The New York Giants travel to Santa Clara to play the San Francisco 49ers in a Monday Night Football matchup featuring two teams that have a combined record of 3-14.
Although these are two of the worst squads in the league the local fans are actually looking forward to this game as they have high hopes for quarterback Nick Mullens, who last week led San Francisco to 34-3 win against the Oakland Raiders while completing 16 of 22 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns.
The 49ers’ season went downhill after starter Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a torn ACL in Week 3 against the Kansas City Chiefs that prematurely ended his season. Also, his replacement C.J. Beathard has been dealing with a nagging wrist injury since Week 8 that gave Mullens his opportunity.
After his superb debut granted him another start Mullens will now try to lead the 49ers to their first winning streak of the season. This week he will face a rested Giants team that is coming off a bye week but has lost five in a row.
Eli Manning will once again start for the Giants, but with the Giants expected to miss the playoffs for the second season in a row, it’s uncertain who could be starting next week. With basically nothing left to play for the Giants could decide to instead give rookie Kyle Lauletta an opportunity to showcase his talents in the Giants’ remaining games.
The bigger problem for the Giants is not who is under center, but the putrid play of their offensive line. As long as the unit continues to play as poorly as they have it won’t matter who the quarterback is.
The Giants rank 28th in sacks allowed in the NFL with 31, tied in fact with the 49ers. Both teams rank ahead of only the Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns, which are allowing 32, 34 and 35 sacks respectively.
The Giants pass defense, which is far better than the Raiders’ (ranked 14th in the league) will be a tougher test for Mullens, but even if he fails to pass for multiple touchdowns, he’s likely to lead the Niners to several long drives and plenty of scoring opportunities.
Prediction: Niners 24 – 17 Giants
