Written by: Tony “The Prophet” Yantosca

WINNING IS THE BEST DEODORANT
Whoever said winning is the greatest deodorant could not be a more positive statement when it comes to the Giants recent victory over the Panthers. The Giants gave up 82 points the previous 2 weeks and were outscored by 51 points vs the Rams and the Cowboys.
The game was relatively close until the end of the third quarter when the Giants scored to improve their lead over the Panthers to 12-3. With the Panthers offense looking impotent, the touchdown sealed victory at home. Broken and inept, Panthers QB Sam Darnold had a horrible game. He was pulled by the beginning of the 4th quarter. He was replaced by PJ Walker of XFL fame. He was actually worse. On his first series the Panthers had to punt. On the second series he had a 4th and 16 from his own 19. Walker threw an incomplete pass. The Giants took over and Booker ran for a 19-yard touchdown. On his next series Walker drove the Panthers from his own 25 to the Giants 29, but their drive stalled. Walker was sacked on that 4thand 10 and the game was over.
It was the first real appearance of the Giants defense since last year. They played great but were helped by the absence of Christian McCaffrey. The Panthers have not won a game since he went down. Here are some of the defense stats from this game: 6 sacks, 7 tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hits, 1 interception and 1 forced fumble. Ojulari had a great game. I was in favor of drafting him. It is one of Gettleman’s best picks. Ojulari was projected as a first round pick and he fell to the second round to Spick 50. Ojulari’s stat line looks like this: 5 tackles (3 solo), 2.5 sacks, 3 tackles for loss and 4 quarterback hits.
Jones played well. However, he does not give you the kind of stats that elite franchise quarterbacks have. Jones had a pedestrian day passing 23/33 for 203 yards, 6.1 YPA, and 1 touchdown. He also ran for 25 yards on 8 carries, 3.1 YPC. This was the formula that we saw last year. In the Giants wins, the Giants ran for over 100 yards in every win and Jones averaged 210/yards/game last year. However, this performance and the New Orleans game should cement the future for Jones as the starting quarterback for the Gmen. Yes, I wrote this. The Prophet thinks Jones has shown enough where he can be successful in the NFL.
Here are some other poor stats form the Panthers caused by the strong play of the Giants defense:•
Panthers’ 3rd down percentage: 13.3% (2/15) Giants 43.8% (7/15)•
Panthers only 11 first downs.•
Panthers only 173 total yards•
Panthers only 145 yards passing•
Panthers only 3.7 YPA passing•
Panthers 56 yards rushing without McCaffrey• Panthers only 2.8 yards/offensive play•
Time of possession: Panthers 25:25 Giants 34:35•
18 quarterback pressures by the Giants• 40% pressure rate for the Giants, highest of the year.
Giants DEE-FENSE stepped it up!
MONDAY NIGHT MATCHUP
Looking at this week’s game. I like the Giants to keep the game within 7 points with the Chiefs. The Giants have a golden opportunity to get a lot of yards and the potential to score 30 versus a beleaguered Chiefs defense. The key to the game will be can the Giants defense get pressure on Mahomes? If they can, they have a very good chance to keep this game close. The Chiefs want to get the ball to their playmakers Hill and Kelce. The spotlight will be on the household name players on the Giants defense. Bradberry will be charged with keeping Hill in check. McKinney will be looking to cover Kelce. He will need help on most plays. Ryan and Jackson will also be trying to limit the Chiefs big plays. It becomes more difficult with safety, Peppers going on IR this week.
Mahomes has self-destructed when he has been under pressure and he has a completion rate a 35.6%. He has only 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions with a 51.8 passer rating under pressure. It comes down to Ojulari and Lawrence to apply the pressure. Together they had 4 sacks last week.
The Chiefs are used to throwing for 300+ yards/week. They also get around 120 Yards/game in the rushing game. The Chiefs will use Darrel Williams to run the ball because they need to keep Mahomes out of obvious passing situations where they have turned the ball over. The Chiefs have the worst turnover ratio at -10. They have turned the ball over 17 times. This is worse than the bottom feeder teams like the Jets, Texans, and Jaguars who all turned it over 12 times. They want to get Kelce open over the middle where the Giants have been vulnerable. Bradberry will have to handle the Cheetah, Tyreek Hill, on his own on many plays. Kelce and Hill have combined for 1174 yards. They do have other passing targets like Hardman, Pringle and but they pale in comparison to the big two wide outs.
When the Giants get the ball, they will want to establish the run. The Chiefs are 27th against the run. The offensive line with Thomas, who is on IR played well last week. It will be up to Booker almost exclusively. The Giants use Penny on short yardage and they will get at least 30 yards from Jones running on average. If they can establish the run it will keep Mahomes and the powerful offense off the field. It will also set up play action. The Chiefs defense is bad and they are also 26th vs the pass. Barkley and Golladay are out again. However, it looks like Toney and Shepard could play. Together with Slaton, Engram, Pettis and Ross, Jones needs to throw for at least 275 yards if they are to have a chance in this one. `
THE PREDICTION
The Giants have been road warriors, they are 11-3 against the spread on the road their last 14 games. Conversely, the Chiefs play close games when they win. They are 3-14-1 against the spread their last 18 games. They are even worse at home, 1-8 ATS at home their last 9 games. The Chiefs defense has not been able to stop anyone. The were blown out last week by the Titans 27-3. I am calling this one Chiefs 31 and the Giants 27 as they just come up short and Kansas City gets to .500.
I am still including the Giants Decade of Malaise because this team is 2-5 with no chance to make the playoffs. You would think that the Giants won the Super Bowl by listening to the fans on Twitter. They beat an imploding team without their best player. These fans need some perspective as this team will probably win 6 games again. I’m glad they won but let’s see some more wins . I do realize these wins are rare and many overreact.
GIANTS DECADE OF MALAISE
Dave Gettleman’s Record since becoming GM: 17-38
Giants Record since last Super Bowl win: 53-72
Giants Record since the start of 2017: 20-51
Giants Home Record since 2017: 10-27
Jason Garrett’s Record: 8-15
Daniel Jones Record as a Starter: 10-23
Daniel Jones: 45 TD’s (40 pass,5 rush); 45 turnovers (26 Interceptions, 35 fumbles, 19 lost)
Joe Judge’s Record: 8-15
Winning Seasons since 2011 Super Bowl Year: 2