The New York Giants will battle the Las Vegas Raiders on the road this Sunday afternoon.
The matchup has taken all types of twists and turns this week. Following the firing of head coach Josh McDaniels, the Giants will be going up against interim head coach Antonio Pierce, who won a Super Bowl with Big Blue back in 2008.
There have also been updates on both quarterback situations as Daniel Jones is expected to return, while the Raiders have benched quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
With all of this going on, the Giants remain 1.5-point underdogs as of this writing.
Here are three causes for concern ahead of the Week 9 game.
Giants playing down to their competitiion
The Giants tend to play down to their competition in recent memory. While both the Giants and Raiders are in the bottom tier of the league in terms of talent this year, most would agree the Giants have trended up since the end of Week 8 and the Raiders have gone in the opposite direction.
It very much seems like the Giants are going to be getting Daniel Jones back on the field Sunday against the Raiders.
Meanwhile, the Raiders fired their head coach and their offensive coordinator, and then shortly after announced they were benching quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in place of rookie Aiden O’Connell. Not only that, the Raiders did all this during a short week after playing on Monday Night Football.
Yet, still, the Giants are 1.5-point underdogs on the road on Sunday.
It may feel like a game the Giants should win easily given the instability going on with the Raiders right now, but in all likelihood, this will be a close one.
Davante Adams
The Raiders have one of the best receivers in the league in Davante Adams.
With the new coaching staff now in place on a short week and a rookie quarterback in, expect the Raiders to rely heavily on their elite weapons between Josh Jacobs and aforementioned Adams.
The Giants should expect Adams to be targeted early and often on Sunday. Hopefully, the Giants’ secondary is up to the task.
Rough time for a DJ return
The Giants have to be delighted to get Daniel Jones back. Especially, after they clearly did not trust Tommy DeVito to throw the ball this past Sunday.
However, with Devito likely to serve as the Giants’ backup again in Week 9 against the Raiders, Big Blue can not afford to put Jones in danger on Sunday.
The Giants will have to keep a close eye on Max Crosby and protect Jones against him on Sunday.
Also, do not expect DJ to be the rushing threat we normally see as the Giants work him back in following a serious neck injury.
With a revolving door on the offensive line and the Giants likely without tight end Darren Waller against his former team, these might not be the best circumstances for Jones to return.
