Daniel Jones tries to win road games in consecutive weeks for the first time on Thursday, when the New York Giants’ traveling party makes its way from Arizona to San Francisco.
The Giants rallied to beat the Cardinals 31-28 on Sunday and got comfortable in the Tempe area for an extra three nights while crossing their fingers running back Saquon Barkley’s health and hotel points balance are restored on a short week.
“I’m not saying that he’s out yet. He’s a quick healer. I’m not saying he’s in, he’s out,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said Tuesday. “We are going to take it all the way up with him to Thursday, but he feels a lot better today. I just talked to him. So, we will see where we are at.”
Barkley injured his ankle in the victory and needed assistance to reach the sideline after scoring a rushing touchdown and catching a 9-yard TD toss from Jones to help New York erase a 28-7 deficit. Barkley led the Giants in rushing (63 yards) and receiving (six receptions, tied with tight end Darren Waller).
“It’s tough,” Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke said. “(Defensive coordinator) Wink (Martindale) will always say he’s our best defensive player because when he’s on the field running the ball, we are on the sideline. Saquon is an incredible leader; this team is going to miss him, but we also have a ‘next man up’ mentality. Everybody has to in this league.”
San Francisco (2-0) knows the next man up at running back rather well. Matt Breida played for the 49ers from 2017-19 before being traded to the Miami Dolphins.
The 49ers have no injury concerns at running back. Christian McCaffrey, the NFL’s rushing leader (268 yards) by 88 yards through two games, is set to take on a Giants defense being hit for 4.6 yards per carry and 136.5 rushing yards per game. Martindale’s inventive fronts, including a two-man line for multiple snaps against the Cardinals, aren’t leading to much success or pressure on the quarterback to date.
The Giants are still looking for their first sack and takeaway this season. There is optimism from Daboll entering Thursday. The 49ers allowed 15 pressures Week 1 at Pittsburgh, but brought that number down to just six in Week 2, according to Pro Football Focus.
But it hasn’t helped that New York was outscored 46-0 in the first half by the Cowboys and Cardinals, all but erasing risk-taking from either offense. Dallas pitched a 40-0 shutout in Week 1.
While McCaffrey is a sure thing on Thursday night, the 49ers are planning to work Elijah Mitchell into the game plan. If nothing else, coach Kyle Shanahan said he wants to get McCaffrey more rest. He’s on pace for nearly 1,000 snaps in the regular season.
Shanahan expects defensive end Nick Bosa to continue making an impact — he had three pressures of Matthew Stafford in the 30-23 win over the Rams — even if it isn’t showing up on the stat sheet every week.
“He’s getting back into football shape, getting back into his groove,” Shanahan said. “He got better and stronger throughout the game, similar to last week in that aspect. He finished the game really strong and took a step forward from Pittsburgh.”
The Giants have allowed 10 sacks in two games and left tackle Andrew Thomas (hamstring) will be a game-time decision, Daboll said. While Bosa isn’t yet on the board, second-year defensive end Drake Jackson leads the team with three sacks.
49ers co-leader in receptions Brandon Aiyuk (shoulder) was among players dinged for San Francisco last week along with cornerbacks Ambry Thomas (knee) and Deommodore Lenoir (head). Aiyuk was limited Tuesday and is a game-time decision, Shanahan said.
–Field Level Media