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Offensive Tackles Are Key To New York Giants Win Over St. Louis Rams

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By @mturnerny

Will Beatty Eli Manning

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The game between the New York Giants and St. Louis Rams on Sunday should boast plenty of defensive demonstrations. The teams have two of the best D-lines in the game, and that means each team’s quarterback will be under a lot of pressure.

Rams defensive end Robert Quinn and defensive tackle Aaron Donald have 10.5 and eight sacks respectively. That means Giants left tackle Will Beatty and guard John Jerry will bear the brunt of those two forces. In order for the Giants to win, their entire line will have to win its matchups.

Due to injuries and incompetence, the Giants’ offensive line has largely been a mess all season. However, Beatty has performed as well as he ever has this season, giving Giants fans and media reasons to retract all of their criticism from last season. The rest of the line, however, will be in for a very rough afternoon Sunday if they don’t complete their assignments.

The Rams boast one of the best defenses in football, and they’ve been without a premier player for 10 games. Finally returning from an ankle injury in Week 13, defensive end Chris Long immediately made an impact on the Rams’ defense. Since his return, they haven’t surrendered a touchdown. Two shutouts and one 12-point performance have been their last three results. Although Long only has one sack in those three games, his presence is crucial to his team’s success.

Opposite Beatty, right tackle Justin Pugh, who’s had a rough go of it in 2014, will be going one-on-one against Long. Based off of Pugh’s troubles this season, this might be the matchup to watch on Sunday. If Long can consistently get into the Giants’ backfield, Eli Manning will have a terrible day. As good as he can be, he almost always falls apart when he’s under pressure.

Since the Rams also have a great defensive tackle in Donald, Jerry won’t be able to afford Pugh any assistance. Any and all of that must come from the tight ends, and honestly, the Giants don’t have great blocking tight ends.

Beatty and Quinn should be a good matchup where both will have their moments of glory. The same goes with Jerry against Donald. Jerry, however, should have some assistance from the Giants’ center. Nonetheless, that will be a very difficult matchup in the middle. The Giants will try to offset the pass rush by running the ball often, but when the Rams have such talented players up the middle of their defense, running the ball with any consistency is going to be difficult.

In the Giants’ two most recent wins, Eli has had pretty good games. If his line, and his tackles in particular, can afford him some time, the Giants will be in a very good position to win the game.

Matt Turner is a New York Mets writer for www.RantSports.com. “Like” him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @MturnerNY, or add him to your network on LinkedIn or Google.

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