Do the Giants have any hope this weekend?
The New York Giants will host the Baltimore Ravens in Week 15.
This is a game the Giants have been expected to lose since the schedule came out. The Giants came up with an upset win over the Ravens in 2022, but they can’t count on the Ravens committing costly penalties and game-changing turnovers again.
Now, the Giants will be without a laundry list of starters and will be relying on Tommy DeVito against the Baltimore defense.
The Giants come into the game as overwhelming 16.5-point underdogs per FanDuel Sportsbook. Do they even have a chance of making the game competitive?
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Tony DelGenio
Giants fans may be hoping for the team to run the table (in a negative sense) in its final four games, but there are still 1-2 more chances for victories. This week is not one of them. The Ravens have arguably the NFL’s best and most versatile offense: first in yards, third in points, fifth in passing yards, second in passing TDs, second in rushing yards, and fifth in rushing TDs. The Giants will combat that with…whom on defense? It’s one thing for the Giants seventh round + UDFA defensive line to hold up against the middling Saints’ offensive line, it’s another for them to do so against one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. Oh, and with Derrick Henry running behind it and sometimes the NFL’s best running quarterback, Lamar Jackson. When he throws, Jackson has two excellent tight ends in Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely plus a very good wide receiver, Zay Flowers. He’ll face a depleted Giants secondary whose only interception came from a player who got hurt shortly after he made it.
The Ravens’ defense is less impressive if you attack through the air, although their pass rush is effective with Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh off the edge and Nnamdi Madubuike up the middle. They also have two premier defensive backs in Kyle Hamilton and Marlon Humphrey. None of that matters, though, because the Giants do not have a quarterback, and this is not the team to try to beat by running the ball – the Ravens have given up the fewest rushing yards of any NFL team. This game could be over by halftime unless Lamar tries to play too much hero ball – the Giants’ formula for success when they beat him in 2022. He won’t need to this time.
Pick: Ravens
Chris Pflum
I’ve probably spent more time thinking about this pick than any other. Not whether or not the Giants are going to win — that ain’t happening, barring divine intervention.
No, I was wondering just how I wanted to respond. I thought about dropping a simple “LOL” and being done with it, or possibly the Simpsons “Stop, stop! He’s already dead!” gif. Instead I settled on this:
Once upon a Thursday, kinda chilly, while I sat feeling silly,
Pouring over tomes of tape and stats –
While I pondered, fingers tapping, can the Giants slow down Jackson?
Or should we all just pop a Natty Bo?
Considering my pick, I wondered, “Do we even dare have hope?”
Quoth the Ravens, “Nevermore”– at least not this week.
(I never claimed to be a poet)
Pick: Ravens
Nick Falato
The Giants are waiting for this season to be over. They played a spirited brand of football last week, but they’re not on the Ravens’ level. Baltimore is favored by 14.5 points on the road; they have the highest team total on the week (29), and the line is shifting northward. The Giants were able to bottle-up the Saints rushing attack, but the Ravens are an entirely different animal. If New York puts seven-plus defenders in the box as they did against the Saints 12/22-personnel packages, Lamar Jackson and the passing attack could have a field day. If the Giants want to play two-high looks against Baltimore — with no Dexter Lawrence — then Derrick Henry should run through the Lincoln Tunnel and into Manhattan. Baltimore will be rested, well-prepared, and has a massive personnel advantage and a coaching advantage. I’m going Baltimore.
Pick: Ravens
James Hickey
Let’s all be honest—this was a game when you looked at the beginning of the season and said “Well, if everything goes right, the Giants might have a chance, with it being a home game.” Nothing has gone right and the only real question is how badly will the Giants get beaten.
Pick: Ravens
David Hartman
What is there to say? The talent disparity from top to bottom in the NFL is less than people think and NFL games rarely have spreads larger than two TDs, yet here we are. And it’s the road team that’s favored by 14 and a half.
We don’t need a lot of “Xs and 0s” analysis here. The Giants can’t wait for this season to be over, and the Ravens are hoping for a long run in the post-season. The Ravens are rested and the Giants are banged up. This is a huge mismatch on both sides of the ball, in every sense of the word.
The Ravens did lose to the Raiders (alongside the Giants, they’re now an NFL-worst 2-11) earlier this season, but they’re not about to suffer another embarrassing upset like that. They need the game and they’ll get it, easily. My advice: Don’t watch the carnage.
Pick: Ravens
Valentine’s View
Do I even have to explain? If I were picking the spread, I would probably take the Giants to cover the 16.5 points. They are 1-7 in one-score games and have played in 10 games decided by 10 or fewer points. The Ravens haven’t been great, or at least not nearly as good as they should be, this season. Still, no chance I pick the Giants to win.
Pick: Ravens
