A pair of 5-7 teams highlight the Monday Night Football matchup tonight, as the New York Giants head to Sun Life Stadium to take on the Miami Dolphins. While the Dolphins are all but out of the playoff race at 5-7 with three 8-5 squads battling for the final two AFC wild-card spots, the Giants are trying to come into a tie once more with the now-6-7 Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins in the NFC East. Can they do it? Here are five bold predictions for this NFL Week 14 matchup.
5. Ndamukong Suh Held in Check All Game
The New York Giants have done a phenomenal job this year keeping quarterback Eli Manning upright. Their offensive line has only allowed 21 sacks and 54 quarterback hits in 12 games. Those numbers rank No. 4 and No. 5 in the NFL, respectively.
As for Suh and the Dolphins, they have a subpar 26 sacks on the year, and current sack leader Cameron Wake is out with an Achilles' injury for the rest of the year. Suh has had some questionable moments as a "leader," and hasn't shown much all year, taking down the QB just four times. Don't expect that to change in this one.
4. Giants Get Ground Game Going
The G-Men (ha! see what I did there?) have struggled all year with the run game. Averaging only 88.1 yards per contest, anticipate a rushing total of around 120-130 in this one. The Dolphins have been atrocious against the run this year, allowing over 130 yards per game. The Giants' four-man by-committee ground attack (excessive much, Tom Coughlin?) will put together a solid performance in this one to set the pace.
3. Jarvis Landry Held to Under 40 Yards Receiving
The young target-machine has been held under 40 yards only once this year, and that was last week against the Baltimore Ravens. That worked wonders for the Ravens' defense, as they only allowed 15 points. Now, they didn't win the game, but that's mostly because Matt Schaub (who somehow got benched for Jimmy Clausen, who's undoubtedly the worst quarterback still getting playing time today) only led them to 13 points.
Regardless, the Ravens showed how important Landry is for the Dolphins. He keeps drives alive, and if you shut him down, it can make life really difficult for Ryan Tannehill and company. Expect the Giants to use their top two corners throughout the game in an effort to shut him down.
2. Odell Beckham Jr. Will Have Zero One-Handed Catches
In what's become almost a weekly thing, and that's scary, Beckham Jr. will have no amazing, ridiculous, unbelievable, unfathomable one-handed catches in this one. You may think that he would because it's Monday night and OBJ shows up on the big stage, but the weather conditions don't look so conducive for such receptions. A relatively humid, muggy night with the chance for rain in Miami, Fla. will make anything but your mundane two-handed catch ultra-difficult to accomplish.
1. Giants Actually Hold On to 4th-Quarter Lead
Finally, my most insane prediction yet: the Giants will actually hold onto a fourth-quarter lead unlike the five times they gave it up this season so far! Woo!
It's amazing how pathetic the Giants have been in the last quarter this year. They've given up the third-most fourth-quarter points in the NFL at 9.4 per game. That's two scores almost every game. This is why they've lost six games this year by six points or less (twice by just one point). But no more! Tonight, that will not happen; the Giants will hold onto a lead thanks to a working ground game and a lack of pressure from the Dolphins' pass rush.
Prediction: Giants 23, Dolphins 17
