Giants vs. Jaguars Keys to the Game
It’s Week 12 in the NFL and the Giants are taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars. Hopefully everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I bet everyone is as stuffed as I am, but here are some Giants keys to victory for you to chew on, with a TV/movie spin. Note: chewing on keys may be hazardous to your health.
Key 1: Heroes
If the Giants are going to beat the Jaguars they’ll need some heroics from Eli Manning and Brandon Jacobs. It feels like these are the only two starters left after injuries have knocked out virtually the rest of the team. The Jacksonville secondary is very beatable and Eli will need to take advantage despite his lack of weapons. Biggie faces a slightly more daunting task as he will have to face big bad nose tackle Terrence Knighton in the middle of the Jags defense. He needs to be effective running the ball today or the Giants will lose and he’ll find himself back on the bench in favor of Ahmad Bradshaw.
Key 2: The Replacements
Hakeem Nicks, Steve Smith, David Diehl, Shaun O’Hara, Will Blackmon and Shawn Andrews. That’s not a list of Giants Pro Bowlers; it’s a list of Giants inactive players for today’s game. Second year lineman out of UConn Will Beatty will start at left tackle today for the NYG with both Andrews and Diehl out. The Giants starting receivers will be Mario Manningham and Derek Hagan with Duke Calhoun and Michael Clayton also seeing some playing time. Darius Reynaud will retake return duties with Blackmon on the shelf. The guys will need to do their best Keanu Reeves impressions and fill in admirably for the injured starters.
Key 3: Rush Hour
Even though Jacksonville lost their best pass rusher Aaron Kampman to a torn ACL, they have still had success getting to the quarterback of late. Starting defensive end Jeremy Mincey had two sacks last weekend against Cleveland and even first round bust Derek Harvey chipped in one of his own. With Knighton eating up space and first round pick Tyson Alualu also a capable pass rusher with 3.5 sacks on the year, the Jags improved pass rush has to be salivating at the sight of the Giants banged up line. The matchup will be a good first test for Giants LT Beatty as the Jaguars provide a formidable but not insurmountable challenge. The real difficulty could lie with the interior of the line where backup LG Kevin Boothe and C Rich Seubert will be going heads up with Knighton and Alualu.
Key 4: Running Wilde
Jacksonville Pro Bowl running back Maurice Jones-Drew is listed as questionable, but he almost certainly play according to Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio. He must be the focal point of the Giants defense today. The Giants should focus on getting a good pass rush like always and making David Garrard beat them with his arm. If you let the Jaguars establish the running game then the afternoon usually does not work out in your favor. Michael Boley and the linebackers need to contain the Human Bowling Ball MJD a little bit better than they did last week against Vick and McCoy.
