Giants Kickoff: Three things to watch for in Week 5

The first quarter of the season is behind us and the Giants are 1-3. This week, they head down to the 305 to take on a wagon of a team in the Miami Dolphins. Here are three things to watch for when they kickoff at 1pm EST from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, FL.

Giants secondary vs Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle

How will the Giants secondary hold up while trying to corral two of the best wide receivers in the NFL? The resounding answer to that question for many heading into this matchup is: Not well.

Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are difference makers, they are guys that go out there week after week and pretty much put on a show. That coupled with Mike McDaniel's offensive mindset of lots of motion pre-snap and getting the ball out of Tua Tagovailoa's hands quickly has led to the Miami passing offense flourishing and leading the league with 334.2 Pass/G. Not to mention, Hill has 470 yards receiving and Waddle has 210 to make them one of the more dynamic receiving duos in the entire NFL.

All that said above, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for the Giants secondary. The Giants defense currently ranks 15th in the NFL against the pass, giving up 207.8 Pass/G. On a game-by-game basis, they were really only scorched badly by Brock Purdy in the week 3 matchup against San Francisco when he threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns. Other than that, they have kept every other quarterback that they have faced under 230 yards passing early on this season. That is promising for a secondary that is still riding with rookie cornerback Deonte Banks on one side and a mix of Adoree Jackson, Cor'Dale Flott and Tre Hawkins III on the other. Three of those four are under the age of 24 and are still learning the ropes of the NFL. Make us proud young bucks, and hold it down this week against the toughest matchup yet.

Deonte Banks lines up opposite star Seattle Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf in their week 4 matchup (Photo courtesy of Giants.com)

Saquon Barkley's potential return will have to wait one more week

Barkley has been out since the end of week 2 with a high-ankle sprain. Remarkably, he practiced this past week, albeit in a limited fashion, and looks to be progressing nicely back to 100%. Knowing the type of player he is and the toughness he embodies, it was no surprise that he was listed as questionable throughout the past week and did all he could to get back into game shape to take the field today.

Unfortunately, the Giants will be without him for at least one more week. Sights will now be set on next week's matchup in Buffalo as the potential comeback date.

The Miami run defense is close to bottom 10 in rushing yards allowed through four weeks, so even with Matt Breida filling in again as the lead back, the Giants still have the potential to do some damage on the ground. Barkley's absence should also give way to more designed runs and RPOs for Daniel Jones.

Free Jalin Hyatt

There's nothing wrong with him and he's fully healthy, but over the past two weeks since his 89 yard effort in Arizona, he has caught two balls and only been targeted twice. All of those targets came against the Seahawks as Hyatt wasn't targeted a single time in the San Francisco game.

That is very discouraging to see as the Giants made it a priority to trade up in the 3rd round of this year's NFL draft to select him. They traded pick nos. 89 and 128 to move up to pick no. 73 to get Hyatt. They obviously saw something in him from his time at Tennessee and through his work at the NFL combine to trade up in the third round. So where is the initiative to get him involved? I get that the Giants offensive line is comparable to swiss cheese at this point, but why not scheme up a couple plays to get him open and allow him to use his speed and home run capability (8 touchdowns on passes of 20+ yards in college) to really try and make a difference? A nice 20-30 yard gain will ignite the offense and his own confidence. That will in turn help the Giants drive down the field, something they have barely done all season thus far.

I'd like to see something like the below out of Jalin Hyatt in this one. The Dolphins secondary is vulnerable, the Giants need to take advantage and gain the upper hand.

Final Thoughts

The spread is now up to 12.5 points in favor of the Dolphins as of this writing. I'm not surprised in the slightest that the line is that massive because the Giants are floundering at the moment. Their offensive woes continue to carryover from game to game and they rank dead last in the league with an average of 11.5 points scored per game. Daniel Jones has thrown six interceptions and that is tied for first in the league with Jimmy Garoppolo and Sam Howell. Not to mention, the injury bug is rearing it's ugly head and three starters on the offensive line have been ruled out.

Aside from the San Francisco game, this will be the Giants' toughest match yet. This team has struggled to set the tone early on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball in every game. My hope is that the coaching staff has this team prepared to compete because discipline has been a glaring issue as well.

The NFL is a weird and mysterious place, the Giants can come out and play their hearts out for four quarters and end up with a win or they can come out flat and undisciplined early and be staring at a massive deficit once again. I'm just hoping there is something to root for in this one as my outlook on a possible Giant win is bleak. Let's see what they have in store come Sunday afternoon.