Game Recap – New York Giants at Washington Commanders – Week 11

November 20, 2023

By Noonefromtampa

Washington Gives New York an Early Thanksgiving Gift Losing 31-19

First Quarter

The Commanders won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. The Washington defense sacked Tommy DeVito twice (David Mayo and K.J. Henry) on the Giants opening drive but gave up a 21 yard pass to Saquon Barkley on third and ten. After the punt went into the end zone for a touchback, Washington was able to pick up a first down on a third down scramble for 8 yards by Sam Howell. However, on the next play Howell overthrew Dyami Brown on a deep ball and it was intercepted by Nick McCloud at the Giants 13 yard line.

The Giants ran Barkley twice for a total of negative one yard. On third down, DeVito completed a 7 yard pass to Daniel Bellinger but was tackled by Percy Butler well short of the first down. After the punt, Howell hit Terry McLaurin for 11 yards on a slant. Logan Thomas fumbled his catch on the next play, which was recovered by Xavier McKinney at the Washington 45 yard line.

On the subsequent drive, DeVito was sacked for a 3 yard loss and threw an incompletion. Darius Slayton caught a 24 yard reception on third down and thirteen. DeVito then hit Barkley on a wheel route for a 24 yard touchdown. Giants 7, Commanders 0.

Washington’s next drive started with an 8 yard completion to Thomas and a 4 yard run by Brian Robinson for the first down. Robinson then caught a screen pass for 18 yards and followed it up with an 11 yard run on the right side. The big play of the drive was a 29 yard completion to Thomas to the Giants 5 yard line, with a nice throw by Howell over the linebacker. The Commanders could not punch the ball into the end zone and settled for a 23 yard Joey Slye field goal. Giants 7, Commanders 3.

Second Quarter

Washington’s defense on the next Giants series was inspired, with two sacks of DeVito by Mayo and Daron Payne and a tackle for loss by Jamin Davis on Barkley. After the punt, Washington was unable to pick up a first down and went three and out.

The Giants avoided negative plays at the start of their next series. DeVito hit Barkley for 7 yards and 10 yards to Slayton. After an incompletion, DeVito threw 16 yards to Isaiah Hodgins, but the Giants only picked up 8 more yards after that. On fourth and two, the Commanders nearly sacked DeVito again, but he escaped and threw an incompletion.

Washington’s offense again looked anemic on their next drive and suffered another third down sack by Dexter Lawrence, forcing a Tress Way punt.

The Giants took advantage of the Washington defense on third down during the next series. Wan’Dale Robinson caught a 12 yard pass for a first down on third down. On the next third down, DeVito threw to a wide-open Slayton who eluded Kendall Fuller for a 40 yard touchdown. Giants 14, Commanders 3.

Washington had its best drive of the half on the following series. Robinson ran twice for 12 yards and then McLaurin caught an 8 yard pass. Chris Rodriguez, playing for an injured Antonio Gibson, picked up 13 yards on two carries. Howell hit John Bates for 8 yards on a roll out play. Robinson followed that up with a hard 11 yard run over right tackle and caught a 7 yard on the next play. After an incompletion, Howell found McLaurin for 11 yards over the middle to the Giants 7 yard line. After a 1 yard loss by Robinson, Howell scrambled for an 8 yard touchdown and was slammed to the ground by McKinney. Several fights ensued with Curtis Samuel and Cordale Flott being ejected. Slye missed the extra point. Giants 14, Commanders 9

Both teams had the ball back with less than two minutes on the clock, but sacks blew up both drive attempts.

Third Quarter

Byron Pringle had a nice return going on the second half kickoff but fumbled when tackled. The Washington defense rose to the occasion, however, sacking DeVito twice, ensuring the Giants stayed out of field goal range.  New York punted.

After a fair catch by Jamison Crowder, Washington started at their own eight. Howell ran for 20 yards on third and three. Washington mixed short throws and hard runs by Robinson and Rodriquez to move the ball down the field. Howell distributed passes to Brown, Rodriguez, Bates, and Crowder on the drive, which petered out at the Giants 24 yard line. Slye made a 42 yard field goal. Giants 14, Commanders 12.

The Giants started out their next drive with a big play of 21 yards to Robinson, but that was it for the drive. After a penalty and a sack, Sterling Shepard picked up 5 yards on third down, forcing a punt.

Washington moved the ball well on the next drive, with Robinson running for 18 yards and Rodriguez picking up 16 yards on third down. In between those plays Howell threw an 8 yard pass to Thomas. However, Rodriguez fumbled at the Giants 32 yard line which was recovered by New York.

Barkley ran for 36 yards on the last play of the third quarter, at which point the Giants had zero total yards rushing.

Fourth Quarter

DeVito found Bellinger wide open down the left sideline for 26 yards. After a short run by Barkley and an incompletion, DeVito found Barkley underneath, who outran Kamren Curl to the end zone for a 5 yard touchdown. Giants 21, Washington 12.

On Washington’s next drive, Cole Turner caught a 7 yard pass and Robinson ran for 6 yards for the first down. After an incompletion and a run for no gain, Howell threw an ill-advised pass cross-body up field that was intercepted by Darnay Holmes for the fifth turnover of the day.

On their following drive, the Giants did nothing but run the ball behind Barkley, who gained 47 yards on the drive. Randy Bullock kicked a 36 yard field goal after Washington stopped the Giants on third down. Giants 24, Washington 12.

The next Commanders drive started with a 3 yard run by Robinson and a 12 yard completion to Jahan Dotson. Successive 5 yard sacks put Washington into a third and 20. Pringle gained 10 yards on a reception on third down and Robinson caught a screen pass and ran for 21 yards on fourth down. The next first down was set up by a 9 yard catch by McLaurin and a Giants offside penalty on fourth down. Keith Thibodeaux was called for roughing the passer and two plays later Howell hit Dotson for the 8-yard touchdown. Slye converted the extra point. Giants 24, Commanders 19.

Washington’s defense was then able to hold the Giants to a three and out, but Washington got the ball back with less than two minutes to go. Robinson caught a 6 yard pass and then Howell threw 14 yards to Pringle. Another Giants penalty gave Washington a first down. Howell hit Thomas for 8 yards and Crowder for 5 yards for another first down. Charles Leno was called for a false start, which forced Washington to use their final time out. Under pressure, Howell tried to the throw the ball away towards Robinson, but the ball floated and was intercepted by Isaiah Simmons near the sideline, who returned it for a pick 6. Giants 31, Commanders 19.

Washington ran out the clock on their last play.

Thoughts

You can’t give up that many turnovers, six, and 24 points from turnovers, and expect to win the game.

This is another game Washington should have won, but were outcoached. It probably doesn’t make sense to make a coaching change on the short week, but either after the Thanksgiving game or during the bye week some change needs to be made.

Howell regressed in this game, making several bad throws and the pressure from the Giants defense didn’t help much.

Washington better not trade picks for Bill Belichick, because they will need all of them to rebuild the offensive line and defensive front seven.