An inside have a look at Sunday’s Giants-Titans Week 1 matchup in Nashville, Tenn.
Marquee matchup
Titans DT Jeffery Simmons vs. Giants inside offensive line
This rebuilt group has Mark Glowinski at proper guard, Jon Feliciano at heart and both Ben Bredeson or rookie Josh Ezeudu at left guard. Simmons was the No. 19-overall decide within the 2019 draft and final season made his first Professional Bowl after attaining profession highs in sacks (8.5) and tackles (54).
Glowinski has 74 NFL begins on his résumé and Feliciano has 39, so that they have loads of expertise to make use of the methods of the commerce to maintain Simmons out of the backfield. One other Titans defensive lineman, Denico Autry, had 9 sacks and a team-high 18 quarterback hits in 2021, making this a troublesome debut for the Giants’ inside group.
Paul’s decide
Can the Giants keep away from their late-summer custom of being 0-1? Their schedule is greater than truthful, however nobody did Brian Daboll any favors with this robust opener on the highway in opposition to the 2021 No. 1 seed within the AFC playoffs. The offense is wholesome and Daniel Jones has his playmakers on the sphere with him. Let’s see what this new-look assault seems to be like and if it will possibly muster sufficient factors. And let’s see if anybody can deal with Derrick Henry.
Titans 27, Giants 20
4 downs
Residence run hitters: For an enormous man, Derrick Henry can go the space. Since 2018, he has 9 speeding touchdowns of fifty or extra yards, essentially the most within the NFL. Care to take a guess who's second on that record? Why, it’s Saquon Barkley, with six speeding touchdowns of fifty or extra yards. Nick Chubb of the Browns is third with 5.
Henry did it in 55 video games (815 speeding makes an attempt). Barkley did it in 44 video games (659 makes an attempt) and Chubb did it in 58 (908 makes an attempt). It's straightforward to neglect what a big-play operating again Barkley was when he was absolutely wholesome. He's absolutely wholesome to start out his fifth season with the Giants.
New position: The discharge, for salary-cap causes, of James Bradberry made Adoree’ Jackson the No. 1 cowl man on a protection that's unproven all over the place else at cornerback. The 2017 first-round decide of the Titans faces his former crew for the primary time, and faces a revamped large receiver group that includes veteran Robert Woods (acquired in a commerce with the Rams) and rookie Treylon Burks, taken with the No. 18-overall select of Arkansas. It's crucial for the Giants that Jackson play like a top-tier nook, given the depth chart at this place.
“It’s simply going to be enjoyable seeing them, chopping it up with them,’’ Jackson stated of his former Titans teammates. “In all probability get a jersey after the sport or two in order that’s going to be good.’’
Received to run: On first-and-10, the Titans ran the ball an NFL-high 61.5 % of the time in 2021, regardless of Henry taking part in in simply eight video games. The bottom is the place they wish to be, which is why the Giants’ stunning launch of inside linebacker Blake Martinez is certain to be felt on this recreation. Tae Crowder returns as a starter, presumably together with Austin Calitro, who defines the time period “journeyman.’’ He was undrafted out of Villanova, and the Giants are his ninth completely different NFL crew and his eleventh completely different NFL cease. He has performed in 47 video games and began 9 of them — none since 2019 with the Jaguars.
“I’m undoubtedly excited ready for this chance to return again round,’’ Calitro stated. “I knew I may do it. It’s only a matter of getting coaches and a entrance workplace that believes in me. I discovered that right here.’’
Taking offense: The final time the Giants took the sphere in a recreation that counted, they had been ending up a stretch of among the worst offensive soccer in franchise historical past — a six-week slog to finish the 2021 season by which they averaged barely greater than 9 factors a recreation.
The choice-makers on offense — Daboll and coordinator and play-caller Mike Kafka — are right here to ensure the product is enormously improved. Creativity has changed predictability, and that ought to bode nicely for Kadarius Toney, who struggled by way of a largely dismal rookie yr. Look ahead to rookie second-round decide Wan’Dale Robinson to additionally profit from a system that has a historical past of liberating up the primary weapons.
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