Giants lose to Washington 21-6

"The Giants looked to make all the right moves in the offseason and the draft. Winning all their preseason games seemed to verify that a little bit, and I was really looking forward to this opening game. Unfortunately, I found out that none of that good stuff carried over to the season opener. The Giants had scored at least 30 points in each of those earlier games, and they couldn't come up with a single touchdown today.
The Giants were down 7-0, and after a long drive that ended the first quarter, had the ball at the Washington 2-yard line. The first play of the second quarter got them a first and goal at the one yard line, after a defender drew an illegal use of hands on Malik Nabers. It was hard to watch the Giants fail to punch it in on their next three plays, and they settled for a field goal. Still, the game was close until Washington scored another touchdown midway through the quarter to put them up 14-3, and that was the halftime score.
The Giants couldn't seem to get their offense going, and the defense couldn't slow down the Commanders rushing attack. I was hoping they could figure things out during the break. Later when they had an opportunity to add points in the third quarter, they trusted Graham Gano to kick a 55-yard field goal, and he cut the score to 14-6.
Both teams went nowhere on the next two drives, and then in the fourth quarter, the Giants defense at this point couldn't hold off the Commanders from having a long drive that chewed up time. It ended with Washington scoring a touchdown for a 21-6 score, with just over seven minutes left to play. The Giants did their best, and managed to get down to a first and goal at the Washington 3-yard line. I wasn't expecting a win, even if they scored a touchdown at this point in the game, but I wanted to see one. It was very disappointing to see them fail on four straight passing attempts. Washington ran the clock out and that was it. What can I say except I hope the Giants can do better next week, but I seem to be saying that all season long these days."

"The Giants last two season openers were dismal, losing at home in 2023 to the Cowboys 40-0, and then again at home last year losing 28-6 to the Vikings. This year the NFL did the Giants fans a favor, having this opener scheduled as an away game. The favor was half hearted, as the Giants had to match up with the Commanders, a team that fell just one game short of playing in the Super Bowl.
In this game at halftime, Washington and the Giants were just about even in time of possession, but the Giants were trailing 14-3. Here's a look at how each team spent that time. Washington had twice as many yards per pass, twice as many yards per run, and twice as many first downs. Washington slowed themselves down with twice as many penalties, limiting them to just two touchdown scores, and the Giants scored one field goal.
In the second half the time was split again, with the Giants showing only slight improvement. They limited the Commanders to just one touchdown, and Graham Gano added another field goal, a nice 55 yarder. The defense sacked quarterback Jayden Daniels three times in the first half, but came up with none in the second. Daniels had enough time to complete his passes or to take off running, sometimes by design, and he finished with 11 carries for 68 yards.
Daniels and his other runners came up with a total of 220 rushing yards, averaging 6.9 yards a carry. That was no improvement for the Giants, who were near the bottom last year, giving up an average 132 rushing yards a game. Losing linebacker Micah McFadden to a leg injury in the first quarter hurt their efforts. The Giants had a pass rush going, but Daniels handled it well, and the secondary coverage couldn't handle Washington's receivers. Still with all that, they gave up just 21 points in this game.
The Giants offensive line provided nothing that Russell Wilson or his runners could count on. Though Wilson took just 2 sacks, he was under constant pressure. Wan'Dale Robinson caught 6 of the 8 passes thrown his way, but Malik Nabers facing double coverage, was able to pull in just 5 of 12. Tight end Theo Johnson was no help with two key drops, and just one catch for five yards. Wilson took off with the ball 8 times for 44 yards. Hard to believe, but that was more rushing yards than running backs Tyrone Tracy, Devin Singletary, and Cam Skattebo, combined as the Giants totaled just 74 yards on the day. The Giants have a lot of work to do before they play the Cowboys next Sunday."

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