Buccaneers: Giants expert dreams of one final upset of Tom Brady

Here’s what a New York Giants expert had to say about the matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are slated to take on the New York Giants Monday night up in MetLife Stadium.

To continue previewing and analyzing the nationally-featured matchup, we reached out to our friends over at GMEN HQ to get some perspective from the enemy sidelines.

Here’s what Site Expert Danny Friedman had to say about the matchup:

1. Things haven’t gone how Giants fans would’ve wanted so far.. what do you credit the failures to?

Friedman: There’s a lot of blame to go around. The Giants have been unable to win or finish close games. Daniel Jones hasn’t taken the step many expected in year two. The offensive line hasn’t improved or been fixed, the receivers can’t get open, and the tight ends have had little impact.

The offense has been a major struggle through seven weeks as the defense has mostly kept them afloat. The defense is dealing with a inconsistent pass rush, injuries all over the linebackers corps, and the secondary is a disaster every week.

The Giants have a lot of inexperience and young guys playing and they are struggling. Joe Judge has made some interesting in-game calls as Head Coach and a lot of the team’s decisions haven’t worked out.

2. Though there is plenty of bad, what are some of the bright spots with the Giants thus far and things this team can build off moving forward?

Friedman: The Giants have some things to still look forward to. Darius Slayton is the real deal at receiver, they have two rookie tackles that can hopefully fix the edge for years to come.

The defense has a variety of young, talented players on the defensive line and at linebacker such as Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams, and Blake Martinez.

Hopefully these guys continue to develop and become building blocks for the future.

3. In this game, what areas do you think the Giants could potentially exploit to pull off an upset Monday night?

Friedman: It’s hard to really point out a weakness for NY to take advantage of. The team is banged up and has more issues of their own to worry about rather than the Bucs.

They will have to find a way to get the run game going on offense and keep Brady off the field.

On defense, they have to key on the Bucs’ dynamic run game and keep Brady under duress all game.

4. What areas of weakness are you concerned about as the team prepares to take on the Buccaneers?

Friedman: The Giants secondary will be heavily tested. Whoever lines up at linebacker will have a LONG night trying to stay with the Bucs’ running backs and tight ends.

The Bucs front seven is arguably the most impressive in the NFL. It will be fascinating to see Jones handle them after having a dream debut in TB last year.

5. What’s your prediction for Monday night?

Friedman: Although it would be a dream to see the Giants pull one final upset of Tom Brady, it’s hard to see it happening. The Bucs matchup extremely well with the Giants at every position group and its hard to find a way the Giants can win. They’ll need to play a near-perfect game and put up their best performance of the season to find a way to win.

It’s always exciting and nostalgic seeing Brady vs the Giants. It’s created some legendary and nightmare memories for thousands of fans. I expect the game to be closer than many people think. The Giants lose in respectable fashion, 20-31 Bucs.

All of us at The Pewter Plank would like to thank Friedman for his time and insight. Make sure you check out GMEN HQ for the best New York Giants coverage on the web.