An inside look at Sunday’s Giants-Bills NFL Week 6 matchup in Orchard Park, N.Y.:
Marquee matchup
Bills WR Stefon Diggs vs. Giants CB Deonte Banks
Diggs is third in the league with 39 receptions and tied for first with five touchdowns.
He can do it all as one of the NFL’s top playmakers, and will line up outside and in the slot.
When Banks gets his shot at another Terrapin — they both played at Maryland — it figures that school will be in session for the rookie.
Banks has shown steady improvement.
His grade of 73.2 from Pro Football Focus last week was his highest of the season, no easy feat against the speedy Dolphins targets.
Banks competes at a high level and goes from snap to snap without much looking back, a desirable mindset for a cornerback.
Paul’s pick
The only way for the Giants to hang around is if Josh Allen gets real sloppy and plays fast and loose with the football — the way he did in the season-opener against the Jets.
Otherwise, this is a mismatch across the board.
There is nothing the Giants do well on offense, and it is virtually impossible to create a scenario where they will score a bunch of points.
Good luck out there, Tyrod Taylor.
Have your chinstrap properly secured.
Bills 27, Giants 10
Four downs
Protect thyself: Last week in Miami, after he replaced Daniel Jones early in the fourth quarter, Tyrod Taylor got the wind knocked out of him and for a few seconds appeared as if he would have to come out of the game.
If he had, the Giants would have not had another quarterback to turn to.
This week, out of necessity, Tommy DeVito was elevated from the practice squad to serve as the backup, but he has no NFL experience.
The Giants need Taylor — who was pressured last week on 10 of his 16 dropbacks — to avoid physical risks at all costs.
“I think you play free,’’ Taylor said. “Playing scared is never a good thing. Obviously, as a quarterback, you want to limit the hits that you take on your body, but at the same time, you’ve got to do what’s best for the team in certain situations as far as fighting for extra yardage or making plays.’’
Fight on: Justin Pugh allowed four sacks in a 27-0 loss to the Eagles, and afterward sat in his SUV and cried, thinking his NFL career might be over.
That was in 2014, his second year in the league.
The next week, Pugh did not give up a single pressure to the Cowboys.
Nine years later, he is back with the Giants and was elevated from the practice squad on Saturday.
He has some words of advice for Josh Ezeudu, the second-year lineman who was in tears after his showing last week in Miami and has struggled replacing injured Andrew Thomas at left tackle.
“Josh is at a point in his career where he’s gonna have to make that decision, continuing to fight through it,’’ Pugh said. “At the end of the day it’s lining up across from somebody and it’s a fight, it’s me versus you, and whoever is gonna give up first.’’
Connective tissue: First came Joe Schoen, hired as the Giants’ general manager, and he brought in Brian Daboll as the head coach, and a Buffalo shuttle was born.
Daboll has three former Bills assistants on his staff — Bobby Johnson (offensive line), Shea Tierney (quarterbacks) and John Egorugwu (inside linebackers).
There are six former Bills players on the Giants’ roster: Taylor, WR Isaiah Hodgins, RB Matt Breida, DB Nick McCloud, TE Tommy Sweeney and DE Boogie Basham — as well as WR Cole Beasley on the practice squad.
Money matters: Leonard Williams is the highest-paid Giants player with a base salary this season of $18 million.
In his first five games, Williams has 0.5 sacks, 12 combined tackles, zero tackles for loss and three quarterback hits.
Dexter Lawrence has a newly signed four-year extension worth $90 million.
Thus far this season, he has zero sacks, 19 combined tackles, one tackle for loss and five quarterback hits.
Lawrence grades out fine, but he is not the dominating force he was in 2022.
Williams has not been impactful.
The defense needs more from both of these big guys.
