This week the Pittsburgh Steelers square off with the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. We reached out to our friend Dan Benton, managing editor of Giants Wire to ask him some questions about this week’s opponent and get his prediction.
What is the plan at quarterback this week for the Giants?
There’s no real question about it. Daniel Jones will start just as he will for the remainder of the season. Too much was made of his “benching” in Week 7 because it coincided with the “benching” of multiple other starters. The game was out of hand and Brian Daboll, to his detriment, waived the white flag with a full quarter to go. Who could have imagined that starting Joshua Ezeudu at left tackle would have such disastrous results?
Do you expect to see better effort from Deonte Banks this week?
Who knows. I would love to say yes but his moments of lapse aren’t exactly rare or far between. He’s displayed a notable lack of effort in Week 4 and Week 7, but they are not exactly exclusive. If you watch the film, he takes entirely too many plays off — some more pronounced than others. However, I think his defensive teammates have reached their limit with it and if he does it again, he’ll not only be benched but ostracized in the locker room.
How good has Malik Nabers been?
Silly good. Better than Odell Beckham Jr. as a rookie. It’s honestly remarkable that five different teams passed on him because of how unbelievably talented and intelligent he is. He’s blessed by God in terms of natural athletic talent and his work ethic is second to none.; his study habits are second to none. He’s obsessive and determined and his motor simply doesn’t stop. He’s every bit as talented as OBJ in his prime, as competitive as Saquon Barkley, and his football IQ parallels the likes of Peyton Manning and other all-time talents. He’s a scary mix.
Which Giants player isn't getting the attention they deserve?
The easy answer is Dexter Lawrence. I know most will scoff at that instantly because he’s a common name and a known player but the level at which he’s dominating is historic. We’re not talking Aaron Donald dominance, we’re talking about Lawrence Taylor changing the game and forcing offenses to alter the way they operate dominant. We’re talking about leading the league in double teams but also sacks dominant. There are no two men in the NFL that can stop Lawrence. It’s gold jacket; it’s re-writing the record book. People should consider themselves blessed to be watching this man play football.
Let's have your prediction for this week's game.
There are flaws in going with Russell Wilson but I am not confident the Giants will be the team to expose those. They’re very injured, missing some of their top players on each side of the ball, fail routinely in primetime, are poorly coached, and have players making business decisions. It’s Week 8 and too many have packed it in. If the Steelers don’t win this game going away, it’s an indictment on them more so than the Giants. Yet for some reason, I think the Giants keep it respectable (by their standards). Steelers 24, Giants 20.
