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Giants (2-8) Washington (4-6)
Last Sunday the Commanders were engaged in
a back and forth battle in Seattle that lasted from start to finish. In the final
minute, the Seahawks broke the tie score with a field goal, giving them a 29-26
win.
The Giants fell behind from the start in their game with the Dallas Cowboys.
It wasn't until the second half that they first put points up on the scoreboard,
but still took a decisive 49-17 loss to the Cowboys.
Washington Commanders
Dan Snyder was the owner of the Washington team for 24 years. Current ownership
is in the hands of Josh Harris, who was born in Maryland. Harris is also a managing
partner for the NHL's New Jersey Devils and NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. Harris saw
his new team get off to a good start with two wins, but since then Washington's
won 2 and lost 6.
Head coach Ron Rivera has been with the team since 2020.
His record over that time has been 7-9, 7-10, 8-8-1, and right now 4-6. Surprisingly,
Rivera's first year 7-9 record won Washington the NFC East Division, and got them
a playoff wildcard game loss to the Buccaneers. Rivera may be tasked with posting
a winning record for the first time since he's been in control, as new management
weighs all their options. Washington
Commanders Offense
Eric
Bieniemy became the new offensive coordinator for the Commanders this season,
Bieniemy had that same job for the Kansas City Chiefs, but now he's calling plays
for the first time in his career. So far compared to last years numbers, the team
is passing for 43 more yards a game, running for 38 less yards a game, and scoring
2 points less on average. Bieniemy must like what he sees in quarterback Sam Howell,
as Howell has thrown more passes than any other quarterback in the league.
Howell
got his first start in the last game of the 2022 season, and it was a successful
one, as the Commanders defeated the Dallas Cowboys 26-6. Howell, coming into the
first game with the Giants, had thrown 9 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He was
the most sacked quarterback in the NFL, having taken 34 sacks. With that game
and the three games since, Howell now has thrown 17 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.
Wide receiver Terry McLaurin leads the team with 51 receptions for 601 yards and
29 first downs. Howell makes good use of McLaurin, as well as Jahan Dotson, Curtis
Samuel, Dyami Brown, Jamison Crowder and tight end Logan Thomas. They are responsible
for 12 of Howell's 17 touchdowns, and running backs Antonio Gibson and Brian Robinson
Jr. have 5. Robinson leads the team by far with 121 carries for 485 rushing yards
and 32 first downs. Howell is second, with 31 carries for 174 yards, and he has
11 first downs.
Washington
Commanders Defense
The
stats show that outside linebackers Montez Sweat and Chase Young lead the team
in sacks, accounting for 11.5 of the total 26 sacks. The thing is they are no
longer with the team, having been traded by the Commanders for draft picks. In
the last game with the Giants they had 3 of the 4 sacks on Tyrod Taylor. The team
has recorded 1 sack in the two games since they traded Sweat and Young away. It
may take a while for the Commanders to adjust to working without their former
top pass rushers. James Smith-Williams and Casey Toohill are the starters, but
Smith-Williams was hurt last week and is out for this game. They are still strong
upfront and despite the fall off in quarterback pressure, the last two games were
close ones, a 20-17 win over the Patriots and a 29-26 loss to the Seahawks.
In that loss, Geno Smith threw for 369 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Seattle had
120 rushing yards. Even with the Giants offensive line dealing with it's usual
malfunctions, Tommy DeVito should find himself having more time in the pocket
against this defense than he did last week with the Cowboys. In their last meeting
the Giants had some big plays, and maybe their receivers will see more deeper
passes coming their way. Giants
Offense
Tyrod Taylor was the starting quarterback
filling in for Daniel Jones, sidelined with a neck injury, the last time the Giants
faced off with the Commanders. Tommy DeVito is in that role for this game, and
as it was with Taylor then, it will be his second start of the season. The Giants
will be hoping that DeVito will achieve the same results as Taylor, guiding them
to a win, and hopefully with more points put up on the scoreboard. That would
make things a bit easier on their defense which has been struggling in that area
in the last two games.
In his first start last week, DeVito threw one interception,
but also had two touchdowns, and the total 17 points scored were the second most
the Giants have had this season. There was only one catch that was made past the
10 yard touchdown that Lawrence Cager caught, and that was to the other tight
end Daniel Bellinger for 26 yards. Sterling Shepard caught one for a two yard
touchdown. DeVito is inexperienced and they might have him going with short passes
to his tight ends, slot receivers and Saquon Barkley, at least at the start to
gauge how the defense is playing.
With quarterbacks coming in and out, Barkley
has been relied on heavily to keep the running game going, and he's averaged over
5 yards a carry in the last two games, his highs for the year. In the last game
with the Commanders, Barkley had a combined 118 yards, and caught one touchdown.
It was a short pass that he took 32 yards into the end zone.
Giants Defense
The
defense played well last time out against the Commanders. They allowed only 7
points on one touchdown after coming in to defend from their own 21-yard line,
after the offense turned the ball over on a punt return. Though they started that
game having the least sacks in the NFL, they helped Sam Howell maintain his title
as the most sacked quarterback, hitting him with 6 sacks, and they had 1 interception.
It was a great effort, as they held the Commanders to converting just one of their
15 third downs.
Then to ensure this low scoring 14-7 win for the Giants, they
also had to make a last minute goal line stand. Dexter Lawrence led the team with
two sacks, and Kayvon Thibodeaux, who had 1 1/2, currently leads the defense with
8.5 of their total 15.
As the Commanders did, the Giants also made a move before
the trade deadline that affects their defense. Leonard Williams was traded to
the Seahawks for two draft picks. The Commanders got to see Williams last week
when he came up with one sack in their loss to Seattle. Since the Williams trade,
the Giants have recorded no sacks, and given up a lot of total yards and points.
Last time the Commanders threw the ball 42 times, and rushed just 19 times.
The Giants have seen that Howell has improved over the last three games. In each
one he's thrown for over 300 yards, after doing that just once in the seven games
before that. Howell also threw 3 touchdowns with no interceptions. The secondary
will have to stay alert the way things have been going. In the Giants last game
with the Commanders Terry McLaurin had two long receptions, 42 and 31 yards. Overall
The last time these teams played, the Giants won 14-7, and have lost the next
three after that. The last two were by large margins. The Commanders went on to
win one game and lose two, all highly contested. The Commanders are favored to
win on Sunday, even though they have that one loss to the Giants.
That would
even things up in the NFC East division games where the Commanders are 0-3, and
the Giants are 1-2 .Both teams still have a chance to finish with a winning record
on the season, and we'll have to see if the Giants can
make that happen. NFC East
Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Giants (2-8) at
Washington (4-6)
Sunday at 1:00pm Cowboys (6-3) at Panthers (1-8)
Monday
at 8:15pm Eagles (8-1) at Chiefs (7-2)
The Commanders and Cowboys are the
NFC East teams favored to win in these games.
Check out.
Giants
On The Air. Listen to the Radio Broadcasts.
TeamGiants on Twitter.
Next Games
Nov
26 Patriots at Giants
Dec 11 Packers at Giants
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