Three keys for the Giants to come away with a "W" on Sunday:
With his team coming off four-straight wins, Ben McAdoo was asked this week how to avoid the record of the Giants' next two opponents from creeping into his players' minds. He pointed to the fieldhouse windows at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center and said to throw them out there.
|
|||||||||||||||||||
At 6-3 and in second place in the NFC East, the Giants wrap up a three-game homestand in Week 11 against the 2-7 Bears. They will then hit the road to face the Cleveland Browns, the last remaining team in the league without a victory.
"There's no such a thing as a trap game," McAdoo said. "We have to be ready to play each and every week in this league. Especially this week, coming off of an emotional night game on Monday night, we have to make sure we're dialed in."
With that in mind, here are three keys to victory on Sunday:
CLEAN UP TURNOVERS & DROPS
Thirteen teams have a negative turnover differential entering Week 11, and only two have a winning record. The 6-3 Giants (minus-eight) are one of them, and the 6-3 Texans (minus-five) are the other. With two interceptions against the Bengals, Eli Manning is on track to throw 18 this season, which would be the most from the four-time Pro Bowler since 2013.
Meanwhile, the Giants are also looking to clean up their dropped passes. The offense has 16 of them this season, tied for the third-most in the league, according to STATS LLC. That number is out of 241 catchable passes for a 6.6 drop percentage.
WIN THE RED ZONE
The Giants still remain the No. 1 defense in the red zone, allowing touchdowns on just 41.9 percent of opponents' trips inside the 20-yard line. But the Bengals went 2 of 3 in that department last week, scoring on Andy Dalton's 13-yard pass to wide receiver A.J. Green and a nine-yard run by Jeremy Hill. However, that was offset by the Giants scoring on all three of their trips to the red zone, including Manning's three-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to rookie wide receiver Sterling Shepard on fourth-and-goal.
COVER ON SPECIAL TEAMS
The aforementioned touchdown run by Hill on Monday night was the result of an 84-yard kickoff return from Alex Erickson to open the second half. That followed up an Eagles game in which Darren Sproles sprang a 66-yarder off a Brad Wing punt. Now the Bears come to town with Eddie Royal, who has four return touchdowns in his career, and Deonte Thompson, who averages 25.1 yards per kickoff return in five seasons. Royal had a 65-yard punt return touchdown against the Eagles in Week 2.
