No Eli, No Saquon, No Odell…Who Are We Playing, Again?
- The Vikings won’t have Eli Manning to kick around anymore.
- The Vikings won’t have Odell Beckham to shut down anymore.
- The Vikings won’t have Saquon Barkley to fear anymore.
- The Giants starting linebackers Alec Ogletree, Lorenzo Carter, and Tae Davis are potential scratches.
- And New York will be starting a rookie quarterback in Daniel Jones.
So, a walk in Central Park, right?
Not if you watched the Vikings play a depleted Bears roster led by a backup quarterback last Sunday.
If Kirk Cousins shows up on Sunday, he could begin to make ammends to his disgruntled wide receivers, assuming the Vikings can establish a running game against the not-very-good Giants.
The game will probably turn, though, on the performance of the Vikings defense.
- Will they let the Giants run down the field and score on their opening possession?
- Will Mike Zimmer confuse Daniel Jones with exotic blitzes and disguised coverages?
- Will Xavier Rhodes get picked on again?
- Will Everson Griffen continue terrorizing opposing quarterbacks?
Jones will have Golden Tate back as a receiving option to go along with Sterling Shepard and tight end Evan Engram. So he’s got some weapons even if Barkley doesn’t return.
But if the Vikings can force Jones to throw for more than 10 yards, his accuracy suffers, so there are turnover opportunities to be had.
Pete Bercich breaks down Jones’ game here. (I’ve started where Bercich pick up so you don’t have to listen to the insufferable Paul Allen.)
But, you know, hey, who knows?
It’s the Vikings.