New York Giants vs New England Patriots Preview

The New England Patriots wrap up their preseason campaign with a visit to the New York Giants in the latter’s MetLife Stadium on Thursday, August 30, 2018.

First Preseason Loss

The New England Patriots suffered their first loss of the preseason as they fell 14-25 to the Carolina Panthers in Week 3 of the 2018 NFL preseason. Starting quarterback Tom Brady went 12 for 18 for 102 yards in the first half before he was, as expected, pulled out of the game for good. A lone field goal was the only score the Pats could muster with Brady calling the plays. The future Hall of Famer isn’t expected to play in this contest.

Brian Hoyer, who is expected to see significant minutes in this game, threw for 16-24 for 109 total passing yards but he too did not throw for a touchdown. New England only rushed for 60 yards against the Panthers with Mike Gillislee leading the way with 35 yards on 10 carries while scoring the Patriots’ only touchdown in the game. With Sony Michel and Rex Burkhead out of this contest, Gillislee is expected to shine for New England again.

Riley McCarron had 49 receiving yards to lead New England while Cordarrelle Patterson led the team with five catches. The Patriots were only able to produce 271 total yards of offense against the Panthers and that’s not good enough to win games, even in the preseason.

On defense, Ja’Whaun Bentley led New England with four tackles while Jonathan Jones forced a Carolina fumble. Overall though, the Patriots defense allowed Carolina 234 yards in the air and another 99 on the ground. They also let the Panthers convert on 8 out of 15 third downs. New England’s rush defense has been good in the preseason, allowing just 87 yards per game. However, it will be tested against the Giants’ offense which has clicked in the last two weeks.

New England Patriots vs New York Giants 8/30/18

Odds: Patriots +120, Giants -140
Odds from Betway as of 8/28/18

After losing their preseason opener 10-20 against the Cleveland Browns, the New York Giants have won two games in a row. In their most recent outing last Friday, the Giants beat their rival Jets 22-16 here at the MetLife Stadium. The Giants played well in that game especially when they had their expected starters on the field.

Starting quarterback Eli Manning had a strong showing as he completed 17 out of 23 passes for a total of 188 yards. But as good as Eli was in that game and in the preseason as well, the Giants have not scored an offensive touchdown with Eli calling the plays this preseason. Manning is not slated to play in this game so Davis Webb and Kyle Lauletta will get the bulk of action for the Giants.

Jhurell Pressley led the Giants with 71 rushing yards in 13 attempts while Cody Latimer caught one pass for 54 yards and Alonzo Russell also had a 47 yard grab against the Jets. The Giants made five field goals against the Jets, four of them drilled by Aldrick Rosas. Their lone touchdown of the game came off a 55 yard punt return from Hunter Sharp.

Landon Collins and Donte Deayon each had four tackles for the Giants while defensive end Kerry Wynn leads the Giants with two sacks in their first three preseason games. The Giants’ rushing defense is tops in the preseason, allowing just 61 rushing yards per game. That should be the difference here against a New England team which is struggling to run the football in the preseason.

Who Wins?

The Patriots have won five of the last eight meetings between these teams but the Giants have won two of the last three. The last time these two teams met was in 11/20/15 in a regular season match-up which the Patriots won 27-26.

The Giants have played well in their last two preseason games and special credit goes to their defense. New York’s rush defense has been tops in the preseason so far and I think that defense will be too good for the Patriots running game which has struggled in this preseason.

Betting Prediction

Likewise, the Patriots still have some positions that have yet to be finalized and they should spend a significant amount of time trying to figure that out in this contest. On the other hand, the Jets’ line-up for Week 1 of the regular season looks ready. This is pretty much a coin flip, if you ask me and in such games, I like to go with the team that is all set to go. In that case, it’s the Giants. New England also won’t worry much about the preseason at all.

We’re picking the New York Giants to beat the New England Patriots on 8/30/18.

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