Giants quarterback Eli Manning will face a New England Patriots defense today that allows an NFL-worst 323 passing yards a game.Giants (5-2) at New England Patriots (5-2)
Week 9
Today, 4:15 p.m.
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.
TV: Fox
Radio: WFAN 660-AM
THIS WEEK’S GAME REVOLVES AROUND ...
Eli Manning
By now the story is old and tired, but the point stands the same. If Manning wants to prove he’s elite, there’s no better time to do so than the week he’s facing Tom Brady, the quarterback to whom he drew comparisons. Especially because this will be a game in which the passing game will be vital. The Patriots allow a league-worst 323 passing yards a game and second-to-last 8.3 yards per pass attempt. New England is also down to only a handful of capable cornerbacks and their best one, Rutgers product Devin McCourty, has struggled this year. If he plays, Hakeem Nicks will be doing so with an injured hamstring so it will be on Manning to make the most of what he’s got. The Steelers dominated time of possession last week for more than 39 minutes by throwing the ball 50 times. New England is 30th in the NFL in stopping third-down conversion, allowing conversions at a 46.1 percent clip. Manning was 10-of-15 passing last week on third down and the Giants may need to use a similar plan to maintain the ball and keep Brady and the offense at bay. If Manning keeps circulating the ball around as well as he has been (five different receivers have been targeted at least 24 times), he may find a weak spot in the Pats’ defense for tight end Jake Ballard with FootballOutsiders.com showing that New England is 27th in the NFL in stopping tight ends.
THE SAVVY FAN IS WATCHING …
Antrel Rolle and Deon Grant
These two will have a large burden. The Patriots love to attack the middle of the field. Wes Welker does his best work in the slot and between the hash marks, finding a way to get open even when covered. Tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski also cause trouble. Hernandez is too fast to be covered by a linebacker, and on vertical routes he creates easy mismatches. Gronkowski can be too physical for a cornerback so the role of covering him could fall to the safeties, who need to be strong enough to muscle up with him — especially in the red zone where he uses his body like a basketball player underneath the basket to get position.
PAST MEETINGS
Oct. 18, 1970 at New England: Giants 16, Patriots 0
Sept. 22, 1974: Patriots 28, Giants 20
Nov. 8, 1987: Giants 17, Patriots 10
Dec. 30, 1990 at New England: Giants 13, Patriots 10
Dec. 21, 1996: Patriots 23, Giants 22
Sept. 26, 1999 at New England: Patriots 16, Giants 14
Oct. 12, 2003 at New England: Patriots 17, Giants 6
Dec. 29, 2007: Patriots 38, Giants 35
Feb. 3, 2008, Super Bowl XLII: Giants 17, Patriots 14
Remember when ...
The Giants and Patriots played one of the most memorable Super Bowls ever. Super Bowl XLII saw the Patriots come in as 18-0 juggernauts while the Giants were 14-point underdogs. Instead, the Giants’ pass rush caused havoc for New England and forced Tom Brady into a rough day. Eli Manning completed two memorable passes, one to David Tyree that will be remembered as the “Helmet Catch” and the game-winning touchdown throw to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds remaining, on his way to the Super Bowl MVP award.
Star-Ledger reporters Mike Vorkunov, Steve Politi and Giants beat writer Mike Garafolo discuss the upcoming Giants at the Patriots game
Star-Ledger reporters Mike Vorkunov, Steve Politi and Giants beat writer Mike Garafolo discuss the upcoming Giants at the Patriots game up in Foxboro. They go over the team getting into the tough part of the schedule and taking on the Patriots that have not lost in Foxboro in the last 18 tries. (Video by William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)
Watch video
WHAT THE PATRIOTS DON’T WANT THE GIANTS TO KNOW
1. They can run the ball
New England may not do it often, only running on 36 percent of their plays, but when they do, it can be effective. The Patriots are 12th in the NFL in yards per carry at 4.5 yards. BenJarvus Green-Ellis can wear down a defense — look no further than what he did to the Jets in the fourth quarter — and Steve Ridley has explosive ability — averaging 6.4 yards per carry. With defenses predicated on stopping Brady and the well-oiled passing machine, when the Patriots do sneak in runs, they can often be productive.
2. They’re not exclusively a 3-4 team
The Patriots are known for running a 3-4 base defense, with three down linemen and four linebackers, but that’s not exactly the case. They do a good job of mixing it up with a 4-3 formation where they can more effectively rush the passer with Andre Carter and Mark Anderson — who are their leading pass rushers with 4 1/2 sacks each. Carter has especially been effective with two sacks apiece in each of the last two games. But even when it looks like they are running a 3-4, it can be deceptive as linebacker Rob Ninkovich comes off the edge, sometimes even getting into three-point stance at the last second.
3. The receiving corps isn’t just three-deep
Forgotten behind Wes Welker’s outstanding season and the two-headed tight end combination of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski is Deion Branch. Very quietly, he’s having a good season. He’s 36th in the league in receptions and 33rd in receiving yards, but that’s as a third or fourth option most games. According to FootballOutsiders.com, Branch is actually a top-15 receiver when taking the opponent’s defense and situation into play. Not bad for someone playing in the shadows.
POSITION BREAKDOWNS
Quarterback
As great of a year as Eli Manning is having, he still falls behind Tom Brady in most major categories.
Edge: Patriots
Running back
Since the start of last season, BenJarvus-Green Ellis has the third most rushing touchdowns in the NFL with 18.
Edge: Giants
Wide receiver
Wes Welker has been the most targeted receiver in the league and leads the NFL in catches.
Edge: Patriots
Offensive line
The Patriots’ offensive line has opened the running lanes at 4.5 yards per attempt, 12th best in the NFL this season.
Edge: Patriots
Defensive line
Mathias Kiwanuka got into the act last week with 1½ sacks, his third straight week with at least one.
Edge: Giants
Linebackers
Jerod Mayo returned last week against the Steelers to help a defense that has been middle of the pack against the run.
Edge: Patriots
Secondary
Devin McCourty has fallen from last year’s Pro Bowl performance as a rookie as the Patriots have the league’s worst pass defense.
Edge: Giants
Special teams
At 13.6 yards per return, Julian Edelman has the highest punt return average in franchise history.
Edge: Patriots
Giants center David Baas will not play against the Patriots today, thanks to a knee injury.FOUR DOWNS WITH ...
Center David Baas
1. Though the running game hasn’t always been successful, does it open up the passing game for Eli Manning because of the number of defenders flooding the line of scrimmage?
We have to realize that there’s times when that will happen but we still have to run it better and get better numbers even though they are bringing a lot of people because we know we can do that. But of course once it’s the opposite way and they’re all out coming after us and we’re able to throw it over their head and we can make better pass plays, we’ll take that, too. You never settle for the numbers that you see, you always want to improve that.
2. More than usual this week, did Tom Coughlin make it a point of emphasis to get the running game going?
We’re going about it the same way. We know what it is. The statistics are statistics; they don’t lie. But there’s a lot of different scenarios within those statistics that, you know, everybody is really involved with it. It’s the offensive line, it’s the tight ends, the running backs that can all help this thing get going and have our numbers be better. But there’s a lot of stuff that we leave out there. So it’s definitely an emphasis each and every week. We constantly have to get better because sometimes it’s execution; sometimes it’s a misread. It’s all of us. That’s fine. The offensive line usually puts stuff on our shoulders and we’ll take this one, too. It’s something that’s been here for a really long time and we have to have that going forward to really have a good balance. It is an important emphasis. It’s just like (David) Diehl said, it’s a challenge each and every week. NFL teams are all good but it would be a good statement to get something done against a very good team like the Patriots. But we’re not going to all of a sudden panic. We just have to keep working at it and I feel like it’ll be there.
3. Is it difficult to look at this schedule and say this is what lies in front of us and not look at this first game. How do you approach it? The coach’s mindset is just one game, what about you?
Yeah, one game. It has to be. If you get caught up in all of that other stuff, ‘Oh, guess who’s coming up in two weeks? San Francisco.’ You know, you can’t look at that. You have to take it one week at a time and focus on that. That really helps. Truthfully, the only reason I know we play San Francisco after the Patriots is because it’s San Francisco. I can’t tell you who we play after San Francisco. I truly can’t. It just doesn’t get to that point until that week.
4. Watching them on film, do they play a lot of 4-3 and rush the passer out of that formation instead of the 3-4 they’re thought to play?
They have that personnel. They’ll line up a certain way where they’ll have almost like a 3-4 look but they’ll have Andre (Carter) outside and let him get after the passer. They had Tully Banta-Cain there for a while. They’re good pass rushers, no doubt about it. They’re fast. Andre has been around for 11 years or so, pretty savvy. They’re going to try to get the push up front, that way the quarterback can’t step up. It’s a challenge. For sure it is. We just have to match that and go beyond that.
ONE MORE THING ...
History does not seem to be on the Giants’ side. The Patriots have won 20 straight home games during the regular season, they are 26-2 since 2003 following a regular season loss, Tom Brady has won 31 straight home starts during the regular season and are 18-1 at Gillette Stadium against NFC teams.
Mike Vorkunov: mvorkunov@starledger.com
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