For Week 3 of the NFL season, it’s the Cleveland Browns vs the New York Giants, as New York travels to Cleveland. Coming off of a historic loss scoring three touchdowns and allowing zero, the Giants will look to correct the ship this week facing off against the 1-1 Browns. Can New York get their first win of the season this week? We’re going to breakdown of the keys to the game to see if the Giants are to pull off the win.
New York Giants vs Cleveland Browns History
The Giants have played the Browns a grand total of 50 times in the regular season, with the Browns leading the way at 27-21-2. The Browns also are 14-11 against the Giants when playing at home, where they are playing this week. The last time the two faced off was December 20, 2020 in New York, with the Browns taking a decisive 20-6 victory.
Keys for a Giants Victory
As historic a loss as it was in Week 2 against the Washington Commanders, there were a few bright spots that the team should lean into if they are going to pull off an upset victory this week.
Malik Nabers was dominant, going for 10 catches, 127 yards, and a touchdown on 18 targets. He accounted for 67 percent of all targets on the offense and looked electric with the ball in his hands. So far, he’s living up to the hype and looks to be a focal point of the offense going forward. If the Giants can get him the ball early and often, then they can pull off a victory.
Devin Singletary hasn’t been bad in filling in for Saquon Barkley, running at 5.1 YPC on the year so far through two games. On top of that, he has the most missed tackles forced at 15 according to PFF. If the Giants offense can be balanced running the ball with Singletary and passing through Nabers, they have a shot at winning the ball game.
The offensive line has held up well throughout the first two weeks, which comes with a sigh of relief throughout Giants fandom. That’s because their OL has been bottom of the league for a decade at this point.
PFF gives them a grade of 83 in pass protection on the season, which is a huge upgrade from last year as they were historically bad. It seems like their new OL coach, Carmen Bricillo, has been able to turn this unit around and have them perform at a high level. Their offseason additions of Jon Runyan Jr., Greg Van Roten and Jermaine Eleumunor so far have worked out. If their OL can hold up, their offense can function; and hopefully, Daniel Jones will take full advantage of the improved OL play to make the most of the offense.
On defense, the unit needs to step it up. They’ve been underperforming at stopping the run or the pass, and unable to get pressure outside of Dexter Lawrence. The Brian Burns-Kayvon Thibodeaux duo has been very unimpressive through the first two games, being more of an afterthought than making any impact on the game.
The defense was able to keep the Commanders out of the red zone, but was unable to stop them from scoring at all throughout the game in Week 2. Will the defense show any improvement from the first two weeks and be able to stop the Browns offense? We shall see.
Keys For A Browns Victory
The game plan for the Browns is simple – stop Nabers on offense and force Jones to make plays; which he’s shown is a clear weakness for him. They must make the Giants prove they have a more balanced offense than it seems to be with the emphasis on Nabers. The Browns have a defense that’s top of the league, and if they can stop Nabers, the Giants will be at a huge disadvantage.
The Browns are also more than capable of hindering the run game for the Giants. While Singletary has been playing decent during the beginning of the year, he’s not a world beater. Force the team to rely on Jones to make a play and more likely than not, he won’t be able to do it.
Deshaun Watson hasn’t played at an elite level ever since he wanted out of Houston and had a plethora of off-field issues. He needs to prove that he can connect with his top receiver Amari Cooper.
So far this season, that’s been a struggle. Cooper has had 17 targets but only five receptions for 27 yards and no touchdowns. Watson hasn’t struggled nearly as much with Jerry Jeudy, but he’s only gone for eight receptions, 98 yards, and one touchdown over two games. Can Watson return to his old form when he was with the Texans and connect with his receivers in this game? Time will tell.
The Browns have been without Nick Chubb, their star running back, for almost a year now and have been trying to figure out their run game in his absence. Jerome Ford got the most touches in Week 1, but Week 2 they switched and went with D’Onta Foreman.
It seems like they are still trying to figure out what their identity is in the run game. Luckily for the Browns, the Giants rushing defense is lackluster, so it’ll be easier to get into a rhythm this Sunday. If they are successful at running the ball, Watson’s issues can be mitigated and they have a good shot at winning.
New York Giants Strategy To Win
The Giants need to feed the ball to Nabers and let him make plays, but they will also need to utilize some of their other receivers as well. If the Browns are able to shut down Nabers, the Giants need to prove that they can go elsewhere to force the defense to focus on more than just one player in the receiving game.
Wan’Dale Robinson, Darius Slayton, and Jalin Hyatt should be sprinkled in as needed so that the ball is spread out just enough to make sure the defense isn’t successful with just shutting down Nabers.
Running the ball with Singletary will also help with balancing out the offense; and hopefully, they will be able to run against the stout Browns rushing defense. Let’s not forget that Jones himself has ability with his legs and they would be wise to sprinkle in some designed runs for him. If New York can get the run game going, not only will it take some pressure off of Jones, but it’ll make things easier for Nabers with the defense forced to give attention to other parts of the offense.
On the defensive side, they really need to start seeing their investments in Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux pay off. They haven’t made any impact on the game so far, and have a good opportunity to do so this week. The defense still has Dexter Lawrence and Bobby Okereke to lean on to make plays on the DL. So if they can stop the run and get pressure on Watson, they have a good shot at winning the game.
Meanwhile, their secondary needs to start stepping up as well, as they haven’t been very impressive this year either. The group is young and still has a chance to show growth. Yet so far, they haven’t had the impact on the field that’s needed from them.
The Giants were able to keep the Commanders out of the end zone but unable to stop them from marching down most of the field. It’s worth noting that they’ve seen some real promise from rookies Dru Phillips and Tyler Nubin, so there’s definitely room for hope. However, for this week there isn’t a lot of time for it all to click.
Can they stop the Browns offense and showcase a competent offense against a stout defense? We’ll find out this Sunday.
Evan Solomon
Evan is originally from Queens, NY and grew up on Long Island, and grew to love The New York Giants being surrounded by Giants fans. He's a social media marketer and content creator by day, which is what led him to joining The League Winners creating content about something he loves - football. Keep an eye out for his fantasy content and NFL team breakdowns.