The New York Giants go to Washington to play the Commanders for this divisional game. After a poor performance in Week 1, the Giants are looking to bounce back against a division rival they’ve been able to beat in recent history.
However, with a new head coach, quarterback, and owner for the Commanders, we’ll see if that history holds. Can Washington break their losing streak against the Giants over the last few years?
New York Giants vs. Washington Commanders Game History
The division rivals have played each other a total of 184 games since 1932, with the Giants winning the series 108-71-4. Over the last five years, the Giants lead the series 8-1-1.
Key Players for the New York Giants
Week 1 couldn’t have gone worse for the Giants. They were beat on offense and defense by a team that on paper, shouldn’t be that much better than them. They lost 28-6 without scoring a single touchdown in the game. The defensive live was supposed to be a strength of the team, but they barely got any pressure on the quarterback and couldn’t stop anything the Minnesota Vikings tried.
The biggest key player for the Giants is Daniel Jones. In Week 1, Jones was missing reads, throws, and making bad decisions. He wasn’t able to throw the ball downfield much, which caused him to struggle connecting with Malik Nabers, their downfield threat.
However, he did send seven targets his way, going five for 66 yards. Jones also targeted Wan’dale Robinson 12 times on underneath and intermediate passes, but only accumulated 44 yards in the process.
For New York to beat the Commanders in this game, the Giants quarterback will need to be able to connect with his receivers. That starts with Nabers, with his ability to stretch the field and give this offense a taste of the playmaking ability. Then, continuing with Robinson, Darius Slayton, and Jalin Hyatt.
Yet despite Jones missing throws, the receivers were having drop issues of their own. That needs to be cleaned up, and luckily the Commanders defense is bottom of the league – which will make that easier.
The run game was almost nonexistent in the first week, rushing for under 100 yards. Devin Singletary leading the way with 37 yards on 10 carries. For Big Blue to pull off a victory, they’ll need to do better on the ground to take pressure off of Jones. The Giants must force opposing defenses to worry about the run, and not expect to get pressure with just four players rushing the quarterback.
The defense will also need to be able to get pressure more consistently. Last week, the defense started the game strong, getting a sack and a turnover, but they weren’t able to sustain that level of play. They allowed Sam Darnold to complete 79.2 percent of his passes, throwing for 208 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
Part of that is because their secondary is atrocious and it was easy to just pass on them when they were trying to get pressure, but not all can be blamed on that as Aaron Jones also rushed 14 times for 94 yards and a touchdown, so clearly their rushing defense is also suspect.
Bad news for the Giants is that Jayden Daniels is a rushing quarterback who just rushed 16 times for 88 yards and two touchdowns. They will need to able to contain him if they have any hope of winning this game.
We’re gonna need to see more from the Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux duo on the edge. They were not able to get pressure the way we hoped in Week 1, and were basically not a factor in stopping the opposing offense. Luckily, they face an underachieving OL in Week 2 against the Commanders. If they can get pressure on Daniels and disrupt their scheme then they can win the game.
Key Players for the Commanders
Jayden Daniels did a lot of work on the ground, rushing for 88 yards and two touchdowns. That makes it hard for the opposing defense to contain him and it kept plays alive, taking only two sacks. He should lean into his strength in this game to beat a Giants team that was unable to stop the run in Week 1.
Daniels did only throw for 184 yards with no touchdowns, but with 7.7 YPA there’s room for hope that his passing game can improve, especially against a defense that was unable to stop Darnold the week prior. Connecting with Terry McLaurin should be easier in this game, which would do a lot in helping them win.
Daniels also has tight end Zach Ertz, the experienced veteran, and running back Austin Ekeler to use. Rookie receiver Luke McCaffrey looked like he had some juice and will improve as the season goes on, however it remains to be seen if he’s able to contribute significantly in this game.
Their defense was projected to be bad going into the season, and it showed Week 1 allowing Baker Mayfield to have a near perfect game. They will need to be able to get some pressure on Daniel Jones to win the game. Yet they are in luck, as the Vikings were rushing with only four players and were getting home, so they should have an easier time this week.
New York Giants Strategy to Win the Game
The strategy is simple – get the ball to Nabers to capitalize on his big play ability and get into the end zone for the first time this season. The Giants also have Robinson in the receiving game as a safety valve underneath. He should be utilized enough that the defense has to worry about two receiving threats instead of just one.
New York will use Singletary in the run game to take pressure off of Jones as well, which should be easier against one of the league’s worst defenses.
On the defensive side, get pressure on Daniels and make sure he isn’t able to get much yardage on the ground with his legs. Use Dexter Lawrence as much as possible as he’s the best weapon the team has on the DL and on the defense as a whole. If that’s not possible, at the very least limit his passing attack so that he’s not able to utilize his receivers just like what happened in week 1 against the Buccaneers.
Will the Giants be able to pull off the win? We shall see. Let’s hope they improve greatly on their Week 1 performance.
Evan Solomon
Evan is originally from Queens, NY and grew up on Long Island, and grew to love The New York Giants being surrounded by Giants fans. He's a social media marketer and content creator by day, which is what led him to joining The League Winners creating content about something he loves - football. Keep an eye out for his fantasy content and NFL team breakdowns.