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Storylines to follow in Week 3 matchup vs. Browns

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The Giants will look to pick up their first win of the season this Sunday when they travel to Cleveland to face off against the Browns. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET.

The team dropped to 0-2 following a 21-18 loss the Commanders on the road. On the other sideline, the Browns went to Jacksonville and defeated the Jaguars, 18-13, to improve their record to 1-1.

"I think you just have to focus on the week at hand," coach Brian Daboll said Monday when asked about the Giants' start. "I've been part of some 0-2 teams that ended up pretty well. I know they have here. So again, what really happened 10 years ago or last year, like I've always said, really has no bearing on anything this season. I thought we made some improvements in a lot of areas. Need to continue to improve on the things that we're not doing well at this time and focus on the Cleveland Browns."

Following Sunday's game in Cleveland, the Giants will have a short week as the Cowboys come to East Rutherford for an NFC East matchup on Thursday Night Football.

Here are five storylines to follow in Giants vs. Browns:

'It's a long NFL season'

The Giants saw some improvements on both sides of the ball against the Commanders in Week 2. However, Austin Seibert's seventh field goal of the day as time expired sealed the 21-18 victory for the Commanders in Week 2.

"Each week we got to focus on the team we're playing and the things we need to do to go out there and perform well," Daboll said Monday. "And that's where our guys' heads are at. That's where they're going to be at. Learn from the things from one week to the next and keep improving."

Daboll added, "This is two games in, so it's a long NFL season."

After dropping the season opener at home to the Dallas Cowboys, the Browns went on the road to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars this past weekend. Cleveland's defense stepped up in a big way and helped lead the Browns to an 18-13 victory.

"I think if you have the right perspective and mindset of making the corrections week to week, you'll get better and you'll like where you're at later on in the season," linebacker Bobby Okereke said earlier in the week. "So that's where our focus is. We made some corrections from Week 1 to Week 2. We like the progress, still not where we need to be, so we'll make the corrections from Week 2 to (Week) 3 and we'll get a better result."

"I'd say the focus is on doing everything you can do this week, like we try to do every week," Daboll told reporters Wednesday. "You put as much preparation time of going back and studying tape as a coaching staff, trying to scheme things up in all three phases and then the players come in and you have meetings with them. You really got to focus on the game you're playing this week, which is the Cleveland Browns. They're 1-1. They just played a good game down in Jacksonville."

View photos of the Giants on the practice fields ahead of their Week 3 matchup.

Nabers' breakout

The biggest bright spot from Week 2 was the performance of rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers, who put on a show in Washington with 10 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown. The 21-year-old was targeted 18 times (out of 28 pass attempts from Daniel Jones), as his 69.2 percent target rate was the highest by any wide receiver who ran at least 15 routes in a game since 2016.

"He's a talented player that can do things with the ball in his hand and you saw that yesterday," Daboll said. "(He) gained in a lot of yards after contact, as did Wan'Dale (Robinson) when Wan'Dale got the ball thrown to him. So that's going to be, that's going to have to be a big part of our game. We have players that can do something with the ball in their hands in space, run after catch-wise, and we'll continue to build off that."

The No. 6 overall pick finds himself among the league leaders in numerous receiving categories heading into Week 3. He ranks fourth in receiving yards (193) and tied for second in receptions (15) and targets (25). Nabers also leads the NFL in receptions of 20+ yards with five, one year after he recorded the most 10+ yard, 20+ yard and 30+ yard plays in the nation in his final season at LSU. He also has the league's highest target share (39.1 percent), the second-highest air yards share (57.9 percent), and the third-most yards after the catch among wide receivers (109).

Nabers has a tough challenge this week as he could be matched up against Browns cornerback Denzel Ward often. The three-time Pro Bowl corner was listed as a full participant on the injury report throughout last week and was not given a game designation on the final injury report. However, Ward played just 11 total snaps against the Jaguars. The talented corner has given up just three receptions for 66 yards on 11 targets this season while totaling four passes defensed on a mere 38 coverage snaps.

Continue to build on offense

The Giants' offense made a big jump from Week 1 to Week 2 in several different areas, starting with the passing game. Quarterback Daniel Jones took advantage of a struggling Commanders secondary and threw for 178 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers, which earned him a passer rating of 100.0. He also added 32 yards on five carries, good for an average of 6.4 yards per carry.

A big reason why Jones improved in Week 2 was the pass protection. One week after Jones was sacked five times in the season opener, the sixth-year quarterback was sacked just once for three yards against the Commanders. The starting offensive line, which has played every snap together through the first two weeks of the season, surrendered just seven total pressures against the Washington pass rush that features some talented pieces.

The offensive line also did a great job of opening up running lanes for Devin Singletary, who enjoyed some success in Week 2. The veteran running back took 16 rush attempts for 95 yards, finishing with an average of 5.9 yards per carry, and a touchdown, although he did lose a fumble. Perhaps the most impressive part of Singletary's performance against the Commanders was his elusiveness, as the 27-year-old forced 10 missed tackles, gained 57 yards after contact, and had four separate runs of 10+ yards. Singletary also contributed in pass protection, not giving up a single pressure on 13 pass block snaps.

The offense will face its biggest challenge yet on Sunday. Cleveland allowed the fewest yards in the league last season, led by the NFL's No. 1 passing defense. Joining Ward in the Browns' secondary is cornerback Greg Newsome and safeties Grant Delpit and Ronnie Hickman. However, the Cleveland defense is undoubtedly led by defensive end Myles Garrett. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year has gotten his 2024 campaign off to a strong start with a strip sack in each of his first two games. His 32 sacks since 2022 leads the NFL, along with his 323 quarterback pressures since 2020.

"He's one of the best ones in the league," Daboll said about Garrett. "They've lined him up in a variety of spots. He's explosive. He's strong. He's powerful. He's got good size. He can run. He takes the ball away. He gets it away from the quarterback. You do the best job you can on practicing with the look team, but it's never the same until you're playing a player like that. He's a high-level player in this league. He's been for a long time. He's one of the really good ones. He's certainly a challenge."

The good and the bad

The Giants' defense had mixed results in last weekend's NFC East matchup. The unit struggled to slow down the Commanders' rushing attack, as Brian Robinson Jr. broke out for a career-high 133 yards and 7.8 average yards per carry, Austin Ekeler added 38 yards on eight carries, and quarterback Jayden Daniels contributed an additional 44 yards on the ground. Altogether, Washington finished with 215 rushing yards and an average of just over 6.0 yards per carry. Due to their success running the football, the Commanders dominated the time of possession, 37:32 to 22:28.

The Giants also had difficulty getting off the field on third down. The Commanders converted on 50 percent of their third down attempts (seven of 14), in addition to their lone fourth down attempt. In the season opener, Washington was only able to convert on two of their eight third down tries. All of this led to the Commanders scoring on every single one of their drives, except for a kneel-down before halftime.

There was a big positive for the defense, though. The unit, led by defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, has emphasized the importance of "protecting their house" when opponents get into the red zone. Well, the Commanders had six trips inside the Giants' 20-yard line on Sunday, and the defense was able to keep them out of the end zone every time. Washington even got the ball inside the 10-yard line on four occasions, and each time the defense held tough. The pass rush also registered five sacks and seven quarterback hits on Daniels, a big improvement from their one sack and two quarterback hits in the opener.

"Four-point plays are critical," Daboll told the media Wednesday about the team's red zone defense. "Three-point game. Playing well in the red zone, you've got to do a good job of keeping them out of the red zone more and continue to evolve offensively and score when we're down in the red zone, which in the first game we didn't. Last game we did. The consistency factor early on in the year on both sides we'll continue to work on."

The Giants also have to be encouraged by the performance of rookies Tyler Nubin and Dru Phillips in Week 2. Nubin played every defensive snap for the second consecutive game, joining Bobby Okereke and Tae Banks as the only players on defense to do so through two weeks, and totaled five tackles (three solo). Phillips was on the field for 92 percent of the defensive snaps and finished second on the team with 12 tackles (seven solo), a sack, two tackles for loss and a quarterback hit. The nickel corner has allowed just five receptions for 26 yards as the nearest defender in coverage this season, according to Next Gen Stats.

Scouting the Browns

The strength of the Browns certainly lies with its defense. Myles Garrett has been named first-team All-Pro in three of the last four seasons and has been selected to the Pro Bowl in each of the last four years. He has 32.0 sacks since 2022 and 323 quarterback pressures since 2020, both of which lead the NFL, while his 20 turnovers caused from QB pressures since 2020 is also the most in the NFL. Meanwhile, Denzel Ward is a three-time Pro Bowl cornerback that has registered a 25.0 completion percentage allowed as the nearest defender, which is tied for the fifth-lowest in the league this season.

Since the start of the 2023 campaign, the Browns' defense has absolutely dominated while playing at home. The unit ranks first in total yards per game allowed (220.8), pass yards allowed per game (130.0), and three-and-out percentage (51.9) while playing in front of their home fans, while their 15.8 points per game allowed ranks second. Their total yards per game allowed at home is nearly 50 yards fewer than the next-best team. Since Kevin Stefanski took over as head coach in 2020, the Browns have started 2-1 in four straight seasons, due in large part to the performance of the defense.

While Cleveland's defense has thrived in recent seasons, the offense has struggled to find the same consistency. Quarterback Deshaun Watson is 6-2 as a starter since 2023, but has just a 77.6 passer rating. In his three seasons with the Browns, Watson has earned a 78.2 passer rating, which ranks 37th out of 39 quarterbacks with 400+ pass attempts since 2022. However, Watson seems to step up in the fourth quarter, as his 71.2 completion percentage and 106.9 passer rating in the fourth quarter both rank second in the NFL since 2023 among players with four or more starts. In two starts this season, the 29-year-old has completed 58.2 percent of his passes for 355 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions while adding 59 yards and a score on the ground.

"I think Deshaun is a good player," Daboll said. "They started out fast against Jacksonville last week. They had a 17-play drive. They utilized him in a variety of ways. He can operate the empty game well where he gets it out quick. They use him in the action game. They can zone read him. He's done that as well. Scramble to loose plays. He's a strong player to bring down. You saw that against (Cowboys linebacker) Micah Parsons in the Dallas game where he scrambles, gets to the right. He's got the ball in one hand, waves it around, throws it down the field strong. He's played the game for a long time. I got a lot of respect for Deshaun's game."

In the run game, Jerome Ford leads the way with 108 yards on 19 carries (5.7 avg.) while D'Onta Foreman is not far behind with 10 rush attempts for 42 yards (3.0 avg.). Each back has been the starting running back for one game this season. Starting tight end David Njoku missed Week 2 with an ankle injury and Stefanski told reporters Wednesday that it's "unlikely" he plays this week. Elsewhere in the passing game, wide receiver Jerry Jeudy has a team-high 98 receiving yards and caught Watson's lone passing touchdown. Amari Cooper has just five receptions for 27 yards through two games, while Elijah Moore leads the Browns with nine receptions, but for just 53 yards.

View rare photos of the storied history between the New York Giants and Browns.

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