Big Blue View
The New York Giants are 2-12 and have lost eight straight games. Will they end that losing streak this weekend against the Minnesota Vikings. Find out what the Big Blue View staff thinks about that and the rest of the NFL Week 16 action in this week’s picks and predictions.
Another game which the Giants could, and perhaps should, win. In fact, I probably would have picked them without reservation a couple weeks ago, when J.J. McCarthy was playing some of the worst football in the NFL. In Week 16, however, he seems to have found his comfort zone, albeit against bad defenses.
I think this game will pivot on whether the Giants’ pass rush — namely Brian Burns and Abdul Carter — can knock McCarthy out of his comfort zone and force him to make mistakes. I’m expecting Kevin O’Connell to flip the Vikings’ usual script and go run-heavy this game, but there will be points where McCarthy will have to make plays, and the Giants will need to make him pay.
I want to see the Giants play with more life and fire than they did to start the game against the Patriots. If they do, they have a chance to notch a win here. But I’m not going to pick the Giants to do it.
Pick: Minnesota Vikings
The light seems to have come on for J.J. McCarthy, who after a miserable start to his season, including missing time with an injury, has hung 31 and 34 points on Washington and Dallas the past two weeks. You know, the same Washington defense the Giants had only scored 14 points against with 4 minutes left last Sunday. McCarthy doesn’t yet have chemistry with Justin Jefferson, but unlike the Giants’ Jaxson Dart, he has other top-drawer receivers such as Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson to throw to rather than 3rd round picks who don’t know how to sharply cut on a dig route to create separation. Meanwhile, Brian Flores’ defense shut out that Washington team that put 29 points on the board against the Giants. Flores has 6 different players who have at least 4 sacks, led by Jonathan Greenard, so the Dart Memorial Blue Tent will be up and ready to go as soon as the game starts. The Vikings’ secondary is nothing special, so if Dart gets good protection, there is a path for the Giants to keep things close for a while, especially if the Giants’ pass rush can exploit a suspect Vikings OL and force bad throws by McCarthy. I don’t really expect that, though. If you’re going to the game and get there early, you’ll be able to try out for Giants Kicker of the Week. The dream of the No.1 pick stays alive for now.
Pick: Vikings
Ed recently asked in The Feed why season ticket holders ands fans would trek to MetLife on a day like last Sunday. I am one of them...
