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Giants (2-11) Washington (3-10)
Last week the Commanders were down 14-0 playing
in Minnesota against the Vikings. Things didn't get any better for them over the
next two quarters, and the Commanders finished up with a 31-0 loss.
The Giants
are coming off their bye week after taking a tough one sided loss to the New England
Patriots. The Giants trailed 30-7 at the half, and the game ended with the Patriots
winning 33-15. Washington
Commanders
Up until last year, the Commanders
hadn't won over 10 games in a season since 1991, and they weren't expecting Jayden
Daniels to get them as high as 12 wins in his rookie season. Their poor record
from the the year earlier allotted them the second overall draft selection, and
that's when they picked Daniels. He led the team to being just one game away from
reaching the Super Bowl. It was one of the best rookie seasons a quarterback could
have. Expectations were high at the start of this season, but things haven't gone
well. The Commanders started off with a 3-2 record, but haven't won a game since
then. Washington Commanders
Offense
The Commanders really need to have
quarterback Jayden Daniels on the field to win games. Daniels missed a number
of games this season, and he was back last week after recovering from dislocating
his nonthrowing left elbow. Unfortunately, he lasted only into the third quarter
when he was blocked during an interception return, and landed hard on that left
elbow. Marcus Mariota came in and completed 2 of his four passes for 30 yards,
had one interception, and a fumble turnover.
Even when Daniels was in, the
passing game wasn't clicking, and he threw one interception. The best thing the
Commanders had going was their running game. Chris Rodriguez ran the ball 10 times,
averaging 5.2 yards a carry, and Jacory Croskey-Merritt averaged 4.6 on his 7
carries. Daniels will be out for this game, as well as tight end Zach Ertz, who
had to be placed on injured reserve after that last game. Ertz is the second leading
receiver on the team, and had the most first downs.
Losing those two is a
big hit on the passing attack, and puts a lot of pressure on top receiver Deebo
Samuel, and Terry McLaurin who has played in only six games, but has been back
for the last two. The Commanders will likely rely heavily on their rushing attack
considering what they have on hand, and knowing how poorly the Giants have done
defending against it. NOTE: Rodriguez and Samuel have been listed as questionable. Washington
Commanders Defense
Last
year the Commanders were the number three ranked passing defense in the league,
giving up an average 189.5 yards per game. That was a major improvement over the
year earlier when they were ranked last. They weren't able to continue on that
trend, and are near the bottom, allowing 246.9 yards a game. Their rushing defense
hasn't been good the past few years, and they are giving up 135 yards a game for
a 29th ranking.
Last week the Vikings got off to a big lead, and ran the ball
34 times for 162 yards. Linebacker Bobby Wagner is their best player against the
run. Von Miller, Dorance Armstrong, and Jacob Martin account for more than half
of the teams total 30 sacks. In the secondary, they will have to deal without
starting cornerback Jonathan Jones, who will not play due to a rib injury. NOTE:
Armstrong was placed on injured reserve. Giants
Offense
The Giants were on a bye last week,
but it looked like they started on it a week too early the way they played in
their last game with the Patriots. Jaxson Dart was back after missing two games,
but if the Giants were expecting to see the usual spark having him on the field,
it wasn't there enough to put points up on the board. By the end of the first
half, Dart had completed 8 of his 11 passes for 67 yards and one touchdown. Dart
also ran once for 12 yards. It soon became obvious to the Patriots that Dart,
who had missed previous games on concussion protocol, was not going to be involved
in any designed runs.
That put a big limit on how the Giants offense was able
to move the ball when Dart was more involved with the running game. As it was,
Dart took a big hit on his sideline run trying to pick up additional yardage.
He finished the game rushing only four times for 20 yards, which was his lowest
total on the season.
Running back Tyrone Tracy took a hit in the fourth quarter,
and it resulted in him being carted off to the locker room.
Devin Singletary
ran with the ball 12 times, averaging 5.7 yards a carry, and he had the only other
touchdown. In their last 7 games, the Giants had scored 20 or more points, but
even fell short of that with 17. It will be interesting to see if coaches had
enough time over the bye week to encourage Dart to run in a more sensible manner,
so he could use his running skills as well in this game. Tracy and most of the
other offensive players look healthy to play, with the exception of wide receiver
Gunner Olszewski.
Giants
Defense
The last time the Giants played,
this defense wasn't able to take advantage of the Patriots having two of their
starting offensive linemen out for the game. Upfront pressure would give the Giants
a big edge, but linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux was still out with a shoulder injury.
It would have been nice to have Abdul Carter on the field, but he didn't play
in the whole first quarter because of a 'coaching decision'. By the time he came
in, the Patriots had a 17-0 lead.
Carter came up with the first sack on quarterback
Drake Maye in the second quarter, but by the end of the half, Maye had completed
16 of his 20 passes, and two were touchdowns. The way this defense was playing,
the Patriots were able to move the ball on the ground as well. They punted only
two times in this game. Every other time the
Patriouts got their hands on the ball they scored, except for missing on a field
goal, and taking a knee at the end of the game.
The Giants could use all hands
on deck for this game, including Carter from the start, as Thibodeaux is out again.
Carter hasn't been racking up sacks like Brian Burns, who has 13, but he's one
of the best with his quarterback pressure rate, when being double teamed. Dexter
Lawrence gets those pressures as well, but he's listed as questionable to play.
This defense ranked at or near the bottom in rushing yards and total yards given
up per game. During the bye week, assistant defensive line coach Bryan Cox was
released. That was the third coaching change made in recent weeks. Maybe three
times is the charm. Overall
When
the Giants and Commanders first met up for their opening game of the season, the
fans on both sides had reasons to be optimistic. The Giants were looking good
on paper, and their preseason play seemed to support it. Their big question was
if they could carry any of that over to the regular season.
The Commanders
were riding on a high, coming off a great season that exceeded all their expectations,
and looking to build on that. Both teams let themselves and their fans down.
The Commanders are on an eight game losing streak, and the Giants are up to seven.
In this game the players will be hoping to show what they do on the field for
their career, and a win would feel good.. Many fans would like that too, with
the exception of those fans who continually root for higher draft picks. Maybe
the best thing to feel good about, is that the regular season will soon be over,
and the playoff games will be coming up next for everyone to enjoy. NFC
East Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Commanders
(3-10) at Giants (2-11)
Sunday at 1:00pm Raiders (2-11) at Eagles (8-5)
Sunday
at 8:20pm Vikings (5-8) at Cowboys (6-6-1)
The Giants, Eagles 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
Dec
21 Vikings at Giants
Dec 27/28 Giants at Raiders
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