Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images The Patriots will travel to East Rutherford in Week 12. For the first time since the 2015 season, the New England Patriots will travel to East Rutherford to take on the New York Giants in a regular season game. Obviously, both teams have struggled so far this season — the Patriots are 2-8, the Giants 3-8 — but they will still play to win even with draft position possibly on the line. If the Patriots want to leave New Jersey with their third W of the season under their collective belt, they need to show significant improvement compared to their pre-bye week performances. They also need to find a way to either exploit the following players, or keep them in check. QB Tommy DeVito: The Giants’ quarterback position has had its issues this year, both in terms of play and availability. Starter Daniel Jones struggled before suffering a season-ending ACL tear, while primary backup Tyrod Taylor played slightly better but has also been sent to injured reserve since. Enter Tommy DeVito. An undrafted rookie out of Syracuse and Illinois, DeVito started the season on the practice squad before first being pushed into action in late October. Since then, he has appeared in four games with two starts, going 49-of-80 (61.3%) for 506 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. But while the numbers are solid, DeVito has had his expected rookie growing pains. That said, he has performed reasonably well within the Giants’ scheme and also had some solid moments. Tommy Devito has a TD pass in each of his past 3 games, throwing multiple in both career startsScheme and Saquon Barkley have done a lot of the work, but he had a dot last week and made up for a missed read and quick bail vs the Raiders by finding an open man off-schedule pic.twitter.com/80cg19LnUP— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) November 21, 2023 New England’s defense should be able to keep DeVito in check by challenging his lack of experience, but he cannot be underestimated either. He looked good working on schedule, and also has shown he can improvise when things go wrong around him (which, given the Giants’ pass blocking, happens frequently). RB Saquon Barkley: The Giants signed their star running back to what is effectively a modified franchise tag deal this offseason, and he responded by proving himself the team’s best player on the offensive side of the ball. The numbers illustrate how he has been able to find success both as a runner and a receiver out of the backfield. Barkley has carried the ball 153 times for 651 yards and one touchdown this season — most on the team in all three categories — while also catching 27 passes for 162 yards and a team-leading four scores. His combined 813 scrimmage yards rank only 13th in the NFL among running backs, but he has shown that he can be a productive player even when those around him are not always up to the task. Saquon Barkley's 8 explosive runs since Week 9 are 3rd-most over that span. So good at setting up his blockers and weaving through tight spaces
Most of these have been on outside zone and pin-pull, usually outside left, but he's made some impressive cutbacks and had a big gain… pic.twitter.com/WAE5EEIjRR— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) November 21, 2023 WR Wan’Dale Robinson: Among the pass catchers that are expected to be available for the Giants on Sunday, nobody has more catches (32) and receiving yards (239) than second-year wideout Wan’Dale Robinson. Despite coming off a torn ACL, and having to play with a wild mix of quarterback talent, the former second-round draft pick has been a productive player for New York. Some of it has to do with his skillset as a shifty option from the slot, but the Giants have also done a good job scheming up touches for him; they like to use him in a Tyreek Hill-esque role within their offense from time to time, to stress a defense’s coverage rules and assignments. Wan'Dale Robinson also got loose after catching a hitch off of upfield jet motion, another Miami staple pic.twitter.com/8xBz3hDTKs— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) November 21, 2023 It remains to be seen how Patriots will approach covering Robinson, who effectively is serving as the team’s No. 1 wide receiver with Darius Slayton doubtful to play because of a neck injury. With him lining up in the slot on three fourths of his snaps, however, the team might turn to either Jonathan Jones — if J.C. Jackson and Shaun Wade start on the perimeter — or a mix of Myles Bryant and Jalen Mills. LG Justin Pugh and RG Ben Bredeson: The Patriots’ pass protection this season has been spotty, but it has looked significantly better than New York’s. There is no other way to say it: the Giants’ pass blocking has been putrid, ranking worst in the league in sacks given up (63) and sack rate (16.2%). The issues extend across the board, with the two guard spots in particular being a problem. The two projected starters, Justin Pugh and Ben Bredeson, have given up a combined 36 pressures this year; and while half of Pugh’s came when he lined up as a stand-in left tackle, he also has not looked much better playing inside. On the flip side, this creates an opportunity for Patriots interior lineman Christian Barmore to impose his will. The third-year man has played some high-quality football lately, and should be a handful for New York’s underwhelming O-line. DT D.J. Davidson and DT Rakeem Nuñez-Roches: Under normal circumstances, defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence would have a spot on this list. However, the veteran defensive tackle is doubtful to play in the game because of a hamstring injury. With him likely out, the Giants will miss their best and most disruptive defender: Lawrence has picked up 53 quarterback pressures and a 16.8-percent pressure rate — first in the NFL among all interior defensive linemen. With him about to miss the game, the Giants’ depth at the position will be tested. That includes fellow starter A’Shawn Robinson, but particularly the top backups, D.J. Davidson and Rakeem Nuñez-Roches. Davidson and Nuñez-Roches are obviously not of the same quality as Lawrence, but they are solid players in their own right. That being said, they have seen most of their action as rotational early-down options this year and need to prove themselves in the pass rusher department. In turn, the Patriots’ interior defensive line has caught a break: with Lawrence being replaced by those two, the job has gotten noticeable easier. ED Kayvon Thibodeaux: The Giants’ pass rush has not stood out this season, even with Dexter Lawrence being a menace up the middle. The team enters Week 12 ranked just 27th in total sacks (19) and 18th in pressure rate (21.1%), with two players responsible for a significant part of that production: Lawrence and edge Kayvon Thibodeaux. The fifth overall selection in last year’s draft, Thibodeaux has successfully taken the second-year jump and already outperformed his rookie production: after notching 4.0 sacks all of last year, he stands at a team-high 10.5 already this season; his 32 total hurries are second behind only Lawrence. His work as a pass rusher speaks for itself, but Thibodeaux also is a solid run defender. While a bit more hit-or-miss in that area, teams have not had an easy time moving the ball on the ground against him. Running left toward Kayvon Thibodeaux rarely went well for the Commanders last week
Dexter Lawrence also had his share of monster reps and A'Shawn Robinson made some plays in pursuit pic.twitter.com/thvJ5NQvCs— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) November 21, 2023 LB Bobby Okereke: Speaking of run defense: no player on the Giants’ roster has more tackles for loss in the running game than off-the-ball linebacker Bobby Okereke’s seven. In total, the first-year Giant, who started his career as a third-round draft pick by the Indianapolis Colts, has notched a team-high 105 tackles — and that’s not all. Okereke also has intercepted a pass, ranks fourth among the team’s available players in quarterback pressures (10), and forced four fumbles. LB #58 Bobby Okereke forced 2 fumbles last week
Hunter Henry nearly coughed one up last week, but the #Patriots have been good about avoiding those kinds of giveaways overall pic.twitter.com/6Ye4cSPmNy— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) November 21, 2023 Okereke is a true all-around linebacker, and somebody the Patriots’ quarterback — be it Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe — needs to keep an eye out on at the second level of the defense. CB Deonte Banks: The Patriots’ first-round rookie cornerback lasted only four games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. The Giants’ meanwhile, is still going strong: Deonte Banks, who was drafted 24th overall out of Maryland, has appeared in all 11 of New York’s games so far this season. The results have been uneven, though. While he surrendered catches on only 58.8 percent of his targets (40 of 68), he has given up a team-high 528 passing yards and three touchdowns; he also picked up one pass but he has had some inconsistency to his play this year. The Patriots are not necessarily well-equipped to exploit this, but they should still not shy away from testing Banks despite his draft status.
Source: https://www.patspulpit.com/2023/11/25/2 ... thibodeaux
