Game Preview, Week 7: Washington at New York Giants
October 20, 2023
by Steve Thomas
Congrats to Washington for a job well done against the Falcons in week 6. For the first time this season, they more or less played a complete four quarters of football and got a win, albeit against a lesser team. Now, though, comes a bigger challenge – not because the New York Giants are necessarily a good team, because they aren’t, but because (1) this is an NFC East game, and (2) Washington has looked really, really bad against the Giants at times. What this means, then, is that while this week’s matchup is against a 1 – 5 team, it actually means quite a bit to the Redskins Washington Football Team Commanders Washington. A win means that they’ll have a winning record for the first time this season, and they’ll also have an all-important division victory. Whether it happens is more of a question than some fans may think. We’ll see. Our game preview begins below.
Game time & location: Sunday, October 22, 2023, 1:00 p.m. ET, Met Life Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ; Gates open 11:00 a.m. ET; parking lots open 8:00 a.m.
Television: CBS
Television announcers: Andrew Catalon, Tiki Barber, Matt Ryan
TV broadcast map: click here
DC-area radio: BIG-100 (WBIG FM)
Washington radio network: click here
Giants radio network: click here
Satellite radio: SiriusXM: 230 (Giants. broad.) / 388 (Wash. broad); internet: 831
Washington roster: click here
Washington depth chart: click here
Giants roster: click here
Giants depth chart: click here
Records: Washington 3 –3 (away 2 – 1); Giants 1 – 5 (home 0 – 2)
All-time head-to-head record vs Giants: 70 – 105 – 5 (last 10: 3 – 6 – 1; streak: 0 – 1)
Last meeting: L, December 18, 2022, 12 – 20
Early odds: Washington, -3
3 KEYS TO THE GAME
Play a solid, complete game
This is not a week to come out weak, play badly for 2 quarters, and have to mount a big come back on the road against a division rival. This means that Washington needs to limit the big secondary mistakes, the fumbles, poor offensive line, and everything else that this team has done at times this season. Limit the mistakes and have a solid game plan on both sides of the ball, and Washington has a pretty good chance of getting a victory this week.
Exploit the Giants’ poor run defense
News flash: the Giants are bad against the run; as in, really, really bad, to the tune of 5.1 yards per carry. So listen up, Eric Bieniemy – run the damn ball. If there was ever a game for Washington’s offensive coordinator to improve his game plans and start playing more to the team’s running strengths, then this is it. Implement a ground-based offensive game plan, control the clock, and keep the Giants fans out of it. I don’t have much faith that Bieniemy will actually go it, mind you, but they should.
Force the Giants to beat you in the air
No aspect of New York’s offense has been particularly good this year, especially with Daniel Jones’ injury, but their biggest offensive star is Saquon Barkley. He hasn’t had a ton of success this year, and Washington needs to make sure it doesn’t happen this week. Focus on controlling Barkley and make either Jones or Tyrod Taylor beat you in the air. That’s going to be the best way to beat New York’s offense.
3 KEY MATCHUPS
Waller has been New York’s most targeted receiver this year. Davis is the guy who, for better or for worse, Washington is going to rely on for this coverage matchup. Davis has actually been somewhat better this year, and Waller is no Travis Kelce, so this isn’t an automatic negative for Washington. That having been said, it probably is one of the two most important defensive matchups for Washington this week.
Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen vs Saquon Barkley
Payne and Allen versus Barkley is the other important defensive matchup. Washington needs to keep the interior of the defensive line intact in order to prevent Barkley for getting established and earning a high yards per carry. In my view, this starts with Allen and Payne, who are the two leaders of Washington’s defense. Keep an eye on how much space Barkley has in the A and B gaps during this game.
Andrew Wylie and Charles Leno vs. Kayvon Thibodeaux
The Giants have only gotten 5 sacks this year, the worst in the NFL by far. Of those four, Thibodeaux has four of them. Washington needs to make a particular effort to not let another five or six sack game happen against a team that absolutely should not get one. This isn’t entirely on Wylie and Leno, and quarterback Sam Howell plays a role as well, but Wylie and Leno will have the primary assignment of block edge rusher Thibodeaux. Watch out for how much he spends in Washington’s backfield.
OFFICIAL INJURY REPORT (active roster only)
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 |
| CB K. Fuller, knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP | OL M Peart, shoulder; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP |
| DT J. Allen, knee; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP | OL J. Schmitz, shoulder; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP |
| CB C. Holmes, hamstring; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP | OL A. Thomas, hamstring; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP |
| DE J. Smith-Williams, foot; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP | RB S. Barkley, ankle; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP |
| G/T S. Cosmi, knee; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP | K G. Gano, left knee; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP |
| S K. Curl, ankle; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP | DB A. Jackson, neck; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP |
| G C. Paul, back; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP | QB D. Jones, neck; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP |
| CB B.St-Juste, hand; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP | OL E. Neal, ankle; Wed: DNP; Thurs: LP |
| DE M. Sweat, finger; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP | RB G. Brightwell, ankle; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP |
| OL D. J. Davidson, knee; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP | |
| DB C. Flott, ankle/shoulder; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP | |
| OL M. Glowinski, quad/ankle; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP | |
| DB T. Hawkins, knee; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP | |
| WR W. Robinson, knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: FP | |
| OL S. Lemieux, biceps/groin; Wed: LP; Thurs: to IR |
Steve’s Prediction
I’m not trying to be negative here, but I have a bad feeling about this game. I think New York gets back on track this week, and Washington has not shown the ability to play two good games in a row this year, so I think the Giants win 27 – 20.
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