“We need this to be the most physical game of the year,’’ Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said Thursday. “That’s how Baltimore wants it. That’s what you want it to be. Let’s see who’s standing at the end.’’
“With all due respect to Christmas,” Joe Judge , “let’s forget about Christmas for a little while and focus on the Ravens.”
This game will be a hard fought contest by both teams as they fight to keep their playoff hopes alive. Both teams currently sit on the outside looking in for a playoff spot. With only two games left these games are critical for post season play.
These are physical teams that want to run the ball. The Ravens lead the league in most running statistics. The Ravens lead the league in number of drives with 6+ rush attempts with 26 drives. They score on 80% of those drives.
Giant Wayne Gallman‘s 4.5 yards per rush attempt is the highest of his four season career. This season the Giants are 5-2 in games that they rushed for over 130 yards. The two losses were by a combined nine points.
The Ravens blitz more than any team in the league. Daniel Jones is the fourth most pressured quarterback on dropbacks. Whether it will be Jones or Colt McCoy the Giant quarterback needs to get the ball out quickly. Look for heavy use of Evan Engram and Sterling Shepard. They have the shortest yards before the catch on the Giants. Shepard has the 17th best drop % in the league with only one drop this season. Shepard has the highest average separation on the Giants with 3.0 yards per target. Among NFL players with 38 targets that’s tied for 53rd. As of Dec 3rd, Shepard’s season 56.25% third down conversions to 3rd down targets percentage is 17th among 122 players with 10+ third down targets. Shepard’s 72% catch percentage is 13th best in the league among receivers with over 65 targets.
A heavy dose of Gallman running coupled with short passes to Shepard and Engram would appear to be a viable plan to attack the Ravens. With a strong showing by the Giants run defense, the Giants can win this game. The Giants upset the Seahawks, which was also an 11 point spread. They did that with Colt McCoy as quarterback. He has since played a better game in the loss to the Browns.
This has all the earmarks of a big hard-fought battle, I believe the Giants can again pull the upset and remain alive in the playoff hunt. Go Giants! Enjoy the game! Also a Merry Christmas to all! I am sure Joe Judge was being humorous in his quote..
