New York Giants and New Orleans Saints What to Watch For: Mark Ingram Plays Against Dad’s Former Team
Tonight the struggling New York Giants travel back to Eli Manning’s hometown to stop a two game slid and a potential fourth straight season-ending collapse. The problem is they are running into a buzz saw with the New Orleans Saints at home.
The Giants really, really need this game if they have any aspirations to make the playoffs, the Saints with losses by the Bears and Lions are probably all set to make the playoffs at least as a wild card but they are going to be playing hard to win the division.
There are some intriguing storylines here are the ones I’m watching, and of course as a site that is dedicated mostly to draft prospects I’ll be focusing on the younger guys.
Mark Herzlich/Jacquian Williams vs Darren Sproles
Mark Herzlich will likely to get the start because he was more impressive in his first real snaps on defense than Greg Jones had been at any point all season. I’m sure the Giants will take notice, Perry Fewell praised Herzlich for his performance vs the Eagles. Now Herzlich made his fair share of mistakes in pass coverage, but really showed something in run coverage unlike Jones he can play better in traffic because he’s longer and did a better job of shedding blocks. Neither is a terror sideline to sideline and neither has the speed to cover Darren Sproles, but he might be in a few packages with Sproles in and how he does to contain and stop Sproles is huge.
Jacquian Williams on the other hand is not as instinctive or as strong as Hezlich, but he can fly. He is plus in coverage (just working on the instincts and technical parts of coverage). Williams played a lot in the nickel coverage before Michael Boley was hurt, so he’ll be seeing even more time tonight. His play is paramount to how the Giants defense does tonight.
Prince Amukamara vs Lance Moore/Robert Meachem/Devery Henderson
Last week Prince Amukamara finally made an appearance in a game after missing most of the season with a foot. Amukamara got beat by Jackson but the ball was under-thrown and he came away with an interception. Amukamara has question about his deep speed heading into the draft. “The Prince” will likely draw a player with some speed tonight with Webster drawing Colston. If Amukamara can play pretty well today again he could start to point some distance between him and the notion that he can’t cover speed receives.
More importantly though Aaron Ross and Terrel Thomas are both free agents after this season I think who they resign will depend largely on Amukamara’s play the rest of the season.
Mark Ingram vs the Giants front four
If you weren’t paying attention, Mark Ingram’s father played for the New York Giants so this could be an emotional game for Ingram. Ingram has had a decent rookie season he’s only averaging 3.7 yards per carry, but he’s shown flashes of being the feature back and justifying the trade up for him during the draft. This is prime-time vs a team that is suseptible against the run, it could be a breakout performance for Mark Ingram.
Cameron Jordan vs Kareem Mckenzie
Cameron Jordan was considered a huge steal when the Saints got him in the first round and he’s been a solid two way defender this year though he hasn’t put up the kind of numbers one would hope. That could change tonight if Kareem Mackenzie continues to play the way he’s played for much for the year Jordan could have his finest game as a pro.
Patrick Robinson vs Victor Cruz/Mario Mannigham
I haven’t watched the Saints defense closely enough or often to know enough which matchup Robinson will draw here. He’s listed as the third cornerback, but does he stay on the outside while Tracy Porter jumps into the slot? Or does he cover the slot. Robinson is a young guy and either way he draws a touch matchup, none of the Giants WR have size, but Cruz and Nicks play big. Cruz and Antonio Brown (and Wes Welker of course) have been the best wide receivers on third down this year. The Giants will need to convert a lot of third downs tonight to keep the Saints offense off the field.
Da’Rel Scott
Da’Rel Scott has just a few carries this year, but he is getting more invovled each weekk. Scott has the speed that can take advantage of the Saints aggressive nature, will this be the week he finally breaks a long run?
There is a lot of talent on both teams so it should be a good game. What are you watching for?
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