Game Preview, Week 6: Washington at Giants

Posted on October 16, 2020 by Steve Thomas

October 16, 2020

by Steve Thomas

This Washington versus Giants game is a real battle of the titans, featuring two of the worst teams in the league. Surprisingly, New York put up 34 points against Dallas, which Washington hasn’t done at all this season, and for that matter, the past two games combined. Washington really needs to win a game, though, regardless of what happens in the NFC East, for the sake of the sanity of both the fan base and the franchise. Not to mention, because the division has been so terrible this season, Washington can actually stay within striking distance of the first place Cowboys if they pick up their second win of the season. More importantly, though, this team just needs to have something good happen, or else this season might very well go off the rails pretty quickly otherwise. If they are going to only win one more game this year, the Giants are their best shot. Read on for our game preview.

Game time & location: Sunday, October 18, 2020, 1:00 p.m. ET, Met Life Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ; no fans

Television: FOX

Television announcers: Adam Amin, Mark Schlereth, Lindsay Czarniak

TV broadcast map: click here

DC-area radio: The Team 980

Washington radio network: click here

Giants radio network: click here

Satellite radio: XM: 225 (Giants broad.) Sirius: 135 (Wash. broad); internet: 831 (Washington broad.)

Redskins roster: click here

Redskins depth chart: click here

Giants roster: click here

Giants depth chart: click here

All-time head-to-head record vs Giants: 68 – 102 – 4 (last 10: 4 – 6) (streak: 0 – 3)

Last meeting: L, December 22, 2019, 35 – 41

Early odds: Giants, -3.5

3 KEYS TO THE GAME

Offensive competence

I feel like I repeat this every week, but at some point Washington is going to need to start showing a modicum of competence on offense if they expect to win any more games this season. New starting quarterback Kyle Allen needs to start going downfield at least occasionally, if for no other reason than to keep the Giants secondary honest. An NFL team with no running game and no downfield passing game isn’t going to notch too many victories. The Giants have actually been pretty good against the run this year, amazingly, so it doesn’t seem like the week that Washington’s rushing attack is going to finally break out. What that means is competency and a little bit of variety in the passing game from offensive coordinator Scott Turner.

Exploit the Giants’ poor third down defense

One thing that’s killed the Giants defense this year is their utter incompetence on third downs. They are the worst team in football in allowing opposing offenses to convert on third downs, by a pretty wide margin. Washington’s offense, of course, is the worst in football at converting on third down, so this is a case of pathetic weakness against pathetic weakness. The bottom line is that if Washington expects to score more than 10 points on Sunday, they’ll need to start extending drives by getting first downs. The Giants are the team to do it against.

Don’t let the Giants tight ends kill them

Opposing tight ends seem to always kill the Washington defense, and they’ve been doing it for many years. The Giants have a good one in Evan Engram, who is a good security blanket for quarterback Daniel Jones. The Giants do have a couple non-Darius Slayton offensive weapons, but Engram is the guy who could possibly torture the Washington defense. The linebackers need to start playing better in pass coverage than they have so far this year. Of course, that’s easier said than done since Washington hasn’t defended tight ends well in what seems like forever.

3 KEY MATCHUPS

Chase Young and Montez Sweat vs Andrew Thomas

Andrew Thomas was the Giants first round pick this year, selected fourth overall. He was universally considered by nearly every analyst to be one of the top 3 tackles in the draft. He’s the guy I was rooting for Washington to draft in the event they could have traded down a few spots. Thomas versus Washington’s rookie defensive end Chase Young will probably be the most highly touted matchup on the field this Sunday. On top of that, Washington desperately needs to get pressure on quarterback Daniel Jones in order to limit the effectiveness of the Giants’ passing game, which is their only semi-competent option on offense. Keep a close eye out on this battle on the plays that Young is lined up over Thomas. Montez Sweat and Young will likely rotate and flip sides throughout the game, with Sweat being another tough and highly visible matchup for Thomas.

Jonathan Bostic and Kevin Pierre-Louis vs Evan Engram

I mentioned above the importance of minimizing the impact of Giants tight end Evan Engram. This job falls primarily to Bostic and Pierre-Louis, both of whom had fairly rough outings against the Rams last week. I’d love to go at least one week in which an opposing tight end doesn’t tear up Washington’s defensive backfield. Behind Darius Slayton, Engram is Daniel Jones’ second favorite and important target, so minimizing his impact on the game will be important to a Washington victory.

Terry McLaurin vs James Bradberry and Isaac Yiadom

I feel like I list McLaurin as a key matchup every week, but the reasons are obvious: he’s by far Washington’s best offensive weapon and he’s faced a string of quality corners this season. McLaurin has another tough opponent this week in the underrated James Bradberry, so keep an eye out on this battle. If McLaurin can ever get some decent quarterback play to help him, he can make a huge difference in games. In particular, watch to see if the Giants slide a safety over to help out, because New York has a couple of decent ones in Jabril Peppers and Logan Ryan.

OFFICIAL INJURY REPORT (active roster only) (starters in bold)

LP – limited practice FP – full practice DNP – did not practice

NIR – not injury related Q – questionable O – out

D – doubtful NL – not listed

Washington	Giants
G J. Garnett, illness; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O	LB K. Fackrell, ankle; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP
QB D. Haskins, illness; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: FP	DT D. Lawrence, knee; Wed; LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; game: Q
C C. Roullier, knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP	DB J. Peppers, ankle; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP
CB G. Stroman, foot; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: IR; game: IR	WR D. Slayton, foot; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; game: Q
RB A. Gibson, toe; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP
QB K. Allen, left shoulder; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP
DE R. Anderson, back; Wed: NL; Thurs: DNP; Fri: FP; game: Q
G B. Scherff, knee; Wed: IR; Thurs: IR; Fri: FP
T D. Sharpe, illness; Wed: NL; Thurs: NL; Fri: DNP; game: O

TEAM STATISTICS

Washington:

From a statistical perspective, Washington’s offense continues to stink up the joint. They are 28th in points, 30th in total yards, and 27th in passing yards. Their rushing “attack”, if that’s what you want to call it, is probably the worst in the league, ranked last in rushing yards per attempt and 28th in rushing yards. Washington is also the worst team in the league on third downs and yards per game. This offense is abysmal even by Washington standards. The only hope is that new starting quarterback Kyle Allen can turn things around.

Washington’s defensive statistics continue to plummet. The team is now 23rd in total points surrendered, 19th in total yards, 14th in passing yards, 24th in rushing yards surrendered, and 13th in rushing yards per attempt. They are still 6th in sacks despite the dropoff in sacks per game since week 1.

Record: 1 – 4 (3rd) (Away: 0 – 2; NFC: 1 – 2; NFC East: 1 – 0)

All-time franchise record: 604 – 607 – 28

Offense

Offensive rankings	28 (points) / 30 (total yards) / 32 (yards per game) / 32 (yards per play) / 27 (passing yards) / 31 (passing yards per att.) / 28 (rushing yards) / 32 (rushing yards per att.)
Points for	89
Yards per game	263.0
Passing	176 att (14th); 107 comp; 60.8% comp per. (28th); 6.0 Y/A; 908 net yds; 4 TD; 3 Int
Passing leader	Haskins (146 att (20th), 939 yds (26th), 61.0% comp perc, 4 TDs / 3 Int, 80.3 QB rating); Allen (13 att, 9 comp, 74 yds, 69.2% comp perc (18th), 0 TDs / 0 Int, 83.5 QB rating (29th))
Receiving leader	McLaurin (413 yds (8th), 46 tgts (8th), 29 rec (15th), 1 TD, 14.2 YPC (37th))
Rushing	117 att (24th); 407 yds; 3.5 Y/A; 81.4 Y/G (31st); 7 TDs
Rushing leader	Gibson (55 att (26th), 213 yds (34th), 3 TDs, 3.9 Y/A (36th), long 20)
Sacks surrendered / rank	21 / 31
Ave time of possession / rank	27:24 / 29
3rd down conversion rate / rank	29.85% / 32
TD percentage in red zone / rank	71.43% / 8

Defense

Defensive rankings	23 (points) / 19 (total yards) / 15 (yards per game surrendered) / 13 (yards per play) / 14 (passing yards) / 25 (passing yards per att.) / 24 (rushing yards) / 13 (rushing yards per att.)
Points against	142
Yards per game surrendered	356.4
Opponent’s passing	156 att (7th); 102 comp; 65.4% comp perc. (15th); 7.9 Y/A; 1134 net yds; 9 TDs; QB Rating 92.6 (12th)
Opponent’s rushing	153 att (27th); 648 yds; 4.2 Y/A; 8 TDs; 129.6 Y/G (23rd)
Sacks / rank / Sack leader	15 / 6 / Sweat (3.0)
Tackles leader	Bostic (42)
Int / rank / Int leader	6 / 7 / Fuller (3)
Opponent 3rd down conv rate / rank	39.44% / 12
Opponent TD percentage in red zone / rank	64.71% / 20

Special Teams

Kick returns	17.1 Y/R (31st), 7 returns, long 28 yards (28th), 0 TDs
Punt returns	4.8 Y/R (26th), 14 returns, long 19 yards (13th), 0 TDs
Kick return defense	15.5 Y/R (1st), 2 returns (1st), 0 TDs
Punt return defense	5.2 Y/R (5th), 17 returns, 0 TDs
Punting	48.4 Y/P (8th)

Turnovers (lost by O / recv’d by D / net / rank): 8 / 7 / -1 / 20

Penalties (total accepted # / rank): 22 / 7

Giants:

Overall, the Giants offense is statistically comparable to Washington’s offense, in that both are bad in the same ways. New York is 30th in points scored, 27th in total yards, 23rd in passing yards, 29th in rushing yards, 30th in passing yards per attempt and 28th in rushing yards per attempt. They are also terrible in the red zone, ranked 31st. From a statistical perspective, the Giants have very few redeeming qualities.

The Giants are better on defense than they are on offense. They’ve given up 133 points, which is ranked 20th, and are 14th in total yards and 8th in yards per game surrendered. Surprisingly, New York is only giving up 3.8 yards per rushing attempt, which is ranked 6th in the NFL. The achilles heel of this defense is on third downs – they are the worst defense in football in opponents third down conversion rate, 53.85%.

Record: 0 – 5 (4th); Home: 0 – 2; NFC: 0 – 4; NFC East 0 – 1)

All-time franchise record: 696 – 613 – 33

Offense

Offensive rankings	30 (points) / 27 (total yards) / 30 (yards per game) / 29 (yards per play) / 23 (passing yards) / 30 (passing yards per att.) / 29 (rushing yards) / 28 (rushing yards per att.)
Points for	81
Yards per game	282.4
Passing	182 att (9th); 111 comp; 61.0% comp per. (27th); 6.1 Y/A; 1017 net yds; 2 TDs; 5 Int
Passing leader	Jones (182 att, 1111 yds (21st), 61.0% comp per. (27th), 2 TDs / 5 Int, 70.6 QB rating (31st))
Reception leader	Slayton (365 yds (14th), 40 targets (15th), 23 rec (26th), 2 TDs, 15.9 Y/C (20th))
Rushing	105 att (26th); 395 yds; 3.8 Y/A; 79.0 Y/G (32nd); 3 TDs
Rushing leader	Jones (20 att, 130 yds (48th), 0 TDs, 6.5 Y/A (3rd)), long 23 yds); Freeman (33 att (43rd), 103 yds, 1 TD, 3.1 Y/A, long 10 yds)
Sacks surrendered / rank	16 / 26
Ave time of possession / rank	27:56 / 28
3rd down conversion rate / rank	40.62% / 22
TD percentage in red zone / rank	30.77% / 31

Defense

Defensive rankings	20 (points) / 14 (total yards) / 8 (yards per game surrendered) / 11 (yards per play) / 18 (passing yards) / 22 (passing yards per att.) / 17 (rushing yards) / 6 (rushing yards per att.)
Points against	133
Yards per game surrendered	343.0
Opponent’s passing	161 att (12th); 113 comp; 70.2% comp per. (26th); 7.8 Y/A; 1162 net yds; 8 TDs; QB rating 101.7 (23rd)
Opponent’s rushing	149 att (26th); 553 yds; 3.7 Y/A; 6 TDs
Sacks / rank / Sack leader	12 / 14 / Martinez, Fackrell, Williams (2.0)
Tackles leader	Martinez (50)
Int / rank / Int leader	3 / 24 / Love, Fackrell, Bradberry (1)
Opponent 3rd down conv rate / rank	53.85% / 32
Opponent TD percentage in red zone / rank	63.16% / 18

Special Teams

Kick returns	21.0 Y/R (21st), 9 returns, long 34 yards (19th), 0 TDs
Punt returns	11.4 Y/R (7th), 7 returns, long 20 yards (9th), 0 TDs
Kick return defense	23.2 Y/R (19th), 9 returns, 0 TDs
Punt return defense	5.3 Y/R (7th), 6 returns, 0 TDs
Punting	46.3 Y/P (18th)

Turnovers (lost by O / recv’d by D / net / rank): 9 / 6 / -3 / 25

Penalties (total accepted # / rank): 24 / 13

* Statistics courtesy of www.pro-football-reference.com, www.nflpenalties.com, www.nfl.com, www.teamrankings.com, www.espn.com, www.sportingcharts.com