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5 storylines to follow in Giants vs. 49ers

JAXSON-DART-STORYLINES

The Giants will look to get back in the win column this Sunday as they take on the 49ers at MetLife Stadium.

Sunday's loss to the Eagles marked the second consecutive defeat for the Giants, who fell to 2-6 on the season. In addition to the defeat, the team also lost one of its promising players as rookie running back Cam Skattebo suffered a season-ending ankle injury.

On the other sideline, the 49ers are coming off a 26-15 road loss to the Texans. Since starting the season 3-0, San Francisco has lost every other game, bringing their record to 5-3.

Here are five storylines to follow in the Week 9 matchup.

Getting back on track

With Sunday's loss to the Eagles, the Giants have now lost back-to-back games for the first time since Jaxson Dart took over at quarterback. After scoring 66 points in Weeks 6 and 7, the offense scored only 20 on the Eagles. Meanwhile, the defense had not allowed an opponent to gain more than 340 total yards of offense from Weeks 3-6, but have now gone consecutive games with more than 400 yards allowed. The 49ers offer yet another tough matchup.

"We know no one's got an easy road and we've dug ourselves a hole, but this is the league," offensive lineman Greg Van Roten told the media Monday. "There's a lot of football left to be played. It's going to be a dogfight every week and that's kind of the culture, I think, that we've established here. It's like, we don't care. We'll score 30 points and try and win. We'll score 10 points and try to win. We're just trying to win."

The Giants return to MetLife Stadium in Week 9, where Dart is 2-0 as the starter (compared to 0-3 on the road). Despite the roller-coaster ride of emotions the last month, Dart believes the team can still bounce back, starting this weekend.

"Hopefully it just motivates everybody more throughout the whole facility," Dart said after the game. "It's not just the players, it's not just the coaches, it's everybody. I hope everybody can be more and more motivated to get better, to try to take another step in [our] preparation and how [we] lead. That goes for me, too. I have to take accountability because I need to be way better. Fair or unfair, a quarterback is judged by [their] wins and losses. We got to bounce back and I feel confident in the guys and that's what we're going to do."

See the top photos from practice as the Giants prepare for their Week 9 matchup against the 49ers.

Overcoming the loss of Skattebo

The defeat to the Eagles was overshadowed by the loss of running back Cam Skattebo, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury on a tackle by Eagles linebacker Zach Baun in the first half of Sunday's game. Through eight weeks, the first-year back leads all rookies in total yards from scrimmage (617) and total touchdowns (seven). His rookie season has been cut short, though, as both the Giants' offense and the locker room overall will take a hit without the fiery, young back.

"For a guy that has come in and, say, sparked us with a lot of energy and toughness, but the personality that he has as well," Daboll said about Skattebo's impact on the team. "But it's like all your other players that you're close with. These guys spend a lot of time together, meeting time, outside the building. And that's always a tough element to this game is when guys go down and get hurt. You hate to see it. Unfortunately, it's part of the business."

With Skattebo done for the season, the backfield will turn back to Tyrone Tracy Jr. The second-year back suffered a shoulder injury in Week 3, which paved the way for Skattebo to take over as the lead back. In six games (two starts) this season, the 25-year-old has gained 159 yards on 45 carries with 10 receptions for 68 yards and one total touchdown. It was only last season that Tracy accumulated 1,123 total yards from scrimmage with six touchdowns as a rookie fifth-round pick, though. Facing an expanded opportunity for the rest of the season, Tracy is eager to show everyone he is still that same back.

"Tracy is a really good football player," Van Roten said earlier this week. "He kind of got sidelined with an injury earlier in the season, so we're just excited for him to get back to form and kind of build on what he did last year, because I think he's a better player this year than he was last year. He was a rookie last year, now he's a second-year guy. He's seen a lot of stuff. He's getting more comfortable in his role. It'll be good for him to get back out there. I think he's anxious to kind of show, like, he's still a good running back."

Dart continuing to develop

While it hasn't been perfect, it's been an impressive start to the career of Jaxson Dart. Through five starts, the rookie quarterback has completed around 60 percent of his passes for 984 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions for a passer rating of 90.8. He's also proven to be a threat on the ground with 195 yards and an additional four touchdowns rushing. With his performance against the Eagles, Dart became the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era with eight or more pass touchdowns, four or more rush touchdowns and less than 5 turnovers in his first five career starts.

"Jaxson has done a good, really good job his first five games in a lot of areas," coach Brian Daboll told the media Monday. "He's a good football player for us and we'll do the things we think that he can do well. And I think he's had a good start to his first five games. Obviously, like a few more wins, but he's done a nice job for us."

The Giants were outgained 427 to 246 against the Eagles, with the Eagles picking up 23 first downs compared to the Giants' 13. We'll get into their playmakers in a minute, but the 49ers have a lot of talented skilled position players, not to mention they could be getting starting quarterback Brock Purdy back this week. The best way to keep Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and co. off the field is to sustain long drives, which will require everyone on the offense to play better than they did against the Eagles.

"We have to start figuring out ways to win because I do, I hate it, and I'm not used to it and I'm not just going to accept it," Dart said after the loss. "I'm not going to be okay with it and we as a team can't be okay with it. We have to figure this out."

Slowing down McCaffrey

The Giants' defense had its worst performance in the run game this past weekend against the Eagles. Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby both topped 100 rushing yards, as they finished with a combined 254 yards on the ground and a 11.0 average yards per carry. The Giants have now allowed an average of 5.7 yards per carry this season, the highest mark in the NFL.

As tough of a matchup as Barkley was this past weekend, trying to contain Christian McCaffrey is a whole other ballgame. The 49ers' running back is actually having the most inefficient season of his career on the ground. McCaffrey is averaging a career-low 3.5 yards per carry and has totaled just 490 yards through eight games. But it's important to note that it was only two games ago that he ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns, with an average of 5.4 yards per carry, against the Falcons. And for as much as he's struggled in the run game for most of the season, he's more than made up for it as a pass-catcher. McCaffrey enters Week 9 trailing only Cincinnati's Ja'Marr Chase in receptions with 56, which he's taken for 559 yards, good for the eighth-most in the NFL. Meanwhile, his 1,049 total yards from scrimmage are only seven yards shy of Indianapolis' Jonathan Taylor for the most in the league.

"He's one of the better players in the league in his position," Daboll said on Wednesday. "He's a mismatch in the passing game, a mismatch in the running game. They run a wide variety of run schemes. He can run them all. They put him on a wide variety of routes, receiver routes that receivers would run, running backs. He can do pretty much everything. He's a very valuable piece for their offense. He's extremely good."

The Giants have been middle of the pack this season when it comes to limiting opposing running backs in the passing game, ranking in the middle third in both receptions and receiving yards allowed to the position. However, they did allow Barkley to catch four passes for 24 yards and a touchdown last week, one game after allowing Denver's R.J. Harvey to catch a two-yard touchdown pass. While the Giants have faced some talented running backs through the first half of the campaign, none can compare to McCaffrey's abilities as a dual-threat weapon. If the Giants don't shore up their run defense this weekend, it could easily lead to another 30+ touch outing from McCaffrey, which would likely mean a long day for the defense.

Injury updates

The Giants went into their Week 8 matchup in Philadelphia shorthanded in the secondary. Cornerback Paulson Adebo and safety Jevón Holland were both ruled out before gameday due to respective knee injuries. It is too early to tell what their status will be for Week 9, but Holland was able to get back on the practice field as a limited participant on Wednesday. Adebo did not participate.

The Giants also lost starting cornerback Cor'Dale Flott in Week 8. The fourth-year corner took some friendly fire from Bobby Okereke, as an inadvertent hit from the inside linebacker forced Flott out of the game with a concussion. Flott is now in the concussion protocol. The 24-year-old has been putting together a promising campaign, and the Giants could certainly use his presence out on the field Sunday, especially if Adebo is unable to get back out there.

Cornerback Art Green was also forced out of Sunday's game early after suffering a hamstring injury in the first half and did not return. While he has yet to play a defensive snap this season, Green has stepped up as a core special teams player. The young corner has played on 78 percent of the team's special teams snaps this year, and has played a big role in the Giants ranking among the league's best in punt and kickoff return coverage. Green did not participate in Wednesday's practice.

Tight end Daniel Bellinger suffered a neck injury during the loss to the Eagles which limited him to just 21 offensive snaps. He caught one pass for 21 yards before departing. Bellinger was not on the field for Wednesday's practice. Offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor also did not practice on Wednesday as he deals with a pec injury, although Daboll does not believe the injury is too serious.

"I don't think it's long term," the head coach said about Eluemunor's injury. "But it's not good enough to practice today."

In positive news, cornerback Rico Payton was designated to return Wednesday and took part in his first practice with the Giants after the team claimed him off waivers in late August. Payton could provide the special teams unit a boost if Green is unable to suit up this weekend.

View rare photos of the history between the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers.

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