Calling Our Shots: APC’s weirdest predictions for Week 5

Our writers share their most off-beat and overly specific predictions for Week 5.

We had an oddly specific win on the APC writing staff last week. Our Paul Noonan correctly predicted that Christian Watson would not only score his first NFL touchdown, but would do so on a jet sweep.

Are we content to take that win? No, we are not. Emboldened by Paul’s success, we’re going to start making even more specific predictions. Here’s are our called shots for Week 5.

Jon Meerdink: Saquon Barkley is going to attempt a pass this week

The Giants had Saquon Barkley taking Wildcat snaps last week after a bevy of quarterback injuries, so I figure this week they’re going to go all the way and have Barkley chuck it. Hey, he once caught a deep shot from Odell Beckham Jr. Maybe OBJ’s visit to the Giants this week sparks something and inspires a little something extra from Brian Daboll.

Rcon14: Christian Watson catches a pass deeper than 20 yards downfield.

Watson has routinely been open on film, and while his primary usage has been the stretch defenses horizontally with his speed in the jet motion game, for this Packers offense to reach its potential, they’ll need to utilize that speed to stretch the defense vertically. It’s only a matter of time.

Tyler Brooke: Quay Walker gets his first career sack.

The Packers are starting to utilize Quay Walker as a blitzer, and he’s showing some effectiveness in doing so. I think he has a real shot at getting home this week against New York’s offensive line.

Tex Western: Rasul Douglas gets a pick-six

Daniel Jones throws a surprisingly low number of interceptions for a bad, young quarterback, having a pick rate of just 1.9% since the start of 2021. Still, he has basically nobody to throw to right now, with every NFL-caliber receiver on this roster being hurt. I suspect that the Giants’ game plan for Jones (assuming he plays) is a lot of short throws, and Rasul Douglas loves jumping routes. Ergo, a pick-six is coming on a quick out or WR screen.

Paul Noonan: Aaron Jones will have a big game through the air

It’s a long trip across the Atlantic, and when that happens, game plans sometimes stay simple. The Giants are 30th in defending pass-catching RBs. Jones high so far this year for receptions is three in a game (for 38 yards and a TD). I think they lean on him this week, for 7+ receptions and over a hundred yards.

Kris Burke: Joe Barry actually stacks a box.

He hasn’t done much to not dare teams to run the ball and if he doesn’t against the Giants with a dinged-up quarterback room, he’s a crazy person.