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Players to watch in Week 9 matchup

PLAYERS-TO-WATCH-49ERS

The Giants will look to pick up their third consecutive win at home when they take on the 49ers in Week 9.

After dropping back-to-back road games to the Broncos and Eagles, the Giants will return to MetLife Stadium, where Jaxson Dart is 2-0 as the starter.

Since starting the season 3-0, the 49ers have alternated between wins and losses every week. They went on the road and fell to the Texans in Week 8, dropping their record to 5-3 on the season.

Here are five players to watch in the Week 9 matchup.

QB Jaxson Dart

Going up against the Eagles for the second time in 17 days, Jaxson Dart completed 58.3 percent of his passes for 193 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions for a 98.1 passer rating. While he only added 17 yards on the ground, the rookie quarterback did score a second touchdown with his legs. Dart has now accounted for at least two touchdowns in all five of his starts.

Dart has made some history to start his NFL career. The 22-year-old is the only quarterback in the Super Bowl era with eight or more pass touchdowns, four or more rush touchdowns, and less than five turnovers in his first five career starts. His 12 total touchdowns are tied for the fifth-most in the NFL since Week 4, matching Matthew Stafford and only trailing Bo Nix, Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes and Dak Prescott. On Thursday, was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month for October. His play even earned him some praise from Tom Brady, who was on the call for Sunday's game between the Giants and Eagles.

When he isn't pressured, Dart has put up some impressive numbers. He has completed 67.8 percent of his passes with four touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 101.4 passer rating when not pressured, compared to a 46.2 completion percentage, four touchdowns, three interceptions and a 72.4 passer rating when he is pressured. Heading into Week 9, the 49ers have pressured opposing quarterbacks on only 25.9 percent of drop backs, the lowest rate in the NFL. In last week's loss to the Texans, the 49ers allowed CJ Stroud to complete 30 of 39 passes for 318 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for a 106.6 passer rating.

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

RB Tyrone Tracy Jr.

The Giants took another tough blow this past weekend as Cam Skattebo was lost for the season with a dislocated ankle. The rookie's injury paves the way for Tyrone Tracy Jr. to take over as the lead back, a role he had at the start of the season before a shoulder injury forced him to miss some time. In last week's game in Philadelphia, Tracy took 10 carries for 39 yards (3.9 avg.) while adding two receptions (on three targets) for another 14 yards.

Tracy has only gotten limited opportunities this season, as he enters Week 9 with 45 carries for 159 yards and a touchdown with 10 receptions for another 68 yards across six games (two starts). But it was only last season that we saw him gain 1,123 total yards from scrimmage with six total touchdowns, including four games with over 100 yards of offense.

"Tracy is a really good football player," offensive lineman Greg Van Roten told the media 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."

The 49ers defense ranks in the top half of the league in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and yards per attempt allowed this season. After a strong three-game stretch that saw them average just 81.3 rushing yards allowed per game, the 49ers surrendered a season-high 157 rushing yards to the Texans last week, including 118 to running backs Woody Marks and Nick Chubb.

WR Wan'Dale Robinson

Wan'Dale Robinson has stepped up for the Giants since Malik Nabers (ACL) was lost for the season in Week 4. While he caught just three passes for 48 yards against the Eagles last week, it came after three consecutive outings with at least five receptions and an average of nearly 70 receiving yards per game. In fact, he heads into Week 9 with four games with six or more receptions and 50 or more receiving yards after recording only three such games last season.

Robinson leads the team with 57 targets, 38 receptions and 494 receiving yards. But the fourth-year wideout has come through for the Giants even more in key situations. Through eight games, Robinson has the second-most targets on third down (25) in the NFL, trailing only Keenan Allen. He's turned those third down targets into 13 receptions (tied for 7th-most) and 165 receiving yards (10th). While he's still primarily lining up in the slot, Robinson has been out wide on a career-high 25.8 percent of his snaps this season, showcasing his versatility in the absence of Nabers.

The 49ers defense has struggled to slow down opposing wide receivers. San Francisco has allowed 98 receptions to opposing wideouts, tied for the sixth most on the season, along with 1,254 receiving yards, which ranks as the eighth-most, and seven touchdowns. Three Texans wide receivers registered five receptions against the 49ers last week, including rookie slot receiver Jaylin Noel, who gained 63 yards on those catches, and veteran slot receiver Braxton Berrios, who had 38 yards.

OLB Brian Burns

Brian Burns picked up his 10th sack of the season last week against the Eagles. Eight games in, Burns has gone just one game without a sack (Week 5 vs. Saints) and has three games with multiple sacks. His 10 sacks are tied with Cleveland's Myles Garrett for the most in the NFL after the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year recorded five sacks against the Patriots in Week 8.

With Burns lining up mostly on the right side, the NFL sack leader is going to see a lot of 49ers left tackle Trent Williams on Sunday. Pro Football Focus has credited Williams with three sacks and 24 pressures allowed on the season, but all three sacks and nine pressures have come in the last three weeks. The three sacks allowed match the total number of sacks he's surrendered over the previous four seasons.

Mac Jones has been filling at quarterback for the injured Brock Purdy the last few weeks, although Purdy was a limited participant at Wednesday's practice. With Jones under center against the Texans last week, the 49ers allowed just one sack but 18 total pressures, according to Next Gen Stats. When under pressure, Jones completed four of 13 passes for 64 yards and an interception, compared to 129 yards and two touchdowns when not pressured. Purdy's numbers under pressure this season look pretty similar, as he's completed 17 of 32 passes for 201 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions for a 43.9 passer rating when pressured.

"Coach Shanahan has run his system for a long time," Daboll said about the 49ers QB situation. "Mac's done a good job replacing Brock. Brock has obviously done a good job since he's been there. Again, there's so much to prepare for relative to the different things that they do. You just study both guys. The system is pretty expansive. They do a lot of the things that are difficult to defend."

ILB Bobby Okereke

As he's done many times over this 2.5 seasons with the Giants, Bobby Okereke led the team in tackles against the Eagles last week. His eight total tackles were tied with safety Dane Belton, with the veteran linebacker also picking up his first sack of the season. Heading into Week 9, Okereke ranks seventh in the NFL with 68 total tackles. The Giants are going to need the inside linebacker to step up in a big way this weekend.

If the Giants are going to do a good job of limiting 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, then Okereke will likely play a big role. The 49ers running back is having his least efficient campaign of his career as he's averaged just 3.5 yards per carry thus far. However, he seemed to take a step in the right direction two weeks ago when he gashed the Falcons for 129 yards and two touchdowns with a 5.4 average yards per carry. But as we know, McCaffrey's abilities go well beyond his rushing. His 56 receptions are the second-most in the NFL, while his 559 yards rank eighth. McCaffrey has had just one game with less than 107 total yards of offense this season.

"He's one of the better players in the league in his position," Daboll said Wednesday about the talented running back. "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."

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

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