PLAYER NOTES
–FB Eli Penny (back) did not practice Wednesday. Penny’s status for Sunday is uncertain.
–S Curtis Riley (shoulder) did not practice Wednesday. Riley appeared to be injured early in the first half of the Giants win against the 49ers, so his injury is not believed to be one that will likely keep him out of action.
–CB Antonio Hamilton (hip) was limited in Wednesday’s practice. Hamilton, who mainly participates on special teams, should be good to go for Sunday.
–LB Alec Ogletree (rib) was limited in Wednesday’s practice. Ogletree has also been batting a hamstring strain, so his status for Sunday is uncertain at this point.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: QB Eli Manning. Manning showed some of the old magic in engineering a come-from-behind victory over the 49ers on Monday Night Football with a performance that was just enough to throw some cold water on his ever-increasing hot seat. Can Manning and the Giants make it two in a row against an equally woeful opponent? If he can’t, things could get ugly for the Giants very quickly Sunday as they look to record their first back-to back wins since Weeks 14 and 15 of the 2016 season.
GAME PLAN: Despite their struggles, the Bucs have the top offense in the NFL, a unit that’s averaging 361.2 yard per game and 25.8 points per week. A big part of that surge has been the play of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who ever since relieving Jameis Winston in Week 8, has thrown for 843 yards (including last week’s 406-yard performance) and six touchdowns, while completing 64 of 96 pass attempts (66.6 percent).
But like any quarterback, get some pressure on Fitzpatrick, and he becomes a different player. Per Pro Football Focus, he’s thrown five of his nine interceptions this year while under duress and has seen his completion percentage dip to just slightly above 60 percent.
The problem for the Giants is that their pass rush has been mostly invisible all season. Last week they only managed to record three pressures against Nick Mullens, none of those pressures resulting in a sack.
With Fitzpatrick dependent on timing patterns with his receivers, the Giants have to find a way to get after him Sunday to keep him off balance.
Offensively, the Giants might catch a big break if Bucs linebacker Lavonte David is sidelined with his sprained knee. David is probably their best cover linebacker, which means that if he’s missing, it would behoove the Giants to take a page out of last week’s game plan and continue to get running back Saquon Barkley in space as much as possible, while also getting tight end Evan Engram up the seam where he might strike gold against a shaky Bucs defensive secondary that has contributed to opponents averaging 291.9 yards per game, fourth-most in the NFL.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Giants RT Chad Wheeler vs. Bucs DE Jason Pierre-Paul. Last week the Giants were able to help the offensive line by providing max protection and by running the ball more. This took some of the onus off the struggling tackles, most notably Wheeler, who leads the offensive linemen with 26 total pressures allowed. This week, Wheeler should see a lot of Pierre-Paul, the former Giants defender who is itching to get back at his old team by showing them that he can still get the job done.
–Giants pass defense vs. Bucs TE O.J. Howard. The Giants defense has struggled against the opposing tight end in their last two games, allowing Jordan Reed of Washington and George Kittle of the 49ers to combine for 16 receptions and 121 yards. Howard’s 487 passing yards puts him fourth in the NFL among tight ends, while his five touchdown catches tie him for third (with Trey Burton of the Bears and Zach Ertz of the Eagles). Howard is a big receiving target who is tough to bring down as it is, so it might behoove the Giants to be more aware of where Howard is on the field and to ensure that they jam him off the line of scrimmage to slow him down.
