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The New York Giants have not had the start to the 2024 season that they wanted, but Brian Daboll’s squad will look to right the ship as they travel to Cleveland this weekend to take on the Browns. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET from Huntington Bank Field. Keep reading for my Giants Week 3 predictions.
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Malik Nabers to have 2+ touchdowns
Malik Nabers is the best offensive player on the Giants, and the team will be relying on him to give them a spark in this game. If the Giants are to have any semblance of offensive success, it will be because of Nabers and his unique talents.
Nabers is a speedy and physical deep threat who can beat offenders vertically down the field with ease and create spark plays for his team. The Giants are desperately lacking in that category, and Nabers excels at this facet of the game. He’s a threat to score whenever he touches the ball. The Giants desperately need that ability.
With Nabers quickly establishing himself as Daniel Jones' go-to option, expect the Giants to target him early and often this week. The biggest challenge with predicting Nabers’ performance is that, as a wide receiver, he relies heavily on his quarterback play to get him the ball and put him in opportunities to succeed. However, Jones will be incentivized to target Nabers, which should help increase his production.
Jones has certainly had his share of ups and downs throughout his career, and lately, he’s had more downs than ups. That’s particularly true in the early going of this season, which largely appears to be an extension of his miserable 2023 years. If there’s one thing that can turn around and quarterbacks play, however, having an elite wide receiver to make the game easier for them. This isn’t a comparison of the players by any means, but for instance, look at the San Francisco 49ers’ receiving core and how much easier they make life for Brock Purdy.
Purdy is a good quarterback, and he gets the job done, but he relies heavily on his weapons. Nabers is just a rookie, and it might be a bit unfair and premature to compare him to Brandon Aiyuk or Deebo Samuel. Yet, if he continues on the trajectory he's on, he could force his name into those conversations sooner rather than later.
Nabers can continue working towards his spot on top-10 lists with an explosive performance this weekend.
Daniel Jones has 4+ touchdowns … and 3+ interceptions
Jones is going to bounce back in a big way after hearing the calls for him to be benched following last week's performance, but his tape will still be a mixed bag overall.
Jones is a confounding player in that he is capable of moving the ball and punching it into the end zone. Jones has decent talent around him at the receiver position, led by the aforementioned Nabers, second-year deep threat specialist,l Jalin Hyatt, and the perpetually underrated Wan’Dale Robinson.
We already have Nabers penciled in for at least one touchdown, and it’s possible he could score two as well. Hyatt is a threat to burn the defense deep down the field and take one to the house anytime he touches the ball. Suppose Nabers has a massive game with two or more touchdowns and Hyatt scores one, that puts Jones at three already. He would only need one more touchdown to make this prediction come true, and that could come from anywhere.
It could be Nabers or Hyatt scoring an additional touchdown, Robinson joining the party, or somebody else getting in on the action. A running back could catch a pass on a creative route out of the backfield and take it to the house, or one of the team's tight ends could potentially find the end zone. The Giants have a decent number of weapons, and with the way they’re struggling it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them reach deep into their playbook and put all their cards on the table to try and write the ship.
This isn’t the time to leave anything in your back pocket, and head coach Brian Daboll understands that. He knows the situation that his team is in, and he’s going to pull out his creative plays to try and get his team a win and build some positive energy. This could lead to a fairly easy touchdown pass from Jones to help him reach four passing touchdowns.
However, Jones will always be a flawed quarterback. Even if he has four passing touchdowns, there’s a good chance that he’ll throw a handful of picks as well. He always seems to struggle with his decision-making and makes at least 7 to 10 head-scratching decisions per game. The Browns know this and will look to be aggressive in jumping routes and capitalizing on Jones’ mistakes.
