10 things we’re watching in Monday night’s Patriots-Giants matchup

The Patriots need to get through just one more championship before their late Week bye The - Giants will come to Gillette Stadium on Monday Night Football to face off against the - Patriots Here s what we re watching in the Week matchup Related Articles Patriots rule out two key players ahead of Monday night matchup with Giants Why Patriots added veteran running back to practice squad this week Patriots assistant coach high on two rookie pass rushers Patriots receive good news at final practice before Giants event NFL Notes The cases for and against the Patriots being the AFC s best company It all starts with the offensive line Left tackle Will Campbell is out for four games on injured reserve and left guard Jared Wilson will also miss Monday night s matchup though he s avoided an IR stint up to this point while battling an ankle injury Who replaces Campbell and Wilson Expect Vederian Lowe in his third season with the Patriots at left tackle and Ben Brown to continue to fill in at left guard The Patriots do have two other options to play left tackle in rookie Marcus Bryant and Thayer Mumford Jr who was just re-signed off the Browns practice squad If the Patriots needed a fill-in at right tackle it would likely be Bryant s job Mumford previously started games for Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels with the Raiders but he just came back into the building this week after a short stint with New England early in the season Lowe struggled mightily in when he was tasked to play right tackle when left tackle is his more natural position He was better last season while only aligning at left tackle We ll see how he looks this week with a full week of practice as a starter under his belt and in a new system with McDaniels at offensive coordinator and Doug Marrone Jason Houghtalin and Robert Kugler teaching him new techniques as offensive line coaches Don t expect him to be a perfect facsimile for Campbell but it would not be surprising if he plays better with improved coaching and talent around him for the next four games Brown was a center last season but played guard in college at Ole Miss He filled in well for Wilson in Week against the Panthers but struggled more last week against the Bengals If Brown plays as well as he did in Week there would be a dramatic dropoff from Wilson to Brown who s a bigger but less athletic offensive lineman It s a tough test for the offensive line this week facing the Giants who have a bad record but still possess plenty of talent Pass rushers Brian Burns and Abdul Carter are both first-round talents Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence is one of the best in the contest This would be a good competition for quarterback Drake Maye to get rid of the ball quicker Wide receiver Stefon Diggs already announced this week that his position group necessities to be decisive and get open briskly If Maye holds onto the ball too long the pocket could collapse resulting in sacks and likely turnovers It could be a big contest for Diggs and tight end Hunter Henry if Maye demands to rely on his the greater part trusted targets to get open fast The Patriots run tournament must be much better this week even with backups on the offensive line McDaniels acknowledged this week that he must do better as a play-caller down in the deep red zone The Patriots ran six plays from their -yard line in their win over the Bengals and couldn t get inside the end zone turning the ball over on downs once and settling for a field goal the next time The Patriots have used defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga as a short-yardage fullback this season but he s dealing with a chest injury and is questionable to play Could they task someone else with that role whether it s an athletic defensive tackle like Jeremiah Pharms Jr or Cory Durden or a backup offensive lineman Jack Westover has improved as a fullback this season but he s been better blocking in space than getting a push in short yardage The Patriots defensive line also must defend the run better this week They ve struggled since Milton Williams went down with an ankle injury The Giants are top in rushing attempts rushing yards and rushing touchdowns this season Chase Brown was able to exploit them last week against the Bengals It would be helpful to have Tonga available If he can t play it would increase the roles of rookies Joshua Farmer and Eric Gregory and might necessitate a practice squad call-up of Jeremiah Pharms With special-teams captain Brenden Schooler out expect multiple players to fill his various roles rather than seeing a -for- swap Cornerback Miles Battle who just signed off the practice squad this week certainly has the speed to contribute as a gunner He ran a -second -yard dash at -foot- pounds coming out of Utah at his pro day in This feels like it could be a trap match for the Patriots We ll still pick the Patriots to win - in a matchup that seems closer than the squad s records indicate