What's at stake in this New York Giants Week 12 showdown against the New England Patriots leaves a lot to be desired, especially considering the history between these two clubs. Two Super Bowls in the last 15 or so years, along with a lot of familiarity between the coaching staffs. Of course, Bill Belichick, a longtime Giants assistant himself, twice hired the G-Men's current head coach, Brian Daboll, in New England.
Now, it's a race to avoid collecting loss #9 on the season for each team. The Patriots are finding out what the basement of the AFC East looks like. They are sporting a dreadful 2-8 record and spend each week seemingly toying with the quarterback they thought was going to lead the franchise back to glory as recently as 2021. Only two teams have a worse points differential in 2023 than the Pats' -97….
And one of those teams is the Giants, who lead the pack in that regard (-136). Big Blue also has one more win than New England, with the advantage of having played one more game. The Giants have QB issues of their own. But being down to your third-string choice is a different challenge altogether.
So, what will this Patriots-Giants meeting look like without Tom Brady and Eli Manning? We could guess, but there's only one way to find out. Here are some Giants Week 12 predictions — do us a favor and check our work for us Sunday, won't you?
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Tommy DeVito turns back into a pumpkin
…and not the glorious slice of pie you hid in the fridge and forget about until Sunday when it hits the spot after a day of watching games on the couch, kind of pumpkin. More like, yeah this guy was undrafted and began the season third on the depth chart for a reason, kind of pumpkin.
DeVito had a fine day in his second NFL start, carving up the Washington Commanders for 246 yards and three scores while completing 69.2% of his passes. The nine sacks he took (and many were his own fault, not the offensive line's) set an unsustainable rate moving forward. But otherwise, Daboll had to be happy with the performance, if not the growth DeVito showed.
Week 12 should present a much more vexing challenge. Obviously the Patriots are a mess right now, but that's not exactly on their defensive unit. It's not a great defense, but when a team gives up 30 points across two weeks, it doesn't expect to go 0-2 like the Pats have.
Picking on the Commanders' overmatched secondary and pass-rushing outfit that waved the white flag at the trade deadline was one thing. Dealing with a Belichick defense is another. DeVito will struggle mightily with what he's shown in coverages, looking more like the overmatched rookie that, to be fair, he is expected to be.
Bellinger hauls in first TD of 2023
The Giants invested heavily in TE Darren Waller this offseason, only to see his injury woes pop up again. Forced back into the starting lineup, Daniel Bellinger has made a little bit of noise since Waller hit the IR with a hamstring injury following the Week 8 loss to the New York Jets.
In the three full games since Waller went down, Bellinger has attracted nine targets from Giants QBs. He's caught eight of those passes. Bellinger has also illustrated some chunk play ability, with a reception of 20+ yards in each of those three games.
One thing he hasn't done yet this season? Find the endzone. But clearly, he's earned the trust of DeVito. Plus, there are only so many times you can hand the ball off to Saquon Barkley. Especially when everyone in the stadium knows you are going to hand the ball off to Saquon Barkley.
Bellinger should be able to snag his first TD catch of 2023, judging by how he's played in recent weeks.
And so will Demario Douglas
The quick-twitch Douglas has been soaking up a lot of volume in Bill O'Brien's offense in recent weeks. He's attracted seven or more targets in each of his last three games, culminating in a career-high nine against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 10. He's turned 23 targets into 16 catches since Week 8.
Douglas still hasn't found the end zone either. But as O'Brien and Mac Jones find ways to get Douglas more involved, he's bound to produce a score. The former Liberty standout was able to rip off a 30-yard reception versus the Colts. Clearly, the big-play ability is there.
Patriots exact some revenge for Super Bowl losses, defeat Giants
But not enough to ease the pain of how the 2007 season ended. (It's never a bad time to bring that up, right Giants fans?)
Unfortunately for the Giants, they aren't playing the Commanders this week. New York hasn't been able to best any team besides that mess of a franchise and a Kyler Murray-less Arizona Cardinals in 2023.
The Patriots somehow downed the Buffalo Bills and pushed the Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins to the brink. Does that count for something? Maybe? We think so.
If Belichick can end it with the Mac Jones mind games for a week and give the quarterback some answers in the passing game, the Patriots should be able to come out on top of this one. And it won't take 30 points to get the job done.
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