Dec

21

Week 16 Preview: New York Giants at Buffalo

Posted by Matt Loede under Buffalo Bills, New York Giants 

Lee Evans makes a catch in the snow

Don’t look now Giants fans, but the collapse of 2007 seems to be well in effect.  Yes, the Giants, as they always seem to do in the second half of the season, are not playing all that well, and after a 6-2 start, they have gone 3-3 in their last six games.  This week they sorely need a win, as they will travel to Buffalo to take on the Bills Sunday afternoon.  The Giants last week in tough conditions against the Redskins threw the ball way too much, and despite a solid day on the ground from Brandon Jacobs, the Giants forced it with the pass game.

The Giants wide outs and other pass catchers need to simply CATCH THE BALL.  As poorly as Eli Manning threw at parts of the game vs Washington, the receivers didn’t help as they dropped at least seven balls.  Their offense is 18th in the league, 328.8 yards per game, and Sunday vs the 30th ranked defense they had better play better or Tom Coughlin is going to blow his stack.  Manning is having another tough second half as well, and it has shown.  This year he’s thrown 19 TD’s and 17 picks, numbers you’d expect better from a former overall #1 pick.

The Bills will use a lot of Marshawn Lynch Sunday, as the first-round draft choice in the snow in Cleveland still ran for 82 yards in the 8-0 loss.  Trent Edwards gets the start again, and as bad as the conditions were Sunday, he kept the team in the game and they had a shot to score and possibly tie the game at the end.  One big key for the Bills is to make sure to protect Edwards, as the Giants still have a solid 49 sacks on the year.

So this one may come down to the very end.  While the Giants would seem to have the advantages, they have played tight in the second half of the year, and right now it looks as if they are trying hard not to have that “here we go again” attitude.  I like the way the Bills have responded this whole season when things are tough, and I think they will sneak this one out to move to 8-7 and hand New York a huge loss in terms of keeping their eyes on the postseason.


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