New England Patriots: Week 6 roadmap to the New York Giants

New England Patriots return to Gillette Stadium for a Week 6 Thursday Night matchup against the New York Giants.

Following an ugly first half, the New England Patriots rolled against the Washington Redskins in a 33-7 romp to improve their record to 5-0 on the season. Now they turn around in a short week to host Daniel Jones and the New York Giants.

After winning a couple of games since Jones took over for Eli Manning at quarterback, the Giants got routed by the Minnesota Vikings 28-10 in Week 5. They also got a little banged up and could be shorthanded heading into Foxborough.

As an early 16.5 underdog, the Giants could roll over in this game, but if the Patriots come out sloppy offensively like they did in the first half against the Redskins, Pat Shurmur’s team could gain some confidence and make it a more competitive game than many are predicting.

That’s why it is important Tom Brady, Sony Michel and the offense build off what they did in the second half against Washington and get off to a quick start in this one.

Going up against a rookie quarterback in Daniel Jones, we all know Bill Belichick and the defense will be ready.

Last matchup

The New England Patriots and New York Giants last battled back in 2015 in a Week 10 battle.

It was a quite memorable one in fact as the Patriots edged the Giants 27-26 at MetLife Stadium.

After taking a quick 7-0 lead on a short touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Scott Chandler, the Patriots watched the Giants come right back on an 87-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Odell Beckham Jr.

The two teams swapped field goals until the Giants took a 17-10 lead into halftime on a 1-yard touchdown by Dwayne Harris just seconds before the half. That lead expanded to 20-10 before LeGarrette Blount got the Patriots closer on a 1-yard goal line run. The Giants then went ahead 23-17 before old friend Rob Gronkowski took it to the house on a 76-yard touchdown reception to make it 24-23 Patriots.

The Giants took the lead again on a field goal setting up Stephen Gostkowski to win the game on a 54-yard field goal with just 1 second remaining in the game.

Coach’s corner

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots have had a lot of success against first-year quarterbacks in this league. Daniel Jones is a player the team is familiar with since he was on their radar prior to the 2019 NFL Draft.

With the defense playing the way it has, Belichick is still not underestimating Jones and the New York Giants offense.

More from New England Patriots

"“He’s a very impressive young man and I’ve gotten the chance to see him play in the last few weeks here,” Belichick said of Daniel Jones, via Patriots.com. “So he’s a smart kid, has a good football background, very athletic, runs well. He’s fast, he can get out of the pocket and he’s a hard guy to catch. And so, similar to – maybe we saw a little bit with [Colt] McCoy. When he was out of the pocket yesterday, he was able to outrun us and pick up some yards or buy some extra time to throw. He’s in a very good offensive system that Coach [Pat] Shurmur runs, the West Coast system, and so the timing and being able to see the field and utilize all the receivers and multiple combinations in both short, intermediate, and deep routes, and play action, misdirection, all that. It’s a very diverse offense, and it looks like Jones has handled it very well. He does all of the things that they do, including the RPO’s and so forth that it looks like have been included in the offense, have been added in the last couple years.”"

Players to watch

Well, for the New England Patriots, eyes will still be on the offense and how that offensive line holds up against the New York Giants defensive line.

A few things to watch is whether Sony Michel can continue trending upward after gaining 91 yards on the ground against the Washington Redskins. Also, can Tom Brady get some of his other weapons going besides Julian Edelman?

Still looking for Josh Gordon to have that monster game this season.

As for the New York Giants, running back Saquon Barkley is ruled out for the game and so is wide receiver Sterling Shepard. Tight end Evan Engram is questionable which leaves veteran wide receiver Golden Tate as one of the few threats the Patriots’ secondary has to plan for.

On the defensive side, the Giants do have some playmakers in Markus Golden, Dexter Lawrence, Janoris Jenkins, Antoine Bethea and Jabrill Peppers. While it still looks like a blowout victory for the Patriots, the Giants always find a way to play them tough.

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Prediction

The New England Patriots will play as good of a game as they can play on a short week. The Gillette Stadium crowd will have them pumped up as the defense will continue to dominant against Daniel Jones and a battered New York Giants offense. Patriots win this won 31-6.

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