Steelers-Giants Preview: New Jersey Challenge Part 2

When I lived in New York I used to tease Giants and Jets fans that their teams should be called the New Jersey Jets or Giants. After all, they do not play in New York, their stadium is in the Meadowlands of New Jersey. Their origins may have been in the city of New York, but they no longer play there. It’s weird knowing this and calling them New York teams.

With that said, this Monday night the Steelers get the Giants at home and after blowing out the Jets, they get a chance to sweep the “New York” teams with a victory against the Giants. Week eight ends with this game. For the Steelers this makes two consecutive games at home, both on national television. That does not bode well for the Giants as Pittsburgh thrives on prime-time games. That and Russell Wilson continues his journey as the starting quarterback after an impressive performance against the other “New Jersey” game last Sunday night a smashing of the Jets who crashed and burned. There is nothing about this Giants team that should send any fear to the Steelers.

This is another game that could get very ugly for the Giants. With Russell Wilson’s outstanding second half in week seven and feeling extremely comfortable and making the most of the weapons he has on offense and Pittsburgh’s defense beginning to get hot again it will suck to be a Giants fan on this night. New York is coming off the losing end of a blowout and they stand to suffer the same type of defeat again. The Giants allowed Saquon Barkley to move to the Eagles and he taught the ‘Gints a lesson last week by blistering their defense for 176 yards rushing and one touchdown. Daniel Jones was so bad with just 99 yards passing he was replaced by Drew Lock. 

Offense vs. Offense

Make no mistake about it, the presence of Russell Wilson made a difference in the victory over the Jets. Justin Fields played as though he wanted to make no mistakes. He was not a big risk taker and while he has better movement using his legs, Wilson’s experience and savvy showed in a big way as the game wore on and he became more comfortable. I asserted in my post-game wrap up that the team just seemed to play at a different level than they had through the first six games. Najee Harris and everyone else on offense were playing much harder. There are doubters out there that believe Russell Wilson will not continue this successful path. I disagree wholeheartedly. What he did last week was against a team that was supposed to have a superior defense and on Monday night he’ll be up against a defense that is not as good.

The Giants’ starting quarterback Daniel Jones was awarded a new contract and expectations of his growth were high. But he has yet to get anywhere near being one of the top quarterbacks in the league. In week seven he was so bad he got yanked for Drew Lock. New York’s running game is not a strong one with their leading rusher, Devin Singletary gaining just 239 yards this season. The Giants only have three rushing touchdowns and only six scores through the air. Jones has been sacked 21 times and thrown four interceptions. 

Defense vs. Defense

Pittsburgh’s defense welcomed Alex Highsmith back last week and after a slow start they dominated the Jets in the second half of that game. Montravius Adams is lost for the season with a knee injury but the rest of the defense is healthy. Patrick Queen is starting to reach the level he was on when he was with the Baltimore Ravens. They should have their way with the Giants and Daniel Jones will most likely be running for his life.

New York’s defense lacks the stars and firepower of Pittsburgh’s talent on defense, and they will have their hands full with a confident Russell Wilson, a refreshed George Pickens, and a freight train in Darnell Washington who is seeking more action. 

Intangibles

For the second week in a row the Steelers are on national television. The Steelers love Monday nights. Their record on this night is 56-31-1. At home they are 31-10-1. In the last 25 games on Monday their record is 21-4. With this game you get two of the oldest franchises in the NFL. Pittsburgh came into the league in 1933, and these two teams met that year as the Giants prevailed 23-2. New York would win the next five until the Steelers pulled off a victory in 1936 10-7. 

The Giants and Steelers have played 78 times, and the Giants hold the series lead with 44 victories against 31 defeats and one tie. The last meeting was in 2020 on September 14 with the Steelers winning 26-16. In 1952 Pittsburgh blew the doors off the Giants at Forbes Field, winning 63-7. In 1964 and in 1966 Pittsburgh also won big by scores of 44-17 and 47-28, respectively. 

Pittsburgh has also shut out the Giants on two occasions, 27-0 in 1976 and 31-0 in 1963. The Giants have gone over 40 points twice against Pittsburgh both times scoring 42. Final scores were 42-7 in 1935 and 42-21 in 1961. When it comes to shutting out the Steelers New York has done it multiple times (1935/13-0, 1937/17-0, 1940/12-0, 1946/7-0, 1951/14-0, and 1957/35-0). 

This will be the fifth meeting on Monday night between New York and Pittsburgh. Each team has hosted two of those games. The first came on October 3, 1938, in New York as the Steelers were the victors 13-10. Oddly enough, 13 years later the two convened again and even more bizarre is the final score…13-13. Another 40 years passed before the Giants and Steelers clashed on Monday night and on October 14, 1991, the Giants won at home 23-20. In 2020 that became the last Monday meeting until this week, and it was Pittsburgh winning by 10, 26-16.



Prediction

The fans at Acrisure Stadium are going to love this one. Steelers 41 Giants 9.