Giants vs. Vikings: Preview, prediction, what to watch for

An inside look at Sunday’s Giants-Vikings NFL Week 1 matchup at MetLife Stadium:

Marquee matchup

CBs Deonte Banks, Cor’Dale Flott, Nick McCloud and Adoree’ Jackson vs. WR Justin Jefferson

Yeah, it takes a village to deal with Jefferson, who cannot be stopped with one defender.

The plan could be to have Banks travel all over the field with Jefferson, but that could be disruptive to the entire coverage.

Jackson has had success in this matchup in the playoff game after the 2022 season, but he was re-signed last week and is not up to a full-time assignment such as this just yet.

Jefferson had 1,074 receiving yards in just 10 games last season and 1,809 yards in 2022.

Paul’s pick

Malik Nabers has called for chants of “Leeeeek!” when he does something to excite the crowd, and there will be no sweeter sound for the Giants if that is heard reverberating around the stadium.

Will it happen?

Daniel Jones needs to get the ball out his hands, and the defense needs to limit Aaron Jones enough to force Sam Darnold to take to the air.

Giants 23, Vikings 19

Four downs

Too much too soon? New defensive coordinator Shane Bowen is probably not going to want to take Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns or Kayvon Thibodeaux off the field for very long, ever.

But he needs them as frisky as possible late in the game.

“All these games are going to come down to one-score games more times than not, so we got to be our best there and hopefully those guys are in condition enough and we can spell them enough at times, at the right times, to where they’re the freshest when we need them the most,” Bowen said.

The massive 340-pound Lawrence has great endurance.

“That was one thing I was surprised with when I got here was just the amount of play time for a dude that big and how hard he plays,” Bowen said.

Figure it out: Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores called for more blitz-zero than any other team in the league — sending an extra man in on pressure, which means there is no deep defender and usually straight man-to-man coverage in the back.

This is all about communication for an offensive line and the Giants added 20 years of NFL experience in new starters Jermaine Eluemunor, Greg Van Roten and Jon Runyan Jr.

“We have a lot of veteran guys that played a lot of ball in this league, so it’s not hard,” left tackle Andrew Thomas said. “We’re on the same page. We don’t know exactly what they’re going to do, but we try to read our keys and follow our rules. That’s the only way to pick up blitz-zero and those different pressures.”

Just for kicks: If it is close and the Giants need to win the game with a long-distance field goal, can Graham Gano do it?

He hit 92 percent (89 of 97) of his attempts his first three seasons with the team, but slumped to 11 of 17 in 2023 before he needed surgery on his left knee — his plant leg.

Gano is 37, so he is getting up there in age.

It was hard to tell in training camp if he is all the way back.

“I don’t think I really lost it,” he said.

The Giants stayed with him.

“I’ve seen the Graham Gano that wins football games in this league,” special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial said. “He is a proven kicker in this league and I’m fully confident in his ability to go make kicks at any distance.”

Attack the rebuild: The Vikings have as many as six new starters on defense — including an almost completely revamped linebacker corps with the additions of Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, former Giant Jihad Ward and first-round pick Dallas Turner.

Look for the Giants to try to exploit the middle of the field with quick-hitters to Wan’Dale Robinson and rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr., and to give Devin Singletary — the Saquon Barkley replacement — a full load in the ground game.