5 storylines to follow heading into Sunday Night Football

In the Week 4 loss to the Cowboys, the Giants could not get the ground game going, finishing with a season-low 26 rushing yards. With 10 days until their next game, the offensive line put an emphasis on identifying what went wrong against Dallas and fixing it in order to have more success in Seattle. Fix it they did, as the Giants ran for a season-high 175 yards with rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr. averaging over seven yards per carry.

“It takes all 11 people to be successful offensively,” Daboll told the media Monday about the O-line’s performance. “Execution on the offensive side of the ball is obviously at a premium. So, you can have 10 people doing it right. And one guy getting beat, or maybe not on the same page and you have a breakdown, but yesterday … they don’t need all that all. They need the truth in terms of ‘here’s are the plays that we ran, here were the breakdowns. This is what we need to improve on’. Whether it was perimeter blocking or inline blocking, running back reads, all those types of things. And you try to get better. One week has really nothing to do with the next week. So, we just went to work and identified some things that we wanted to try to get to and work on in practice and guys did a good job.”

Improving the offensive line was one of the biggest priorities for the Giants this offseason. The unit has three new veteran starters in Jon Runyan Jr., Jermaine Eluemunor and Greg Van Roten, who combined with Andrew Thomas and John Michael Schmitz have been on the field for every single offensive snap through the first five games. They are the only starting offensive line across the league to play every snap together. Daboll noted on Monday how the line being made up of so many veteran players has helped the unit mesh quickly, which in turn has helped the offense as a whole improve.

“It starts up front,” Daboll said. “Those five guys seeing the game through the same set of eyes. Without those guys, you’re not getting plays downfield or an efficient passing game and pass protection or the screen game. And same thing with the run game, that’s where it starts, but you need everybody on offense doing their job. But again, I’ve said this before, this is a veteran group. They mesh well together. They meet a lot. They’re smart. If they make a mistake on something, usually by the next play or the next game, it’s corrected. They know how to handle themselves in the classroom to get ready for a game.

“And then the communication part of it during the game is important. And I’ll lean on those guys, just like I ask some of the receivers about routes and things like that. I’ll go to those guys once the game gets into a flow and ask them what do they want to block? Sometimes it’s outside, sometimes it’s inside, sometimes it’s pin and pull, sometimes it’s gap. But they got a pretty good feel and they’re good communicators. They’re a good group to work with.”

This week’s game against the Bengals will be the toughest test to date for the Giants’ defense. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is playing like an MVP candidate through the first stretch of the season. Burrow has completed 72.3 percent of his passes for 1,370 yards, a league-high 12 touchdowns, and just two interceptions for a passer rating on the season of 113.6. Despite last week’s loss to the Ravens, the 27-year-old still completed 76.9 percent of his attempts for 392 yards, five touchdowns, and a 137.0 passer rating, all of which set new season-highs, although he did throw his second interception of the season.

The Bengals have one of the most talented wide receiver duos in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Chase ranks second in the league with 493 receiving yards, while his five receiving touchdowns are tied with Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans for the most in the NFL. He is coming off a breakout performance against the Ravens, in which he reeled in 10 passes for a whopping 193 yards and two touchdowns. Higgins missed the first two games of the season but returned in Week 3. The fifth-year wideout has started to get going over the last two weeks, catching six passes for 60 yards in Week 4 before pulling in nine receptions for 83 yards and two touchdowns last week. Andre Iosivas, the team’s third receiver, has registered 12 receptions for 153 yards and three touchdowns, while Mike Gesicki, the starting tight end, has 17 receptions for 178 yards.

“They’re two different types of players, both outstanding at what they do,” Daboll said about Chase and Higgins. “They put Chase everywhere. He can take it from a one-yard pass, 80 yards. Over 4,200 yards, 35 touchdowns, 34, whatever it may be. He’s as good as it gets. And then throw Higgins in there, who’s a top pick of the second round, who’s big. Even when he’s covered, he’s not covered. It’s very challenging. That’s why they put up so many points. When you add Burrow to the mix, who’s one of the premier passers in this league, it’s difficult.”

Cincinnati has a two-headed rushing attack, led by veteran Zack Moss. The fifth-year running back has carried the ball 57 times for 211 yards and two touchdowns while catching 15 passes for an additional 124 yards and a score. But not far behind Moss in terms of touches is Chase Brown, who has recorded 41 rush attempts for 230 yards and two touchdowns. Brown has also caught 10 passes for 39 yards and another touchdown. Moss injured his ankle in last week’s loss to the Ravens, so his status should be monitored throughout the week.

Moving over to the Cincinnati defense, everything starts up front with defensive end Trey Hendrickson. The veteran pass rusher leads the team with three sacks, three quarterback hits and seven tackles for loss, and has racked up 22 total pressures through five games. Hendrickson had a season-high seven total pressures on Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson last week, according to PFF.

Elsewhere on the defense, defensive end Sam Hubbard has one sack and three quarterback hits, while linebacker Logan Wilson has a team-high 52 total tackles (29 solo) to go with his four quarterback hits. Linebacker Germaine Pratt is right behind Wilson with 51 total tackles (28 solo) and has a team-high two forced fumbles. Former Giant defensive tackle B.J. Hill just returned to game action last week after missing the previous two games with a hamstring injury.