New York Giants vs Buffalo Bills What to Watch For

For your fantasy loves out there this game has the potential for a lot of points all around. Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz, Fred Jackson, Stevie Johnson are all great starts on Sunday. But that’s not all that is at stake. Let’s take a look at what to watch for when the Bills travel to New Jersey to take on the G-men. As always we’ll try to focus on the younger players and rookies.

Injury Report

Giants

Out: Justin Tuck, Chris Snee, Prince Amukamara, Henry Hynoski, Brandon Jacobs
Questionable: David Baas, Zak De Ossie

Buffalo:

Out: Demetrius Bell, Shawne Merriman, Donald Jones, Chris Kelsay, Aaron Williams

What’s at stake:

For the Giants- The Giants shot at the playoffs. The Giants really had a good opportunity to start the season 5-2 or 6-2 (still possible), but have not played all that well. They play the Bills, have a bye, pay the Dolphins and then it gets ugly. Games vs the Patriots, Packers, Saints, Jets, Cowboys, Eagles, Redskins, and San Francisco could put a big hit in the Giants chances at making the playoffs. This is an important game for the Giants.

For the Bills-R-E-S-P-E-C-T

The Bills are getting a little love, but if they can travel out to New Jersey and beat Giants team that is coming off a terrible loss to teh Seahawks at home will go a long way to the Bills getting a lot of respect around the league. Right now it’s about 50-50 in the picks at ESPN, which means the Bills are getting a little more love, but a big game on Sunday could really put them on the map. Plus they’ll keep pace as the Jets should get an easy win over the awful Dolphins.

Jason Pierre Paul and Osi Umeniyora vs Chris Hariston (R) and Erik Pears

LT Demetrius Bell (Karl Malone’s son by the way) is out which means that rookie Chris Hariston out of Clemson will make the start vs a determined Osi Umeniyora. Umeniyora had a tumultous off-season but has been a terror on the field this year early. He already has 4 sacks in his only two games played this year. Fitazpatrick gets rid of the ball quickly, and he’ll need to with Osi coming around the corner.

On the other side is Jason Pierre Paul who is erasing any doubts about the giants selecting him with the 15th pick in last year’s draft. Pierre Paul has 6.5 sacks through five games this year (4.5 in his last 6 games last year for a total of 11 in his last 11 games). and he also has 27 tackles and 3 passes defensed. He’s a monster. Pears will have his hands full at Right tackle on Sunday.

Marcell Dareus vs Kevin Boothe?/Kareem Mackenzie

Last year Kareem Mackenzie was one of the best RT in all of football. This year, not so much. Mackenize has had a difficult time run blocking and pass blocking. Even though Dareus isn’t putting up huge numbers he’s really eating up space and causing problems for offensive lines. With Chris Snee out the Giants will rely on Kevin Boothe (unless David Baas is also out and then Boothe might play center with Mitch Petrus or Stacey Andrews playing guard, not sure) to contain Dareus. Tough matchup for the former Cornell Big Red Stand Out.

Danny Batten and Arthur Moats vs Will Beatty and Kareem Mackenzie

Danny Batten is a young player out of South Dakota few outside of South Dakota or Bills fandom know of. He’s a hustle player, a poor man’s Clay Matthews who never stops moving. The Coaching staff is really high on him and he has another opportunity to make an impact. If he plays well he could keep Merriman’s snaps down when/if Merriman returns. Also starting today will be Bills LB Arthur Moats (who ended Brett Favre’s consecutive game streak). Moats has really been an impressive pass rusher when he’s played and is another player with a non-stop motor. It’s mind-boggling that the coaching staff has continued to rely on Chris Kelsay who produces very little at the expense of possibly stunting Moat’s growth. Moats and Batten have a huge opportunity to make a name for themselves in today’s game.

Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz vs the Bills secondary

The two stud young Giants wide receivers have really made a lot of plays this year. Nicks (412 yards receiving and 3 touchdowns so far) is a potential future All-pro and Cruz is really starting to emerge and if he continues to play this well will take attention of Nicks opening things up even more for Nicks. Cruz has made a ton of big plays. Cruz has an extraordinary ability to make a play on the ball despite his lack of height (right about 6′ tall). The Bills secondary lacks depth, especially with Aaron Williams out and Terrance McGee being hurt for most of this year.

Jacquian Williams in the run game

The Bills like to spread it out and run from the Shoutgun. Jacquian Williams, the rookie linebacker out of South Florida has really been impressive this year and will likely be featured in the defensive packages this weekend as he is the nickel linebacker. Williams is a player not many people know of outside of loyal fans, but he might be on a lot of Bills fans minds after Sunday. Willams, although undersized, is an excellent open field tackler and is plus in coverage. He’s a big key to the Giants defense today.

C.J. Spiller on Special Teams

Last year the Giants really were interested in C.J. Spiller (reportedly), but he was draft by the Bills and the Giants settled for Jason Pierre Paul. Spiller has been a non-factor this year for most of the season because of the continued excellent play of Fred Jackson, but he has a great opportunity to make a play on Sunday especially in Special teams. The Giants don’t kick the ball out of the end-zone on kick offs and they don’t cover anyone in their punt coverage. Spiller could definitely make an impact in Sunday’s game. He’s the “under the radar”, or “X-factor” player to watch for on Sunday.

Why in God’s sake is 300+ pounder Alex Carrington listed as an OLB on the Bills Depth chart?

That’s something to watch for.

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