The New York Giants (1-3) travel down to South Florida to face the Miami Dolphins (3-1) at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Sunday, October 8 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Here are five storylines we are following.
Saquon or No Saquon?
Giants star running back Saquon Barkley has missed the last two games with a high ankle sprain. He practiced on a limited basis this week and is listed as questionable.
It doesn’t appear that he is 100 percent yet and head coach Brian Daboll told reporters that Barkley will be a game-time decision.
“No different than last week when we talked. Go out there, practice, see how he feels, talk with him, talk with the trainers, see where we’re at and then make a decision on it,” he said.
Offensive line injuries
The Giants will be without three offensive linemen in this game. Starting left tackle Andrew Thomas (hamstring), rookie center John Michael Schmitz (shoulder) and backup guard Shane Lemieux (groin) have all been ruled out for Sunday.
The Giants will be playing once again with a makeshift offensive line. That didn’t work out very well for them last week against Seattle they allowed 11 sacks.
The Giants signed former first-round pick Justin Pugh to their practice squad this week to help increase their depth along the line but he’s unlikely to play until he’s more up to speed.
Evan Neal puts himself on the hot seat
Starting right tackle Evan Neal, who said some disparaging things about the fans this week, won’t have to face those same fans on Sunday as the Giants are on the road. However, he will have to up his game as he attempts to get back in their good graces.
Neal walked his comments back but he’s now on the fan’s radar and he’ll continue to get booed unless he starts to play up to his draft pedigree.
Overwhelming underdogs
The Giants opened the week as 10.5 underdogs, a line that has grown to 12.5 as of Saturday morning.
The Dolphins are averaging 37.5 points per game — the most in the NFL.
The Giants are averaging 11.5 points per game — the fewest in the fewest in the NFL.
Should be fun.
Speed kills
The Giants spent a lot of energy increasing their team speed. That effort will be under scrutiny this week when they face the fleet Dolphins offense, which features wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle as well as rookie running back De’Von Achane.
“Try to put our fastest guys out there and give them as good of looks as we can,” head coach Brian Daboll said when asked about his strategy.
“That’s what you do each week. So obviously, those two guys are lightning speed. But we’ve used all our receivers on the look team this week, guys that can run, and try to give them the best look we can.”
