defense has recorded only one interception through the first eight games of the season and the fact the Giants will be without one of their best players in McKinney.
But defensive coordinator “Wink” Martindale has had almost two weeks to prepare for this game, and by now he knows Davis Mills’ strengths and weaknesses. In addition, Mills has been turnover-prone lately. He has four interceptions over the Texans’ last three games, including two last week in the 29-17 loss to the Eagles.
The players may not admit this publicly, but you can rest assured that the defense is disappointed at its lack of interceptions. Look for Adoree’ Jackson and Julian Love to each come away with an interception on Sunday.
Darius Slayton or Wan’Dale Robinson will have over 100 receiving yards
The biggest issue with the Giants during the first half of the season was their passing game, which ranks 29th in the NFL at just 159.1 yards per game. Just like Martindale used the bye week to come up with new wrinkles for the defense, Brian Daboll and coordinator Mike Kafka had time to do the same for the offense.
With Kadarius Toney now a Kansas City Chief and tight end Daniel Bellinger not ready to return from an eye injury, Daniel Jones’ top two targets going forward will be Darius Slayton and rookie Wan’Dale Robinson.
Both Slayton and Robinson have become more effective in the passing game as the season has progressed
The Texans have the 19th-ranked pass defense in the league, and so far this season they’ve allowed five pass catchers to top the century mark in receiving yards (Michael Pittman Jr., Courtland Sutton, Mike Williams, Marvin Jones, Dallas Goedert).
The most receiving yards a Giant has had all season was the 79 that Slayton had in Week 5 when New York defeated the Packers 27-22. That will all change on Sunday as New York will have explosive plays through the air on Sunday, and as a result, either Slayton or Robinson will have over 100 receiving yards.
Kayvon Thibodeaux will have the first multi-sack game of his career
If you just look at the numbers, you assume think that Kayvon Thibodeaux has had a so-so season. He has just one sack on the season, but he has created pressure coming off the edge, which has allowed some of his teammates, such as Dexter Lawrence, to come away with sacks.
With a week off, Thibodeaux’s right knee that he sprained in the preseason will be healthier than it’s been this season. On Sunday he’ll go up against a Texans offensive line that has allowed three sacks in each of its last two games.
Look for the fifth overall pick to line up in numerous positions across the defensive front, take down Davis Mills at least twice on Sunday and have the first multi-sack game of his career.
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