Still in the thick of things at 3-7
Giants road favorite at Burrow-less Bengals with first place in sight
Despite losing their first five games and starting 3-7, the New York Giants find themselves in a surprising playoff derby in the NFC East.
The Giants are in the thick of it and have already beaten divisional rivals Washington (4-7) twice, and split games with Philadelphia (3-6-1).
Now they go on the road to face Cincinnati (2-7-1) on Sunday and are in position to take advantage of the Bengals’ recent misfortune. Rookie quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a seasonending knee injury in last week’s loss to Washington, and the Bengals are expected to start either practicesquad QB
Brandon
Allen or Ryan
Finley, who seemed overwhelmed when he had to enter the game suddenly after the team’s franchise QB was carted off.
Before a bye week, the Giants beat the Eagles 27-7 after they squeaked by Washington 23-20. With six games to play, they’re trying not to think about the possibility of the playoffs — yet.
“It’s kind of hard for us to look that far ahead,” defensive end Leonard Williams acknowledged “If we do something like that, we might mess around and overlook a team.”
The Giants, who are a 6-point favorite over the Bengals, realize it’s unusual for a team to start the way they did and not be dwelling in the divisional basement, playing out the games with an eye on next season.
“It’s a unique opportunity for us,” Giants tight end Evan En
gram said. “Yeah, it’s a lot of meaningful football for us. We’re heading into it with the right mindset, getting ready for it.”
The renewed energy and hope generated by Burrow’s exciting play in Cincinnati was extinguished when he was sandwiched between two Washington defenders after throwing a pass Sunday. His left knee was bent in an unnatural direction. It’s not an overstatement to say the team was in shock.
“We don’t have any time to hang our heads and feel sorry for ourselves,” Bengals secondyear coach Zac Taylor said.
Changing it up
This will be the Giants’ first game with Dave DeGuglielmo in charge of the offensive line. Before the bye week, coach Joe Judge fired o-line assistant Marc Colombo. Judge wanted to hire Deguglielmo as a consultant, and Colombo objected a little too much.
After a slow start, the young line has been performing well, particularly in establishing the running game. New York has gained at least 100 yards rushing in six of the last seven games.
Kicking COVID-19
Giants kicker Graham Gano tested positive for COVID-19 after the Philadelphia game Nov. 15. There is a chance he will be back on Sunday.
Gano, who has made 20 straight field goal attempts, has been isolating in a hotel room. He recently released a video showing him kicking into a net in his room.
If Gano cannot play, the Giants probably will use Ryan Santoso, who was added to the roster from the practice squad.