The Patriots are readying to host the Giants at Gillette Stadium, and New England will be down multiple contributors on both sides of the ball on Monday Night Football.

After carrying questionable designations into Monday night's game, the good news is that C Garrett Bradbury (illness) and OLB Harold Landry (knee) are officially active. However, DT Khyiris Tonga (chest) is among New England's seven game-day inactives. The Patriots inactives are DT Khyiris Tonga (chest), G Jared Wilson (ankle), ST Brenden Schooler (ankle), OT Marcus Bryant, TE CJ Dippre, OLB Bradyn Swinson, and QB Tommy DeVito is the emergency third quarterback.

Starting with the absence of their big nose tackle, Tonga has been a key piece of the Patriots run defense while also playing an important short-yardage role as a lead blocker on offense. New England is allowing +0.02 rush expected points added when Tonga isn't on the field, compared to -0.10 EPA per rush when Tonga is on the field – a huge difference. Offensively, Tonga has also played 10 snaps as a lead-blocker in New England's short-yardage situations. Last week, the Patriots were 0-for-2 in goal-to-go situations against the Bengals, with Tonga unavailable.

Furthermore, the Giants offense ranks second in rush attempts per game (30.2) this season. New York runs the ball as much as any offense, while the Giants also rank fifth in multiple tight ends usage (42.3%). This is a Giants offense that wants to run out of heavy personnel groupings. With standout DT Milton Williams (ankle) on injured reserve and others banged up late in the year, New England's run defense has allowed 5.2 yards per carry in the last three games compared to 3.6 yards per rush in the first nine weeks of the season.

Without Tonga in the lineup, the Patriots have defensive tackles Christian Barmore, Cory Durden, Joshua Farmer, Eric Gregory, and practice-squad elevation Jeremiah Pharms Jr. all active on Monday night. Last week, Barmore and Durden were New England's primary interior defenders on the D-Line. Farmer is also active after a two-week absence due to an ankle injury, and the rookie has flashed against the run. New York's rush volume will test the Patriots run defense, which will need a bounce-back performance on Monday night.

As for Landry, the Patriots captain will continue to play through a lingering knee injury. Earlier this week, Landry opened up to ESPN’s Mike Reiss about lingering effects from an injury scare when the Patriots played the Saints in Week 6. Although he deserves credit for playing through the injury, Landry's production has taken a dip recently. In the first five games, the Pats captain logged 3.5 sacks and 22 total pressures, but Landry only has two sacks and 14 total pressures in the last six games. The Patriots have undrafted rookie Elijah Ponder and stout edge-setter Anfernee Jennings as depth options behind Landry on Monday night.

Moving over to the offense, the good news is that QB Drake Maye's arsenal of skill players is fully healthy and C Garrett Bradbury, who was a late addition to the injury report due to an illness, is officially active on Monday night. However, New England will start its third different offensive line combination of the season with two new starters on the left side due to injuries to LT Will Campbell (knee) and LG Jared Wilson (ankle). Wilson is inactive vs. the Giants after sitting out practice this week, but remains on the active roster, while Campbell is on injured reserve and will miss at least the next four games after suffering a knee sprain last week.

Based on how last week's game ended and head coach Mike Vrabel's comments during the week, the expectation is that G/C Ben Brown and OT Vederian Lowe will start on the left side for New England. Brown (10 starts at center) and Lowe (13 starts at LT) started games for the Patriots last season. Although they both had some ups and downs in 2024, the duo has starting experience, while the Patriots coaching staff will surely do what it can to avoid having Lowe block Giants pass-rushers Abdul Carter and Brian Burns on an island too often. Behind starting tackles Morgan Moses and Lowe, OT Thayer Munford Jr. is active over rookie Marcus Bryant this week.

Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is held in high regard for his ability to scheme help for his offensive line. New England could use its backs and tight ends to chip the Giants edge rushers, as they have all season, while another possibility is that the Pats will load up their protections with only two or three receivers releasing in the route. Typically, those max protections come from under-center play-action and are scripted off the run game, which has been the formula vs. a Giants defense that ranks last in yards per carry (5.9) and rush EPA allowed.

QB Drake Maye's Supporting Cast

OL - LT Lowe, LG Brown, C Bradbury, RG Onwenu, RT Moses

WR - Diggs, Boutte, Hollins, Douglas, Williams, Chism III

TE - Henry, Hooper, Westover (FB)

RB - Stevenson, Henderson, Jennings

Although the Patriots are shorthanded on the offensive line, and the Giants pass rush, featuring Burns, Carter, and DT Dexter Lawrence, is formidable, New York's struggling run and play-action defense gives New England a blueprint to move the ball. Above is QB Drake Maye's supporting cast for Monday night's matchup against the Giants.

Lastly, the Patriots special teams will also be down captain Brenden Schooler. The reigning All-Pro leads the team in special teams tackles and special teams snaps. Schooler, a core contributor on five different units, is difficult to replace with one player, so the Patriots will likely use multiple players, with Vrabel pointing to defensive backs Charles Woods, Miles Battle, and Dell Pettus as players who will need to step up. The Pats also elevated G/C Braiden Jaimes from the practice squad as interior O-Line depth and an option for the field goal protection unit.

At first glance, the Giants record compared to the Patriots would indicate that New England is a heavy favorite on Monday night. However, New York has tied an NFL record with five blown double-digit leads in the fourth quarter this season, meaning they're competitive in most games. With the bye next week, the Patriots will also play their 13th straight game without any additional rest, one of the largest net-rest discrepancies in the NFL. Still, good teams gut out wins at home against inferior opponents, which is what the Patriots will need to do this week.

The Patriots host the Giants at Gillette Stadium on Monday Night Football with kickoff at 8:15 p.m. ET.

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer