Giants could play spoilers to Titans’ playoff hopes
The Tennessee Titans and New York Giants aren’t paying much attention to playoff scenarios.
They are on the outside looking in at the postseason heading into their game today at MetLife Stadium, and their best chance to make the playoffs is to win their three remaining games.
The road for the Titans (7-6) is not as complicated as for the Giants (5-8).
Tennessee has won two in a row and it needs to win out against the Giants, Washington and Indianapolis, while Baltimore and Miami each lose once.
Despite winning four of five since the bye week, the Giants need a miracle to get to the postseason. It would involve winning their final three (Indianapolis and Dallas after Tennessee) and getting a ton of help. The oddsmakers have given them a less than one percent chance of success.
The bottom line is Eli Manning, Saquon Barkley and company are playing well and they will be a major challenge for the Titans, who have been inconsistent since the start of October.
The Giants are coming off their best game in years. Playing without star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (quadriceps), they beat the Washington Redskins 40-16 in a game in which Manning threw three touchdowns and turned things over to rookie Kyle Lauletta at the start of the fourth quarter with a 40-0 lead.
“We have so many weapons on this team, and we’re still figuring it out,” said Barkley, who ran for a career-best 170 yards and scored on a 78-yard run. “Right now, when you got Eli throwing for three touchdowns and we’re rushing for over 200 yards as a team, special teams is playing great, defense is giving us great field position with the help of special teams, our defense is making plays. That’s what coach has been saying, teams beat teams. Players don’t beat teams. We’ve been playing at a high level as a team. We got to keep it up down the stretch, and it starts with the Titans.”
Five things to watch today:
Run Saquon. Catch Saquon.
Barkley has rushed for at least 100 yards in four straight games and is third in the NFL with 1,124 yards rushing. His 5.4-yard average is the team’s highest since Brandon Jacobs averaged 5.6 in 2006. The rookie also is second in the league with 1,753 yards from scrimmage, 11 yards behind Ezekiel Elliott of Dallas. Barkley leads the Giants with 78 catches, one more than Beckham. He needs 11 receptions in the final three games to break Reggie Bush’s 2006 record of 88 by a rookie running back.
Sack attack
The sacks are finally coming in bunches for the Giants. After getting 14 in the first 11 games, the defense has had five each in the last two games.
Run Derrick run
Derrick Henry just posted the first 100-yard rushing performance this season for Tennessee with his franchiserecord 238 yards in the Titans’ rout of Jacksonville. Now the question is whether he can follow that up. The TItans haven’t had back-to-back 100yard rushing performances since DeMarco Murray in October 2016.
Pick happy
The Giants have 11 interceptions since their bye week, linebacker Alec Ogletree leading the way with four in the last four games, including two touchdown returns. Safety Curtis Riley got New York on the scoreboard against Washington last weekend with a 9-yard return for a touchdown. This is the first season the Giants have scored three touchdowns on interception runbacks since 2007. . 27-24 victory at Heinz Field last season that included a chaotic fourth quarter featuring a New England rally and an overturned call on a seemingly obvious go-ahead touchdown grab by Steelers tight end Jesse James in the final minute that ultimately led to an NFL rule change.
New England’s playoff position isn’t nearly as perilous, even after allowing the Dolphins to turn a double-lateral on the final snap into a stunning 69-yard touchdown, a play that ended with tight end Rob Gronkowski working at deep safety and futilely diving at Kenyan Drake as the Miami running back crossed the goal line.
The Patriots can win a staggering 10th consecutive AFC East title with a victory and a loss by the Dolphins in Minnesota.
Run focus
The Patriots have struggled against the run all season, particularly on the road. New England has allowed nearly 150 yards rushing in its four losses, all of which have come away from Gillette Stadium. The Patriots have given up 37 runs of more than 10 yards and nine runs of 20 or more yards this season, including a season-high 54-yard touchdown run to Miami’s Brandon Bolden last week.
Pittsburgh is hopeful running back James Conner will be back after sitting out last week’s game against Oakland with an ankle injury. Conner is sixth in the NFL in yards rushing.