Dein erstes Forum » Giants at Texans: 6 things to watch in Sunday’s matchup

To have any realistic chance of making a playoff run this season the 0-2 New York Giants have to find a way to defeat the also 0-2 Houston Texans on Sunday. Here are some of the things to watch as the Giants try to get their first victory of the Pat Shurmur era.Somebody set an alarm clock Youth Will Hernandez Jersey , please!The Giants need to figure out what time kickoff is, and remember that the first few series of the game actually do count. In Week 1, the Jacksonville Jaguars scored on three of their first four possessions en route to building a 13-3 lead. In Week 2, the Dallas Cowboys got a touchdown and a field goal in their first two possessions.Of course, it would also help if someone would tell the offense it’s legal to score early in the game.Tackle ... the ... quarterbackSpeaking of things they aren’t doing right, let’s hope the Giants come up with as better plan for defending the read option this week.In Week 1, Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles rumbled around left end for a 41-yard gain on a read option. The only thing that kept him from going father? He’s a quarterback and he ran out of gas.In Week 2, Dak Prescott ran 7 times for 45 yards. By my count, five of those runs were read options.Through two games, whatever the Giants are doing against the read option isn’t working. It’s a bad plan. They need to get a new one or Deshaun Watson might run for a million or so yards. The end zone is ... that way, somewhereThe Giants have scored only 28 points in two games. They have only two touchdowns. It’s sort of obvious, but Shurmur said Wednesday that “we’ve got to get in the end zone, quite frankly.”Yes. Yes, they do.It will help if they are able to throw some passes down the field against Houston. Throwing two-third of their passes either behind or within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage, like they did last Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, isn’t going to cut it. Having Odell Beckham averaging 10.8 yards per catch isn’t going to cut it. Being 29th in the league in yards per play and 31st in red zone percentage is not going to cut it. Being last in the league in yards per play on first down isn’t going to cut it.Can everybody please block somebody?Dallas made the Giants look silly with rushers constantly heading unimpeded to Manning. The Giants couldn’t seem to get everyone blocked when the Cowboys blitzed last Sunday, even when they had enough blockers. They couldn’t seem to keep track of who was supposed to block whom when Dallas used twists and stunts along the front line. Man on man the Giants seemed to do OK most of the time. It just seemed like far too often Giants blockers had no idea which guy they were actually responsible for.Per Football Outsiders the Giants offensive line is last in the league in Adjusted Line Yards when run blocking and 24th in Adjusted Sack Rate while pass protecting Youth B.J. Hill Jersey , Not good.With a dominant defensive front, the Texans pose a massive challenge for the Giants beleaguered offensive line. Pray that new center John Greco makes the right calls, that guysknow their assignments, that Manning moves just enough to stay in one piece and make a few plays along the way.DeAndre Hopkins vs. Janoris JenkinsWith Eli Apple (groin) almost certainly sidelined on Sunday, the Giants would appear to have little choice but to have Jackrabbit shadow Houston’s All-Pro wide receiver. If Jenkins can play the way he did in memorable 2016 matchups against Dez Bryant, virtually taking the then-Cowboys star out of a pair of games, that would be a massive boost for the Giants.A little pass rush, pleaseThe Giants have just one sack. It doesn’t look like Olivier Vernon is going to return to action this week. Maybe the porous Houston offensive line, which has surrendered seven sacks in two games, will be the elixir for the missing pass rush which, per Football Outsiders, has been the worst in the league in terms of Adjusted Sack Rate (1.7 percent).Valentine’s Views: Davis Webb, Kyle Lauletta just getting started Let’s not go overboard and draw hard, unbending conclusions after what we saw from young quarterbacks Davis Webb and Kyle Lauletta in Thursday’s 20-10 loss by the New York Giants to the Cleveland Browns.Webb, in his first game action since last preseason, wasn’t good. He was high with a bunch of throws and wide with a couple of others. He went 9-for-22 after starting out 0-for-6. Most egregiously, in my view Youth Saquon Barkley Jersey , Webb mishandled the clock at the end of the first half. Facing third-and-4 at the Cleveland 27 with 13 seconds left and no timeouts, Webb completed a 6-yard pass to Russell Shepard, a completion too far inbounds to give Shepard a chance to get out of bounds and stop the clock. Time ran out before Webb could spike the ball and give the Giants a field goal opportunity. Let’s not bridge jump.The are some out there who have already leapt to the “Webb is terrible, no chance he can be the successor to Eli Manning” conclusion. Thursday was Webb’s first game action in a year. As impressive as he looked during the spring and the first part of training camp, things are a lot different in live action against a real opponent. Webb is still a young, developing quarterback who has never played a snap in an NFL regular-season game. “I was pumped up. It was my first time playing in a year, so I think the biggest thing was kind of just take a deep breath, let the game come to you,” Webb said Thursday night. “Again, I’m not too worried about it. I know I could make those throws and I know I will. I just got to get even keeled and ready to rock and roll next week.”Head coach Pat Shurmur said Webb’s emotions are “not a bad thing.”“He is so prepared and he wants to do well, that’s just his personality, and he does get amped up a little bit but that’s not a bad thing,” Shurmur said. “Wanting to do well is a good thing. I think we as coaches can just help him with that.”Webb wasn’t going to cement his future as the heir apparent to Manning on Thursday. Neither was he going to prove that was a bust, a wasted draft pick. The new Ryan Nassib.He showed us that he is a young quarterback who still has growing to do. He needs experience. He needs to play.Joe DeLeone | Big Blue ViewLet’s not bandwagon jump, either.Lauletta was impressive, but let’s not push him past Webb on the depth chart or immediately conclude that he is the better of the two young quarterbacks.Lauletta went 6-of-9 for 48 yards. There was an excellent on-target, on-time deep ball to Amba Etta-Tawo that turned into pass interference. There was a beautiful pass to Roger Lewis Jr. dropped between a corner and a safety off play action. Lauletta handled possessions that began at the Giants 9 http://www.authenticsnewyorkgiants.com/cheap-rhett-ellison-jersey , 10, and 10-yard lines respectively without turnovers or risky decisions.“He’s very calm, and I think he finds a way to make plays. He had a nice deep ball down the sideline to Amba [Etta-Tawo] that ended up being a [pass interference],” coach Pat Shurmur said. “I [think] he’s got a calm presence about him. I think he lost control of the clock once, we got the ball snapped, but those are all things you learn when you’re playing. So, it wasn’t a bad performance to start out for him.”Lauletta’s calm demeanor is something offensive coordinator Mike Shula has also talked about. The rookie quarterback said nerves weren’t an issue when he got into the game.“I felt really comfortable and calm. I wasn’t nervous at all. Just excited to get out there,” Lauletta said. “I felt fine. It’s no different than practice. At times practice almost seems harder than games. For me the game just kind of slows down and it’s fun. You get back to football and just having fun doing what you know how to do.”Kyle LaulettaNoah K. Murray-USA TODAY SportsWhat should the takeaway be?These are two talented — and very different — young quarterbacks.Webb has tremendous tools. Top-flight arm strength, size, athleticism. He has a tremendous work ethic, and wants badly — sometimes maybe too badly — to succeed. What he needs more than anything is to let things slow down, to relax, to let his natural athletic gifts come to the surface. He needs, to be honest, some of that calm, relaxed demeanor that might be Lauletta’s strongest gift.Lauletta has that calm demeanor. In talking to him, though http://www.authenticsnewyorkgiants.com/cheap-connor-barwin-jersey , you also sense the resolve and competitiveness that have helped him overcome odds to get this NFL opportunity. He has anticipation, accuracy and on Thursday showed enough awareness of down, distance and field position not to force anything or make any costly mistakes. What Lauletta could use, of course, is Webb’s height and the enviable power of his right arm.Alas, if you could only combine the two into one quarterback. You would probably have a first-round caliber player.This competition is just getting started.I have said this before. Webb’s strong spring and summer didn’t guarantee him the right to be considered Manning’s heir apparent. His bad game Thursday didn’t label him a “bust.” Lauletta’s good performance didn’t push him past Webb on the depth chart.Webb is still No. 2. It’s almost certain he will enter the season that way — he has taken all the second-team reps while Lauletta and Alex Tanney split third-team work. It could — no, it probably will — take years for this competition to fully unfold. For now, let’s just enjoy watching these two young quarterbacks learn their craft. Not to mention the fact that the presence of a healthy Eli Manning means both quarterbacks have the time to do so.Just try to keep an open mind. One preseason game hardly offers enough evidence to reach a firm conclusion.Five other things I think I thinkI’m looking forward to next week’s joint practices with the Detroit Lions. I’m not traveling to Detroit for practices, and this also means I don’t have to make the 2.5-hour drive to East Rutherford this week, either. To the real point, though, I think Shurmur has conducted an excellent training camp and I believe the joint practices will be another positive step.“Kudos” to those of you who are fans of the ‘Locked on Giants’ podcast and hung with Patricia Traina and yours truly while we worked out our sound issues. We know how bad it was, and we thank you for the support. We believe that the sound is much-improved. For my part, I hope my on-air delivery is also improving.I think Eli Manning chiding the media to “not go berserk” over the 39-yard run by Saquon Barkley is hilarious. And typical of Manning’s sense of humor.Some of you felt ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’ were a bit skimpy on Friday morning. In retrospect, I would add defensive end Kerry Wynn and cornerback Grant Haley to my “Kudos.” category. I would probably add offensive tackle Malcolm Bunche (3 pressures in 16 pass-blocking snaps) to my ‘Wet Willies.”I’m hoping former Giants running back Orleans Darkwa finds a job soon. Coming off a career-best 751-yard season, Darkwa is still only 26. He can help somebody.I think this is kind of awesome.