The New York Giants (8–1) will square off against the Baltimore Ravens (6–3) at 1pm this Sunday at the Meadowlands. Both teams are on four game winning streaks.
The Ravens, lead by outstanding rookie Joe Flacco, will go up against a defense that is number one in the NFC with 30 sacks. Over the past four games, Flacco has compiled an incredible passer rating of 107.5 with no interceptions in his last 112 passes, six touchdowns, and completed 61 of 99 throws for 805 yards. The Giants secondary will be going up against a rookie, who is definitely playing very “veteran-like.”
For Eli Manning and the Giants, they will face a Ravens defense that is rated second in yards allowed (65.4 rushing yards) and that has prevented a running back from gaining 100 yards in 28 consecutive games. That alone will present a unique challenge for the Giants’ running game, a key ingredient to their winning ways.
This game should definitely be an interesting battle of the trenches because the Giants bring the NFL’s best rushing attack with Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward, and Ahmad Bradshaw. They are currently producing an incredible 169.9 rushing yards per game.
In last week’s away game against the Philadelphia Eagles the Giants rushed for 219 total yards. Against a rugged Ravens defense that is limiting opponents on the ground this Sunday afternoon, they will need to bring that same intensity.
Similar to the Ravens, the Giants’ defense will have to shut down their opponent’s ground game, ranked third in the NFL (150.2 yards per game). The Ravens are lead by Willis McGahee (463 yards), LeRon McClain (366 rushing yards), and former Rutgers star Ray Rice (356 yards rushing). McGahee was slowed by injuries over the past few weeks but he looks nearly 100 percent and had a big day against the Houston Texans last week (112 rushing yards on 25 carries).
The Giants so far are 2–1 against AFC North teams. They fell on October 13 against the Cleveland Browns in an embarrassing loss, but in retrospect that game is looking more like a hiccup.
The one infamous matchup between the Giants and Ravens of course was the 34–7 drubbing that the Ravens put on the G-men in Super Bowl XXXV. The Ravens’ defense had their way with the Giants on that night and though many of the players from that 2000 squad are no longer on the team, pulling off the “W” on Sunday would still be sweet for the Giants players because they have not beaten the Ravens in a regular season game.
The good news is that Giants head coach Tom Coughlin has an 8–6 winning record against Baltimore, those games coming during his time as head coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars (1995–2002). Hopefully he can up that notch to 9–6 as head coach of the New York Giants this Sunday.
