5 things to watch as Giants face 49ers in Week 3 of 2023 NFL season

Having been blown out by the Cowboys in Week 1, the Giants were well on their way to getting blown out again by the lowly Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. The Cardinals led by 20 at halftime and were still ahead 28-7 until late in the third quarter.

However, the Giants finally got things going on offense and battled back for a 31-28 win that may have saved their season.

Things don’t get any easier from here on out, though. On Thursday night, New York faces the San Francisco 49ers, who have arguably looked like the class of the NFC so far. New York will be a big underdog, but can the team figure out a way to compete coming off a short week of preparation?

Here are some of the biggest stories to watch as the Giants look to improve to 2-1...

Will the Giants’ receivers continue to make big plays?

As the Giants were alarmingly outscored by 60 points in the first six quarters of the season, big plays on offense were something that simply weren’t happening. On the longest play in the Cowboys game, Isaiah Hodgins lost a fumble in the open field and the Giants didn’t have a play longer than 12 yards in the first half of Sunday’s game.

Forced to air it out a little more in the second half, the Giants finally saw some success in this area, as they had 12 plays of longer than 12 yards after halftime. After a quiet start to his career, rookie Jalin Hyatt finally showcased his big play abilities with catches of 58 and 31 yards. Darius Slayton also stepped up with three catches of 15 yards or more.

Whether this change in fortune was a sign that they were being too conservative until their backs were against the wall or just a sign that Daniel Jones finally found some chemistry with his receivers, this needs to be something the Giants continue to have success with going forward.

Can New York slow down Nick Bosa?

The first player you need to account for when facing the 49ers is obviously Nick Bosa. The all-pro racked up 18.5 sacks last season and has been generating constant pressure in the first two games of the season. He does not, however, have a sack in 2023. Could the Giants possibly stop him from getting to Jones and extend that streak to three games?

Andrew Thomas will be out again, although to his credit Joshua Ezeudu fared better than expected while filling in for him at left tackle in Arizona. Bosa lines up on both sides, though, so Evan Neal is also going to have to step up.

Even if the Giants can prevent Bosa from sacking Jones, he can still create pressure that will create opportunities for other players like Drake Jackson, who currently leads the team with three sacks.

Will Big Blue be able to run the ball without Saquon Barkley?

Barkley was expected to miss two-to-three weeks with an ankle injury, but head coach Brian Daboll sounded optimistic he wouldn’t be out long and initially refused to rule out Barkley playing on Thursday night.

But with Barkley out against the 49ers, the Giants will turn to Matt Breida, who has been a productive starter in the past -- albeit not for the last few years. An alternative might be to operate more of a quick passing game and perhaps run some plays where Jones or Hyatt can run the ball to add a different dimension.

Can Christian McCaffrey be stopped?

On the other side of the ball, the Giants need to worry about the league’s leading rusher. The veteran has 268 rushing yards in the first two games and faces a Giants team that just gave up over 100 yards to James Conner.

One way to ensure they have better success would be to tackle better. The Giants were into double digits for missed tackles against the Cardinals, with linebacker Micah McFadden missing four. That’s one more than he had all of last season despite playing over 400 defensive snaps.

When will Kayvon Thibodeaux start to make more of an impact?

Thibodeaux received some criticism after Sunday’s game, which saw him held without a tackle. He defended himself by saying that Arizona was constantly running the ball away from him, but his lack of pass rush production is also a concern.

Through two games, Thibodeaux has no sacks and just one quarterback hit. In fact, the Giants as a team have yet to register a sack, and Jihad Ward is the only other edge rusher to record a quarterback hit.

It had seemed like Thibodeaux had figured out how to be productive at the NFL level down the stretch last season, as he racked up three sacks and 10 quarterback hits in his final six regular season games. However, his slow start this year is a concern. On Thursday night, he might not have much luck when he lines up on the right against Trent Williams, but might have more success on the other side against Colton McKivitz.