Giants at Browns: Preview, Predictions, and More

New York Giants vs. Cleveland Browns

The New York Giants, winners of their last five games, are not only looking to keep the train rolling in the right direction, they’re also looking to avoid making headlines of the wrong kind. That would be the case if they were to fall to the winless Cleveland Browns Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The challenge this week for the Giants will be to get off to a commanding and fast start in all phases of the game, something they haven’t been able to do consistently all season. As such, the Giants are treating the Brows as a desperate team that will spare no expense to snap their losing streak.

“They are just more dangerous with tricky plays, in my opinion, so that is what we need to be aware of,” said Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins when asked if a winless team might be more dangerous than one that’s humming right along. “We need to be aware of the trick plays and the gimmicks and gadgets.”

“You don’t want to buy into the fact that they are 0-11 or whatever the case may be,” said receiver Victor Cruz. “You want to go in there and prepare yourself as if they have the same record that you do.”

Browns head coach Hue Jackson said via a conference call with the Giants media that he doesn’t sense his team’s spirit is broken despite their struggles.

“They’ve been great. The guys have come in every week and I haven’t seen a difference in them as far as work ethic, their mindset or how we go through our process,” Jackson said. “They’ve really done a good job and I attribute that to the leaders of our team. They’ve done a good job of taking care of business in our locker room so that we can give ourselves the best chance to go play games.”

Historical note of interest: The last time the Giants were riding a winning streak heading into Cleveland was in 2008. New York had won their first four games that season before being upset by the Browns 25-14. The Giants went on to finish 12-4 that year and nail down the No. 1 seed in the NFC only to be knocked off by the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional playoffs.

Giants Keys to Victory

Get After Josh McCown. The Browns offensive line allowed eight sacks last week and a whopping 14 quarterback hits to the Pittsburgh Steelers. While it would be short-sighted to think the Giants pass rush can replicate those numbers, New York should at the bare minimum aim for half of that production given how mistake prone McCown showed he was when under duress.

Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (knee) is listed as questionable for this weekend’s game. Two weeks ago, Pierre-Paul might have foreshadowed what was to come when he vowed to be out there come game time no matter how he felt. However, his latest ailment has involved some swelling which the Giants are trying to get under control so that they have one of their top pass rushers available.

More from NFL Spin Zone

Start Fast. The Giants need to immediately take control of the game on both sides of the ball. Offensively, that means stringing together more than just one picture-perfect scoring drive. It’s going to be a hostile environment, so the Giants offense, particularly the offensive linemen, are going to need to be on their toes to avoid those self-inflicted wounds that set the offensive back and kill drives. The Giants as a team have done better in the penalty department over the last three games, recording just 11 penalties for 80 yards., with 14 penalties being drive killers.

Browns Keys to Victory

Stonewall the Giants’ Passing Game. Last week, Cleveland managed to hold Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger to a season-low 167 passing yards by breaking up six of his 36 pass attempts, and getting four hits against him as he released the ball.

The Giants offensive line will be without Marshall Newhouse, Brett Jones and Justin Pugh this week because of injuries. That will leave Adam Gettis, who has been dealing with a calf ailment, to man the starting left guard spot, and Shane McDermott as the backup guard/center..

More importantly, the Giants offensive line needs to clean up some of the issues they had last week with stunts and twists if they want to keep the Cleveland pass rushers out of Eli Manning’s face.

Hit TE Gary Barnidge Early and Often. While the popular opinion might be for the Browns to connect with receiver Terrelle Pryor, the Giants have continued to be inconsistent with covering opposing tight ends. Last week, Barnidge caught two of five pass targets for 23 yards and his first touchdown of the year. If the Giants are going to bracket Pryor, the Browns might want to attack the Giants defense’s Achilles heel early and often.

Odds

Point Spread: New York -7
Moneyline: New York -280, Cleveland +235
Over/Under: 44

Next: Best Roster Made Up of Fictional Football Players

Prediction

Entering this game, the Giants and Browns are two of six NFL teams—the others being the Bears, Ravens, Texans and 49ers—who have yet to score 30 points in a game this season. As has been the case for Big Blue all season, this game probably won’t be the blowout that some believe it has the potential to be. But the Giants should be able to post their first 30-point performance of the 2016 season.

Pick: New York Giants: 33, Cleveland Browns: 24

Home/Cleveland Browns