Giants vs. Dolphins: Preview, prediction, what to watch for

An inside look at Sunday’s Giants-Dolphins NFL Week 5 matchup in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Marquee matchup

Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill vs. all the Giants CBs

It takes a village to deal with Hill, because no one player can cover the league’s most dynamic playmaker.

He is averaging 16.8 yards on his 28 receptions and is a yards-after-catch machine.

Adoree’ Jackson seems to be the cornerback best-suited to confront all this, but this cannot strictly be a one-on-one deal because of the presence of Jaylen Waddle, who led the NFL in 2022 at 18.1 yards per reception.

Rookie Deonte Banks is learning on the job, and this will be his stiffest test to date.

Does another rookie, Tre Hawkins, get back on the field after he was benched last week?

Paul’s pick

After what we’ve seen, why in the world would you go with the Giants here?

What inkling could you possibly have that they are on the verge of turning things around?

Where is the scenario that has the Giants matching points with the prolific Miami scoring attack?

Stranger things have happened, but we need to see it before we can start believing it.

Dolphins 31, Giants 17

Four downs

Fast forward: The Dolphins’ offense has recorded 2,044 total yards.

That is the most in NFL history after four games.

They lead the league in most offensive categories — including points per game (37.5), yards per game (511.0), rushing yards (176.8 per game) and passing yards (334.3 per game).

The name of the game with this attack is speed, speed and more speed, led by the incomparable Tyreek Hill.

There is also Jaylen Waddle, and running backs Raheem Mostert and sudden sensation De’Von Achane.

“Guys got to get used to the speed of the game and the speed of those guys,’’ defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said. “I don’t know what the best way to describe it is. It’s like, if you were driving on Daytona NASCAR and jump and try to race against a Formula 1 guy. Those guys, they’re fast.’’

Secure the ball: The Dolphins have allowed 34, 17, 20 and 38 points in their four games this season.

There will be opportunities for the Giants, if they can get out of their own way.

They must be wary of safety Jevon Holland, who leads the league with three forced fumbles — the Giants do not have a forced fumble or an interception this season.

And there is cornerback Xavien Howard, who leads the NFL in interceptions (29) since he entered the league in 2016.

Better to receive: There has been plenty of discussion about the need to invigorate the passing attack by getting the ball in the hands of tight end Darren Waller.

Daboll said he wants to get veteran Sterling Shepard more involved.

But what about Darius Slayton?

He has been one of Daniel Jones’ favorite targets the past four years.

This season? Just 11 catches for 132 yards and no touchdowns.

“It’s a combination of a few things that I feel like made the most of my opportunities for the most part when they’ve come my way,’’ Slayton said. “As a receiver sometimes all you can do is make the most of your opportunities and when the ball comes my way I plan to make a play on it.’’

Isn’t that special: A team struggling to score points cannot allow sloppiness to infiltrate other aspects of the game.

Committing six penalties on special teams contributed to the loss to the Seahawks in an extremely negative way.

“For us it’s more of just staying on top of the details,’’ long snapper Casey Kreiter said. “I’ve been doing this for eight years now, the season’s too fast to dwell on things. You make the corrections and you move on. I don’t think anyone in here is [thinking] the sky’s not falling because we had a bunch of penalties.’’