The countdown to the 2024 NFL season is officially on. With the start of the regular now just about a week away, many teams, including the New York Giants are preparing for their Week 1 matchup. That matchup for the Giants in Week 1 will be at home at MetLife Stadium against the Minnesota Vikings. It is going to be the first time that the Giants and the Vikings will be going head-to-head since New York upset the Vikings in the 2023 Wild Card matchup. Both teams however look far different than that game over a year ago.
The Giants will have a hopefully healthy Daniel Jones while the Vikings are riding with Sam Darnold who is no stranger to playing in the Meadowlands. He spent his first three seasons in the NFL being the signal-caller for the New York Jets. The Giants are looking to win for just the third time since 2016, and with how the Vikings roster looks, especially at the quarterback position, they must take advantage of this opportunity.
The Giants Must Take Advantage Of Minnesota’s QB Situation
The Vikings got brutal news this training camp about their first-round selection. Quarterback and former national champion JJ McCarthy tore his right meniscus and will be out for the season in the preseason. That means Minnesota will be riding with the aforementioned Sam Darnold and the Giants need to take advantage of that.
This is no shot on Darnold as a quarterback, he just simply has not panned out well as he’s already on his fourth team since being drafted third overall by the New York Jets in 2018. Darnold has not played in more than 12 games since the 2021 season with the Carolina Panthers and has played in less than 10 games combined over the last two seasons.
While there is an argument to be made that the Vikings have arguably the NFL’s best wide receiver in Justin Jefferson, Darnold was simply in Minnesota this season to be a mentor to McCarthy and play in just a handful of games. Now that will be the confirmed starter for the Vikings, the Giants have to take advantage of a quarterback who has not been an elite one in the NFL throughout his career.
NY Must Take Advantage Of Their Home Crowd
Every team in the NFL wants a home-field advantage, especially when Week 1 is the start of the season. That’s exactly what the Giants are getting as they will host the Minnesota Vikings to start the season. The Giants had their fair share of troubles last season in front of their home fans which saw them get outscored 64-3 in their first two home games. This is a game the Giants must take advantage of and use that home crowd’s excitement to help lead them to victory.
The Giants only went 4-4 last season at home, but it was still a far better mark of a 2-7 record they had on the road in 2023. Now with their season beginning in the Meadowlands, can the Giants take advantage of that? The Giants are hoping to avoid a disastrous home start to their season like they saw a year ago against the Dallas Cowboys when they got embarrassed 40-0 in primetime. Can “Big Blue” use their home fans in an expected sold-out matchup to their advantage against a depleted Vikings team?
The Vikings Iffy Defense
The Vikings over the last couple of seasons had a defense that has not exactly been elite. Take the Giants’ playoff win over them in perspective as Daniel Jones passed for over 300 yards in that matchup and the Giants offense had over 400 total yards. While that game was almost two years ago, this defense again has had its fair share of issues in the past and is something the Giants can take advantage of in this matchup.
The Vikings defense was ranked 16th overall in total defense last season, which is not terrible, but certainly something the Giants can take note of. The Vikings against the pass in particular just like in their playoff game against New York is also one of the Achilles heels of the team. They ranked dead last in the NFL last season against the pass as they allowed over 4,200 yards through the air and the opposing team’s completion percentage against them was 70.3% which was also last.
With this offense set to feature rookie superstar Wideout Malik Nabers as well as some other explosive playmakers at wide receiver from Jalin Hyatt, Darius Slayton, and Wan’Dale Robinson, the Vikings could have some issues covering these receivers. The Vikings’ iffy defense is certainly something to watch out for in this game and it would not be a surprise at all in this game if the Giants decide to take some deep shots in this game.
