Giants vs 49ers: An East vs. West Showdown in Week 9

The Giants trudge into Week 9 off of back-to-back losses - one a catastrophic meltdown in Denver, and the other at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles. Sitting at 2-6, they are in desperation mode, in search of a win to keep them afloat. The loss in Philadelphia last week was only exacerbated when Cam Skattebo went down for the season with a dislocated ankle midway through the game. His dynamic presence leading the backfield with Jaxson Dart is now lost for the rest of the 2026 season.

A rash of injuries on both sides of the ball has exposed the lack of depth this team has dealt with all year. We knew heading into the season that health would be paramount to the Giants’ success. Guys will inevitably continue to go down, and as much as I'd like to blame the training staff or the MetLife turf, not being able to replace them with quality players will be management’s downfall.

The Giants are back at home and face a 49ers team that is 5-3 and coming off a tough loss in Houston last week. The two teams have only faced each other twice over the past five years, with the Giants losing both matchups by hefty margins. In those games, they mustered just 12 points in 2023 and 9 in 2020.

The past can tell a story, but let's live in the present for a bit and dissect how the Giants match up with the 49ers on both sides of the ball.

The Offense

Jaxson Dart remains one of the lone bright spots on offense. With Cam Skattebo going down last week for the rest of the season, and the offense already having lost Malik Nabers in Week 4 to a torn ACL, all of the pressure now falls on Dart to keep the offense moving. He is developing quickly and has shown early on that he can be a leader and produce results under center for this team, but losing so many playmakers around him makes it much harder to maximize his play.

Case in point: the skill players outside of Jaxson Dart are a sight for sore eyes. The wide receiver corps is basically nothing without Nabers, Theo Johnson has drop issues, and Skattebo is out for the season. The only other bright spot of this offense outside of Dart is the offensive line which has been very consistent and has experienced the most continuity out of any position group - aside from the defensive line - this season.

The 49ers’ defense, led by Robert Saleh, ranks 15th in passing yards allowed and 16th in rushing yards allowed. The numbers tell us that they are a middle of the pack defense that can be exploited, given the Texans were able to handle them pretty easily last Sunday. However, they have faced a ton of injuries on the defensive side of the ball, and they may be hobbling into this one. Without stars like Fred Warner and Nick Bosa clogging run gaps, the Giants can use Dart’s legs and the RPO game with Tyrone Tracy Jr. to find open space and establish a ground attack.

Once the run game is established, the Giants can take some shots down field. Although Dart is 2-for-16 on downfield passing, the Giants are intent on finding ways to push the ball downfield. Many of those incompletions stem from poor receiver play. Targets downfield to Darius Slayton, Wan'Dale Robinson, and Jalin Hyatt have resulted in a 0-for-10 stat line, per NFL Pro. That is horrendous, but the Giants have to keep taking shots and trying to find those big, explosive plays that can energize an offense that is barely floating above the water.

The Defense

Dexter Lawrence has had a slower start to the season compared to previous years, but one critic in particular made waves with an unexpected stance. Giant legend and radio announcer, Carl Banks, called out Lawrence on the Bleav in Giants Podcast this past week. Banks said:

"Dexter Lawrence, nobody respects you anymore. Nobody."

Fighting words from Banks? It felt a little excessive knowing Lawrence has been double teamed about 62% of the time when rushing the passer this year, per NFL Pro. I enjoy Banks' analysis, but this is one take that I can't get on board with. It's not that no one respects Dex anymore, it's that teams are keying in on him and planning to stop him. He is a phenomenal pass rusher for his position and size, so for a legend and Giants employee to say that about one of the best players on this team is questionable. Let's hope this lights more of a fire under Dex and it results in a couple sacks on Mac Jones this week.

Speaking of Jones, he will be starting under center for the 49ers as Brock Purdy remains out with a turf toe injury. In 6 starts this year, he has thrown for close to 1,600 yards and 8 touchdowns, but has been tagged with 5 interceptions - four of which have come in the last three games. Subjectively, those have been his worst outings of the season. He was pressured 16 times last week against the Texans, and 15 times two weeks ago against the Buccaneers, per NFL Pro.

This feels like a game where the pass rush can make a massive difference in flipping the script in the Giants’ favor. As mentioned, Dexter is still trying to get it going. But his slow start has allowed the likes of Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux to take tackles one-on-one off the edge, which has led to a lot of success. The Giants have mostly deployed four-man rushes and have generated 19 sacks on the season. Last week, the Texans brought a lot of four and five-man rushes and put up a high pressure number against Mac Jones and the 49ers offensive line. I think the key to success here will be for Shane Bowen to stick with what is working and rush four as much as he can to maximize the abilities of his pass rushers. That should include a heavy dose of Abdul Carter, who is still finding his way as a pass rusher in the NFL.

Jevon Holland should be back manning the deep middle this week, but Paulson Adebo and Cor'Dale Flott will be out for this one. I'm nervous for the secondary, as that is one of the areas that lacks true depth. This is just another reason why the pass rush needs to get home. Getting to Mac Jones could decide the game when the Giants are on defense.

Closing

The Giants are 2-6 and are coming off of two straight weeks of tough losses on the road. They are back home for the first time since their upset win over the Eagles in Week 6. While the 49ers, at 5–3, are still very much in the NFC West hunt, I think if the Giants play a clean game and rush the passer effectively, they have a strong chance to win this one. I think they match up well with this version of the 49ers and could finally get a win against them for the first time in seven years.

Anything is possible in an NFL, and upsets happen every week. The Giants are 2.5-point underdogs at home. Brian Daboll's seat is warm - as it usually is at this point in the season, aside from the 2022 anomaly - and he wants this win badly. He needs to make sure his team is prepared and ready to compete.

As always, let's go Giants.