Game Preview: Giants host Buccaneers in Week 12

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The two quarterbacks who will lead their respective teams tomorrow in MetLife Stadium would be very much alike if their football careers weren’t so different.

Tommy DeVito, who will make his season debut as the Giants’ starting quarterback, said this week he brings “a certain confidence, energy, swag, whatever you call it, to the team, to the people around me.” That statement could just as easily come from Baker Mayfield, his counterpart on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who has been among the NFL leaders in those commodities since entering the league in 2018.

Their divergent career paths were highlighted this week. Mayfield, the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner and first selection in the following year’s NFL Draft, has been a starter since his second NFL game. In a career that has taken him from Cleveland to Carolina to Los Angeles (Rams) and the Florida Gulf Coast, Mayfield has started 100 of his teams’ regular-season and playoff games. He has thrown 154 regular-season touchdown passes.

DeVito has 114 career completions. He was little more than a training camp curiosity when he joined the Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2023. DeVito began his first season on the Giants’ practice squad and this year as the No. 3 quarterback who was inactive in every one of the first 10 games.

But surprising circumstances led him to become QB1 each season. Last year, it was injuries to Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor. This season, it was the lack of production of Jones and the offense.

DeVito is now the starter after one of the most newsworthy weeks in recent Giants history. On Monday, coach Brian Daboll announced that DeVito had been promoted. Thursday, Jones effectively bid farewell to the team in a news conference at which he displayed the accountability and directness he exhibited for six years. And yesterday the Giants announced that Jones had requested and been granted his release.

In addition to being the team’s longtime starter at the game’s most vital position, Jones was a five-time captain and one of the most admired and popular players among his teammates. It is an understatement to say it’s intriguing to see how the team responds and how DeVito performs in his first game of his second season.

“He’s put a lot into it,” Daboll said. “From year one to year two, you hope you take a big step in your preparation and all the things that happened. I think he’s dialed in. He’s really focused on the things that he needs to do and that’s a credit to him being a second-year player.”

“Tommy does a good job of just operating the offense, executing,” quarterbacks coach and offensive passing game coordinator Shea Tierney said. “He’s done that since he’s been here.

He’s growing every time he’s out there. Looking forward to going out there and seeing him do a good job.”

DeVito is confident he will do exactly that because he is certain he is ready to excel.

“It’s kind of something that I’ve been preparing for since last year,” DeVito said. “You always say, ‘Stay ready, even though you’re quarterback three. Stay ready, you never know’. And it’s kind of similar to last year, you never know. But continuing to work throughout this whole season so far, learn, practice, just make the most of it, so that way when the opportunity comes, you’ll be ready for it.”

Although he’ll have no time to observe him tomorrow, DeVito could do worse than pick up pointers from his fellow fearless quarterback.

DeVito is listed as 6-2 and 210 pounds, while Mayfield is 6-1 and 215. Each played at two colleges, DeVito at Syracuse and Illinois, Mayfield at Texas Tech and Oklahoma. Both players have a can’t-take-your-eyes-off-them quality and offer the possibility that something unexpected, exciting or unusual can happen on any play.

Not that the Giants are looking for any of that. They just want someone who can help them end a five-game losing streak, stimulate a team with a 2-8 record and the league’s lowest scoring average at 15.6 points a game. For that, they summoned DeVito, who was 3-3 as a starter in 2023.

While DeVito hasn’t played a down this season, Mayfield has missed just two of the Buccaneers’ 647 offensive snaps. He is third in the NFL with 24 touchdown passes, third with a 70.6 completion percentage, and fifth with a 106.5 passer rating. Mayfield has also rushed for 192 yards and two scores. His brashness and confidence are evident whenever the ball is in his hands.

“He’s the ultimate competitor,” said Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, who has faced Mayfield three times in his career, including once last season when he held the same position with the Tennessee Titans. “The play is never going to be over with him. He thinks he can get out of everything and a lot of time he does. He’s strong in the pocket, being able to dip that shoulder and kind of get underneath some of those tackles. That’s a big concern for us after some of the (long runs) we’ve given up on scrambles, just making sure we do a good job keeping them contained and being coordinated.

“The thing that stands out that I always notice about him is the competitiveness, the emotion that he plays with. Really can’t say enough about what he’s done, kind of coming back from where he was a few years ago (he was traded to and then cut by Carolina in 2022) and his resolve and his determination to get back here. I think he found a really good system for him and he’s maximizing it right now.”

Mayfield has plenty of help. While all eyes will be on DeVito, the performance of the Giants’ defense could determine the outcome of the game. The Bucs have scored at least 20 points in nine of their 10 games, 30 or more points five times (tied for the league’s third-highest total), and are fifth with an average of 27.9 points a game. Tampa Bay is eighth in yards-per-game (361.5), second in third down efficiency (50%, 62 of 124), and third in red zone touchdown success (68.4%, 26 of 38).

“They have a really good scheme,” Bowen said. “They have a lot of different ways to get the ball in playmakers’ hands. I think the playmakers are all really good with the football in their hands and Baker does a good job distributing and getting it to all of them.”

One of those receiving Mayfield’s passes will be Mike Evans, who was tied for the NFL lead with six touchdown receptions before suffering a hamstring injury that forced him to miss the last three-plus games. The night Evans was hurt in the Bucs’ 41-31 loss to Baltimore on Oct. 21, he became the 11^th player in NFL history with 100 touchdown receptions.

“One of the best to ever do it,” Daboll said. “Makes unbelievable catches. Tests you down in the red zone. They move him around some, but he’s been as good as there is in the league for a long time.”

Just another challenge for the Giants after a noteworthy week.