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Giants (0-0) Washington (0-0)
The Commanders finished last season second
in the NFC East with a 12-5 record. They split their two games with the 14-3 Philadelphia
Eagles, and after two post season wins, met up with them again to see which team
would move on to the Super Bowl. The Commanders lost that game, and the Eagles
went on to beat the Kansas City Chiefs to become the Super Bowl Champions.
The
Giants were celebrating playing in their 100th season, and finished up last in
the NFC East with a 3-14 record. They lost all six of their division games, except
for one of the two with the Philadelphia Eagles, by no more than one touchdown.
They start off this year playing against the Commanders, Cowboys and Chiefs. Washington
Commanders
In 2023 the Commanders finished
last in the NFC East division with a 4-13 record. Last year they brought in a
new General Manager, Adam Peters. Former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn
replaced Ron Rivera as the head coach. Kliff Kingsbury, a former head coach for
Arizona, replaced offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Joe Whitt Jr., who has
coached with the Packers, Falcons and Cowboys, became the defensive coordinator.
The Commanders also drafted a new starting quarterback. Their poor record allotted
them the second overall draft selection, and they picked Jayden Daniels. The Commanders
hadn't won over 10 games in a season since 1991. They weren't expecting Daniels
to get them 12 in his rookie season, and bring them to just one game away from
reaching the Super Bowl. It was one of the best rookie seasons a quarterback could
have. Washington Commanders
Offense
The Commanders will be anxious to
take the field and hit the Giants hard with their running game. In their first
meeting with the Giants last year, they came up with 215 rushing yards. In their
second game, the Giants gave up 149 rushing yards. Overall, the team had the third
ranked rushing attack in the league averaging 154 yards a game. Who was the lead
rusher? That would be rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who beat out running
backs Brian Robinsom Jr. and Austin Ekeler in total rushing yards, and with his
average of 6 yards a carry.
The Commanders
traded Robinsom to the San Francisco 49ers. Ekeler, who suffered a worrisome concussion
that left him motionless on the field in game 12 last year, is now the starting
running back. Rookie Jacoby Croskey-Merritt, selected by the Commanders in the
7th round of the draft, is the second running back, and veteran Jeremy McNichols
is next. Will this group, along with Daniels, be able to run over the Giants this
season as easily as they did before?
Daniels is a dual-threat with his quarterback
passing skills as well. He completed 69 percent of his passes, and ranks as the
fourth of all quarterbacks with a QBR of 67.7. Daniels led the team to an average
of 28.5 points per gam, which was fifth in the NFL. Terry McLaurin was their top
receiver last season. He was 22nd down on the list of receivers in times he was
targeted, and yet was second in touchdown catches with 13. McLaurin was tenth
on the list with his 56 first down catches, with the all the others seeing more
passes come their way
Last year the Giants held McLaurin to 22 yards on 6-of-8
completions in the first game, and in the second game just 19 yards on two catches.
Unfortunately both were touchdowns up against cornerback Deonte Banks. The Giants
look to have other coverage plans for McLaurin in this game. Aside from that,
because of contract issues that were settled just recently, McLaurin hasn't been
on the field very much up to now and that could hurt his performance. The Commanders
offensive line has had some health issues, and will be missing starting right
guard Sam Cosmi, who is out with a knee injury. Washington
Commanders Defense
In
2023 the Commanders had the worst defense in
the NFL. They were 32nd against the pass, and 27th against the run. The team finished
last in points allowed, giving up an average of 30.5 points a game. Last year
there were major improvements in two of those areas. The passing defense jumped
to a number 3 ranking in the league, and points allowed dropped to 23 a game.
The rushing defense stayed close to the same, 30th against the run.
Linebacker
Bobby Wagner and safety Jeremy Chinn led the team in tackles last year and each
had 2 sacks. Defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. was the sack leader with 10.5 sacks
and linebacker Frankie Luvu had 8, contributing to a team total of 43 sacks and
a ranking of 11th in the league. Fowler and Chinn are no longer with the team.
Veterans Deatrich Wise and Javon Kinlaw were brought in to strengthen the
defensive line, and pass rusher Von Miller is now in the mix. Eddie Goldman and
Jacob Martin will appreciate what Wise can do for them in stopping the run. The
secondary enjoyed what Mike Sainristil was able to do as a rookie last year, and
they've added rookie cornerback Trey Amos and veteran safety Will Harris. NY
Giants
Last year the Giants were expecting
to celebrate playing in their 100th season. It didn't turn out that way, as the
Giants finished up with a 3-14 record, for the most losses in their franchise
history, and they lost 10 straight games to close out the year. General manager
Joe Schoen was busy during the offseason, and he signed up quarterbacks Russell
Wilson and Jameis Winston. He also added veterans cornerback Paulson Adebo and
safety Jevon Holland to improve the defense. The
Giants had a good spot and traded back into the first round to select quarterback
Jaxson Dart as well as addressing their needs for both the offensive and defensive
lines.
Things look to be in their favor in the preseason games, with the Giants
going 3-0 over the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and New England
Patriots. They outscored them 107-47, while putting up at least 30 points in each
game. Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka called plays during the preseason and head
coach Brian Daboll will have him doing the play calling for the season, after
doing it himself last year. One big change will be Kafka doing it from the sidelines
instead of up in the press box. The thought is that he'll be in position to get
a better feel of the players rather than through radio communications. Giants
Offense
Head coach Brian Daboll named quarterback
Russell Wilson to be the starter from the onset, even before training camp started.
Jameis Winston and Jaxson Dart knew they would be taking the back seat, and that
made things easier for the quarterbacks to accept their roles. Tommy DeVito knew
he was the odd man out, and he finished the last preseason game against the Patriots
going 17-of-20 for 198 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions. DeVito
looked good enough to be claimed on waivers by the New England Patriots.
The
Giants have been working on improving the offensive line and have added depth.
Right now all the starters look healthy with the exception of left tackle Andrew
Thomas, who is listed as doubtful, coming back from a foot injury that required
two surgeries. In the offseason, the Giants brought in veteran James Hudson III,
and he's fit in well with the rest of the starters in preseason play. They also
drafted tackle Marcus Mbow with their fifth round pick. Right tackle Evan Neal
has made a position change to right guard, but for this game, Greg Van Roten looks
to be the starter.
The Giants know what they have in running backs Tyrone Tracy
Jr. and veteran Devin Singletary, and will be anxious to see what Cam Skattebo
can do. The rookie had looked good in training camp, but a hamstring injury kept
Skattebo out of the first two preseason games, and he saw just limited action
in the last one. Tracy was the lead running back last year, averaging 4.4 yards
a carry. He, along with Singletary, and quarterback Daniel Jones, accounted for
89 of the Giants total 104 rushing first downs. The Giants averaged just 105 rushing
yards a game, but now Skattebo will be one of the three leading rushers instead
of Jones.
Malik Nabers was just a rookie last year, but he was targeted 170
times, the second most of all the receivers in the league. Nabers caught 109 of
those passes for 1204 yards and 7 touchdowns. That was almost half of the Giants
total 15 touchdowns. Nabers numbers would have been even higher if he didn't miss
two games. If the Giants do have an improved offensive line, with Wilson and two
talented backup quarterbacks throwing the ball, what can be expected of Nabers
this year? Wilson also has other talent on the field, Wan’Dale Robinson, Darius
Slayton, and tight end Theo Johnson. Giants
Defense
It's hard to envision how a team
ranked 8th in the league with their passing defense could finish a season with
only three wins. The downside was that their run defense ranked 27th, giving up
an average of 132 yards a game. Those numbers would shift a bit if the Giants
offensive unit was able to stay on the field longer and put points up on the board,
Opposing teams would be less inclined to use their running game if they needed
to up their score.
Another reluctance for those teams was the Giants aggressive
pass rush, which had the Giants ranked 8th in sacks with 45. That didn't stop
them from using their No. 3 draft pick on Abdul Carter. Now he's in the mix with
Dexter Lawrence, who demands attention from opposing linemen, along with Brian
Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux. They added depth, signing experienced linemen Roy
Robertson-Harris and Caucy Golston, and drafted Darius Alexander in the third
round.
To strengthen the secondary, the Giants brought in cornerback Paulson
Adebo from the New Orleans Saints. Deonte Banks struggled last season, and this
will take the heavy load off him. The defense needs to work on getting turnovers.
Though they had 10 fumble recoveries, they were next to last in the league with
just 5 interceptions. Getting the ball back to the offense goes a long way to
winning games. Dru Phillips, a rookie last year, did his part with 71 tackles,
2 forced fumbles and one interception. Phillips is the starting nickel back for
this game. Overall
The
Giants are looking good on paper, and did well in preseason play. The big question
is, can they carry any of that over to the regular season? The Washington Commanders
are looking to build on what they accomplished last year. Both teams have quarterbacks
who have shown they can do the job with different skill sets. They look to be
the big determining factor in this game. NFC
East Games
Thursday at 8:20pm Cowboys (0-0)
at Eagles (0-0) --- Final - Eagles 24 - Cowboys 20
Sunday at 1:00pm
Giants (0-0) at Commanders (0-0)
The Eagles and Commanders 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
Sept
14 Giants at Dallas
Sept 21 Kansas City at Giants
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