By Ryan Dunleavy | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
It can always be worse.
Sure, the Giants and Buccaneers have five combined wins.
But the Week 11 NFL schedule also features Raiders-Cardinals, a matchup of teams with three combined wins.
The Buccaneers (3-6) are buried in the competitive NFC South, but the Giants (2-7) still believe they have a chance in the NFC East despite being four games behind the first-place Redskins with seven to play.
Odell Beckham started the Giants’ locker room mantra of going 8-0 in the second half of the season to sneak into the playoffs.
“I think when I said it I heard a lot of chuckles and all that stuff,” Beckham said, “but it’s only crazy until you do it. It’s just the way it is. We start with one now, we got seven left.”
Here are our staff picks, as well as a national roundup of predictions for Monday night’s clash between the Giants and Buccaneers:
Matt Lombardo, NJ Advance Media.com
Phelan Ebenhack | AP
Matt Lombardo, NJ Advance Media.com
Thanks to strong play from left tackle Nate Solder and newly added right guard Jamon Brown, the Giants offensive line had one of its finest performances of the season in Monday night’s 27-23 come from behind victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay hasn’t been the same team since opening the season with consecutive victories over the New Orleans Saints and Eagles. Sometimes in the NFL teams can ride the emotional wave of a win such as Monday night’s, and this feels like the type of contest that Eli Manning and the Giants’ offense will find a way to pull off.
The pick: Giants 19, Buccaneers 17
Matthew Stypulkoski, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Steve Politi, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The Giants haven’t had an actual winning streak in 23 months, but that’s going to change against Tampa. The Buccaneers’ are sticking with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback in hopes of saving a season that, at 3-6, is probably well beyond saving — and fans of the other tenant at MetLife Stadium know that Fitzpatrick is not a playoff quarterback. Eli Manning will have his best performance of the season in front of the home fans.
The pick: Giants 31, Buccaneers 20
Ryan Dunleavy | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Ryan Fitzpatrick has as many touchdown passes (17) as the Giants have total touchdowns (17), and that’s with Fitzpatrick missing three starts and two games so Jameis Winston could start. The Buccaneers own the best total offense and the worst scoring defense in the NFL. Jason Pierre-Paul and Gerald McCoy are going to cause big problems for the Giants’ shaky offensive line.
The pick: Buccaneers 21, Giants 18
