Giants Rule Nabers OUT vs. Bengals

The New York Giants proved in Week 5 that it is in fact possible to win without receiver Malik Nabers. The rookie phenom missed the contest against the Seattle Seahawks, but New York came away with a 29-20 victory, escaping the Pacific Northwest with its second victory of the season.

The Giants played their best game of the season, managing to establish the run, remain efficient through the air, and come through on defense and special teams.

But they overcame an obstacle they hoped would be a one-time occurrence. They would not be so fortunate.

On Friday, New York head coach Brian Daboll announced that Nabers will miss his second consecutive game , having not progressed far enough through concussion protocol to be cleared for game action.

Against a high-powered Cincinnati Bengals team, losing the engine of the offense and the team’s most explosive player is a sizable disadvantage. On the opposite sideline, receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins promise to provide plenty of chunk gains. New York will once again have to find alternate avenues to similar efficiency.

It’s also important to note that Daboll explicitly denied that Nabers going to a Travis Scott concert did not break protocol. He was already past the symptoms phase of the process, and while the optics were suboptimal, his (somewhat controversial) night out isn’t the reason for his absence.

Nevertheless, the Giants will hope their ancillary playmakers – receivers Darius Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson, along with running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. – have enough juice to power the team back to .500 football.

The Bengals defense will likely give them the chance to do so. Cincinnati has allowed more expected points added per rush than all but one team, and if Tracy continues his uptick in playing time despite Devin Singletary’s presumed return, explosives will be found on the ground. Through the air, quality quarterbacks have diced them up in three of the last four weeks. Quarterback Daniel Jones may not be a star, but he’s playing good football – well enough to take advantage of a vulnerable defense.

Related: Tracy Reacts to Breakout Performance, Giants Win

However, any way this situation gets sliced, it’s unfortunate for New York. It would be dismissive to call the Giants’ Week 5 win lucky. But finding two wins without Nabers after the rookie demanded a league-high target share through four weeks would undeniably be a fortunate outcome.