The New York Giants will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium with hopes of making a spark out of the bye week.
That spark should come by way of the Giants’ new QB1, Tommy DeVito, or as most Giants followers know him, “Tommy Cutlets.”
This, after all, comes following the choice by the Giants earlier this week to bench Daniel Jones and begin DeVito as a substitute of Drew Lock, who they signed within the offseason for $5 million. He has served because the backup quarterback all season.
The Giants are available well-rested off the bye week sporting a five-game shedding streak after their embarrassing loss to the Carolina Panthers in Munich, Germany.
In the meantime, the Buccaneers are available with a four-game shedding streak all of which have come towards groups which can be at the moment .500 or higher.
Whereas most followers are most likely rooting for losses at this level for 2025 NFL draft positioning, the Giants are hoping to get again within the win column, particularly Brian Daboll, who could also be teaching for his job.
Listed below are three causes for concern forward of the Week 12 matchup.
The return of Mike Evans
Huge receiver Mike Evans is trending towards a return on Sunday after being out with a hamstring harm since Week 7. Evans, one of many league’s greatest and most underrated receivers, will current a significant problem for the Giants’ secondary — specifically, Deonte Banks, who has struggled mightily in his sophomore season.
The Bucs come into Week 12 with the second-best completion share within the league and can go up towards a Giants’ protection that ranks thirtieth in opponents’ completion share. If Evans can go, it could give Tampa Bay an added increase on this sport.
Bucs could also be higher than their document
As beforehand talked about, the Bucs are available with a four-game shedding streak. All six losses this season have come towards groups that enter Week 12 with a document of .500 or higher.
The Bucs additionally had some spectacular victories this yr. Three of their 4 wins have come towards towards the Washington Commanders (7-4), Philadelphia Eagles (8-2), and Detroit Lions (9-1).
In reality, the Bucs’ solely sport towards an opponent underneath .500 was towards the New Orleans Saints.
The Giants would be the worst opponent (record-wise) the Bucs have had on their schedule to this point this season.
The Bucs speeding assault
The Bucs are averaging 5.0 yards per carry this season, which ranks fifth within the league and could possibly be a recipe for catastrophe contemplating the Giants have struggled towards the run all season lengthy.
The Giants are giving up a league-worst 5.3 yards per carry heading into Week 12.
The Bucs rush the ball at simply over 41 p.c of their performs. Nevertheless, given the mismatch on this class, the Giants can count on a heavy dose of the Tampa Bay speeding assault on Sunday.