The New York Giants will continue their 2021 preseason campaign, for the first time out of New York, when they go on the road to First Energy Stadium to take on the Cleveland Browns. The Giants started last season with five straight losses but battled back in the second half winning five of their next seven before losing three of four to finish 6-10, just one game out of the NFC East. Cleveland finished the year 11-5 and was one of the three playoff teams out of the AFC North, then upset the Steelers in the playoff before falling to the Chiefs in the AFC divisional playoffs.
The Giants lost to the crosstown rival Jets in their first preseason game. They managed seven points granted without Saquon Barkley, starting quarterback Daniel Jones and offseason signing Kenny Golladay. Jones will likely see limited reps in this game but Saquon is still recovering from his ACL injury last season.
New York was arguably the worst offense in football last season averaging just 17.5 points per game and totaling 299.6 yards per game, both ranking 31st in the NFL. Daniel Jones will need to take a big step forward and the addition of Kenny Golladay should help, but the offense will need to improve if they hope to get into the playoffs.
Cleveland is a fan-favorite pick to knock off the Chiefs in the AFC and make a run at a Super Bowl this season; many analysts claiming they have the most talented roster in the NFL. Baker Mayfield is a serviceable quarterback and they figure to have on of the best rushing attacks in the league led by Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. All three of them sat in the win over the Jaguars last week, but Case Keenum and Kyle Lauletta came in and threw the ball 44 times for 319 yards and two touchdowns.
Both teams were average on the defensive end last season with the Giants finishing twelfth in total defense allowing 349.3 yards per game and finished tenth in scoring offense allowing 22.3 points per game. New York spent their second, third, and fourth-round pick on the defensive side of the ball, adding depth to linebacker and the secondary.
Cleveland finished in the middle-of-the-pack in total defense allowing 358.4 yards per game but fared worse in scoring offense allowing 26.2 points per game ranking 21st in scoring offense. It was a focus of the draft to sure up the defense; picking cornerback Greg Newsome II out of Northwestern in the first round and grabbed a steal at 52 with Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, the linebacker out of Notre Dame.
