Keep an eye on these five players as the Giants face the New York Jets Sunday
RB SHANE VEREEN While the Giants see the Jets just once every four years, Shane Vereen knows Gang Green better than anyone on the team from his AFC East days with the Patriots. Vereen saved some of his best performances for the Jets throughout his four years in New England, racking up 356 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns in five games. The Patriots won all five outings, and Vereen notched receiving touchdowns from distances of 83 and 49 yards, which are the longest and third-longest of his career. "I don't really sense much of a rivalry, but I do sense this is a humongous game for both teams as far as where we want to get to at the end of the season, as far as our goals for continuing this season and just playing well," Vereen said. "I know, personally, we have a lot of things offensively -- goals -- that we need to get to and start playing better. So I think in that sense, it's a huge game for both teams."
CB DOMINIQUE RODGERS-CROMARTIE The Giants' cornerback tandem of Dominique Rodgers Cromartie and Prince Amukamara will be part of a key matchup on Sunday against Jets receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, who combine for 1,631 yards and 17 touchdowns this season. "I'm not going to obviously give away the game plan," defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. "But I do think both Prince and DRC are competitive guys and somewhere in the game they're going to find themselves covering a pretty good threat."
WR HAKEEM NICKS Hakeem Nicks, the Giants' 2009 first-round draft pick, made his return to Big Blue last week in Washington. He was targeted two times and caught one pass for four yards. "He came in last week, he was motivated, he's still motivated," McAdoo said. "He's out there working, he's getting some reps again in our stuff and helping out in a bunch of different areas. He's still learning, each week is a new week, each plan is a new plan, and this defense is obviously a lot different than the one we saw last week. He'll be ready to go. We're confident he'll be ready to go."
WR ODELL BECKHAM JR. While the Odell Beckham Jr. vs. Darrelle Revis matchup is likely put on hold as the All-Pro cornerback remains in the concussion protocol, the Giants' wide receiver searches for his fifth-straight game with at least 100 receiving yards. He will do so in the comforts of MetLife Stadium, where he has 11 touchdowns and seven 100-yard performances in 11 games. "Last time I was concerned, it wasn't me versus Revis," Beckham said. "It would have been fun to be able to go against a guy like that. Obviously, you know I have high praise for him. Unfortunate that he's not playing, but down the road, you never know, there may be a matchup there. But right now we're focused on beating the Jets."
OL JUSTIN PUGH After missing the last two games with a concussion, Justin Pugh looks to bring back some normalcy to an offensive line that needed to shuffle recently. Fellow guard Geoff Schwartz was placed on injured reserve this week with a fractured lower leg, and right tackle Marshall Newhouse has been unable to practice with a back injury. That makes John Jerry and rookie Bobby Hart the next men up while center Weston Richburg has been limited by an ankle injury. Whoever is in there will have a tough test against the Jets' No. 1 rushing defense. "We talk to the players about it all the time: you can only control what you can control," offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo said. "We're going to show up and play on Sunday, doesn't matter who has a suit and who doesn't have a suit and we'll go from there. We'll have confidence in the guys that are playing and they're working out there right now, they've been working this week and we'll go with who's playing."
1. METLIFE SHOWDOWN
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Once every four years, the Giants and Jets come up in the NFL's schedule rotation, and the two tenants of MetLife Stadium will square off this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
The Giants, who are the "host" team, have taken the last five meetings and are 8-4 overall against the Jets, whose last victory in the series came on Halloween in 1993.
"Well, as I said earlier in the week, it's December in the National Football League and both teams have opportunities," coach Tom Coughlin said. "Because of that, it's a big game, there's no way around it. It's an important football game for both teams." 2. MORE THAN BRAGGING RIGHTS
The local rivalry is trumped by the two sides' respective playoff hunts. The Giants, who are coming off consecutive losses, dropped to 5-6 on the season and are tied with the Redskins atop the NFC East (Washington currently holds the tiebreaker based on division record). Meanwhile, the Jets (6-5) sit four games back of the AFC East-leading Patriots and are one of seven AFC teams within .500 as they vie for a Wild Card spot. 3. PUGH PROBABLE; GIANTS INJURY REPORT
Out: TE Larry Donnell (neck), LB Devon Kennard (hamstring/foot), S Brandon Meriweather (knee)
Questionable: C Weston Richburg (ankle), RT Marshall Newhouse (back)
Probable: OL Justin Pugh (concussion), DE Robert Ayers Jr. (toe), DE Jason Pierre-Paul (hand), FB Nikita Whitlock (not injury related)
4. REVIS OUT; JETS INJURY REPORT
Out: CB Darrelle Revis (concussion)
Doubtful: CB Marcus Williams (knee), DB Dion Bailey (ankle)
Questionable: LB Calvin Pace (abdomen)
Probable: WR Eric Decker (knee), QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (left thumb), C Nick Mangold (hand), WR Brandon Marshall (toe/ankle), LB Trevor Reilly (knee), DB Buster Skrine (shoulder) 5. BECKHAM DOMINANT AT HOME
While the Beckham vs. Revis matchup is put on hold, the Giants' wide receiver searches for his fifth-straight game with at least 100 receiving yards. He will do so in the comforts of MetLife Stadium, where he has 11 touchdowns and seven 100-yard performances in 11 games. 6. REX-LESS DEFENSE STILL STINGY
From 2009-2014, Rex Ryan's Jets ranked first in passing yards allowed, first in yards allowed per play, and second in total yards allowed per game. And even though he's now the head coach of Buffalo -- which the Giants defeated in Week 4 -- the Jets are just as dominant on defense under first-year head coach Todd Bowles, who like Ryan was a defensive coordinator before getting the job. The Jets currently have the No. 3 defense in yards allowed and are No. 1 against the run.
7. FITZPATRICK UNDER CENTER
Last week Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick became the first player in NFL history to throw at least four touchdown passes in a single game for four different teams (Bills, Titans, Texans, and Jets). The journeyman is on pace for a career year with 20 touchdown passes already and has been sacked just 11 times, the fewest among regular starting quarterbacks in the NFL. 8. MATCHING UP WITH MARSHALL & DECKER; IVORY TOO
The Giants' cornerback tandem of Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Prince Amukamara will be part of a key matchup on Sunday against Jets receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, who combine for 1,631 yards and 17 touchdowns this season. Meanwhile, the Jets are 5-0 when running back Chris Ivory has at least 20 carries. 9. O-LINE FACES TOUGH TEST
While the Giants hope to get two starting offensive linemen back in Richburg and Pugh, the team had to place Geoff Schwartz on injured reserve this week with a fractured lower leg. Meanwhile, Newhouse remains questionable, and that could open the door for rookie Bobby Hart, who was thrust into his first NFL action last week. Whoever is in there will have a tough test against the Jets' No. 1 run defense, which also has 25 sacks this season. 10. DECEMBER DOESN'T GET ANY EASIER
The Giants have one of the toughest remaining schedules in the league with their opponents owning a combined record of 33-22, including the undefeated Panthers. Three of the five games are against top-10 defenses in yards and scoring: Jets, Panthers, and Vikings.
Playmakers on Jets first-team offense, defense, and special teams, presented by Nike
QB RYAN FITZPATRICK
RB CHRIS IVORY
FB TOMMY BOHANON
WR BRANDON MARSHALL
WR ERIC DECKER
TE JEFF CUMBERLAND
RT BRENO GIACOMINI
RG BRIAN WINTERS
LG JAMES CARPENTER
CENTER NICK MANGOLD
LT D'BRICKASHAW FERGUSON
CB ANTONIO CROMARTIE
CB DARRELLE REVIS
DT DAMON HARRISON
DE LEONARD WILLIAMS
DE MUHAMMAD WILKERSON
SAFETY MARCUS GILCHRIST
LB CALVIN PACE
LB DAVID HARRIS
LB DEMARIO DAVIS
SS CALVIN PRYOR
KICKER RANDY BULLOCK
PUNTER RYAN QUIGLEY
