The New York Giants will return from their bye week to host the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
Both teams are sporting a winning streak and the Packers are favored by nearly a touchdown heading into the Week 14 game.
The Packers are currently the final seed in the NFC playoff picture and certainly hope to remain in the hunt and control their own destiny moving forward.
Meanwhile, after two straight wins, although unlikely, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for Big Blue to make the playoffs. However, they certainly have a lot of work to do in order to reach that goal.
Monday night’s matchup will go a long way toward both team’s playoff hopes.
Here are three reasons for optimism heading into Monday night’s matchup.
The DeVito train
There is in the air at MetLife Stadium surrounding Tommy DeVito.
When DeVito was announced before the Giants’ Week 12 win against the New England Patriots, fans roared as the New Jersey native ran out of the tunnel.
Jersey sales are soaring for the Giants’ third-string quarterback and he has really given fans something to cheer about in the midst of a disappointing season.
Certainly, there have been some positives in DeVito’s play as a starter for Big Blue; including back-to-back wins, which likely led to him being named the starter earlier this week.
It hasn’t been perfect, but the fans are coming together around the story of the quarterback they call ‘Tommy Cutlets.’
Defensive takeaways
The Packers have not turned the ball over during their three-game winning streak.
The Giants’ defense will be a real test as they have won the turnover battle in three straight games and have forced nine turnovers during their two-game winning streak.
With the Packers playing the way they are, expect Wink Martindale to draw up some blitzes to get pressure on Jordan Love and make him uncomfortable to try and force the Packers to make a mistake.
Injuries to the Packers playmakers
Running back Aaron Jones and wide receiver Christian Watson are currently questionable for Monday’s game. Those are two pretty big playmakers to be in question for this matchup.
Even if either of them plays, they won’t be at 100% percent and certainly, that would be a big challenge for Love to overcome.
With some Green Bay playmakers banged up, the Giants’ defense could shine in this one.
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