Copr. New York Post 2024
Struggling NFC squads will clash in Munich, Germany Sunday morning as the 2-7 New York Giants take on the 2-7 Carolina Panthers. Both teams look to make the opening case for a miracle playoff run, or at the very least garner some respect from their own fanbases, as supporters of each squad would see fit to label this international meeting as the 2024 “tank bowl.” According to an analysis done by CBS Sports, the Panthers retain a 0.1% chance to make the NFC playoffs while the Giants hold a 0% chance. (not to say that they can’t win out and sneak their way in, but with their remaining strength of schedule, it’s considered virtually impossible). With that being said, anything can happen, and we’ll be looking at three key factors that Big Blue must consider to fly back to the states Sunday night with even a sliver of hope for the postseason still on the horizon.
Copr. AP News 2024
Containing Chuba Hubbard
The G-men currently rank last in the NFL in yards allowed per rush (5.2) and 29th in opponent rushing yards per game (142.6). That bodes well for the dangerous Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard. Hubbard, who just inked a 4-year, $33.2 million contract extension on Thursday, currently averages 5 yards per rush and is one of only 4 players currently this season to maintain this average whilst also putting up at least 5 rushing touchdowns. The Giants have had two especially brutal weeks attempting to stop running backs Najee Harris and Austin Ekeler in back-to-back games and need to halt this negative momentum to have any hope of avoiding a technical upset.
Copr. ESPN 2024
Jones needs to capitalize on last week’s performance
Despite another crushing loss to the Washington Commanders, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones showed signs of toughness and resolve in the defeat, throwing for 174 yards (all coming in the second half, as New York attempted a bizarre rush-heavy first half offense) and two touchdowns as well as accumulating 54 rushing yards on seven carries and adding touchdown to boot, barreling over two defenders to do so. Jones needs to continue this momentum and take advantage of Carolina’s league-worst scoring defense. At this point, if Jones doesn’t win out the rest of the season and somehow squeeze this team into the playoffs, it is well known he will not be returning to the Meadowlands in 2025.
Copr. Bleacher Report 2024
Fight like your back’s against the wall, because it is
Another loss likely means the end of New York’s 2024 campaign, and this fanbase is tired of the same yearly story of awful season starts that they can’t crawl out of despite occasionally decent play down the stretch which actually ends up costing them a high draft pick year after year. No fan wants to see their team lose on purpose deep down, and this is a unit with a plethora of good to great pieces around it, but the morale is almost fully sunk and the fanbase, as well as the team seemingly, has completely given up on it’s quarterback who has recieved second, third, and fourth chances in New York. This is almost certainly his last one, and at this point Jones needs to play the best football a Giants quarterback has played in almost a decade to save himself and this team, and the time to step up is at 9:30 a.m. EST Sunday morning on NFL Network.
-Jack Barber 8:54 p.m. 11/08/2024
Works Cited
https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/team/new-york-giants/stats
https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_/id/4241416/chuba-hubbard
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/42248452/panthers-sign-rb-chuba-hubbard-four-year-extension https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/_/id/3917792/daniel-jones
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