The Takeaways, Week 9: Washington at New York Giants
November 4, 2024
by Steve Thomas
Washington defeated a division rival, the New York Giants, by a score of 27 – 22 in a game that was closer than many Washington fans thought it would be Interestingly, Chris Larry, who is my colleague on our sports law and business podcast, It’s Just Business, and a native New Yorker, said on our latest episode (spoiler alert) that the New York media fully expected the Giants to win this game. Certainly, anything can happen in an NFC East matchup, but that seemed a bit delusional considering the seasons these two teams have had. I think the fact that Washington went into The Meadowlands and took care of business – which is something they’ve failed to do on countless prior occasions – on a day in which they didn’t play their best says something about just how far this team has come since the trials and tribulations of the last regime. My Takeaways for this week are below.
Washington played down to their competition, but still won
Honestly, this wasn’t Washington’s best effort on either side of the ball. I mentioned on The Hog Sty Podcast and in our written game preview that they needed to be cognizant of a letdown after getting such an emotional win last week, particularly having to travel to New York. Washington didn’t play particularly well by 2024 standards, whether do to a letdown or not, but the fact that the nevertheless were able to get a victory anyway says alot about the quality of the franchise right now. As a team, there were a few mistakes in this game of which a better opponent might have been able to take advantage, but it didn’t matter against the Giants, fortunately. This game probably says more than you’d think at first glance about the state of the Redskins Washington Football Team Commanders the team.
Jayden Daniels “Just Okay” game is still pretty good
Daniels had 15 completions in 22 pass attempts against the Giants, which is a 68.2% completion percentage, for 209 yards, 2 touchdowns, for a 128.8 quarterback rating, along with 35 rushing yards in 8 carries, for an average of 4.4 yards per carry. Notice that he once again avoided interceptions, and still has just 2 all season. That’s pretty incredible for a rookie. I didn’t think Daniels was at his best in this game in terms of his decision-making and accuracy; however, that notwithstanding, he still managed to lead his team to points on 5 of 8 drives. That number includes the final drive of the game, in which Daniels took a knee on the Giants’ 3 yard line to run out the clock on the final play. The offense definitely wasn’t as dynamic as it has been at times this season but it was enough to get by the 2 – 7 Giants, and that’s what counts.
Washington missed Brian Robinson
One of the reason why Washington’s offense wasn’t really firing on all cylinders was that Brian Robinson Jr. was held out of the game due to a hamstring injury. As a result, the gained 139 rushing on 38 carries, which was just 3.9 yards per carry. Chris Rodriguez was elevated to the active roster for the third time this season in place of Robinson. He had 11 carries in this game, which were his first of the season, and gained 52 yards for an average of 4.7 yards per carry, which is a decent result, but included a long of 17 yards. Subtracting that carry leaves 35 yards in the remaining 10 carries, which is an average of just 3.5 yards per carry. Austin Ekeler had a similar game, with 11 carries for 42 yards, which is 3.8 yards per carry, but also a long of 20 yards. Therefore, he had just 22 yards in the remaining 10 carries. Certainly, the team’s stats were hurt by the fact that Jayden Daniels didn’t rush much in this game – which was the right thing to do considering that he’s still recovering from his rib injury – but the point is that Washington’s running game wasn’t a big advantage for a big portion of this game. I can’t believe I’m about to write this, but they missed Robinson today.
Washington’s run defense was . . . not great
In contrast with Washington’s run game, the Giants actually excelled in that aspect of their offense. They had a total of 164 yards on the ground in just 31 carries, for an average of 5.3 yards per carry. At halftime, New York was up to 6.8 yards per carry. Those are terrible numbers, particularly considering the Giants had averaged just 4.2 yards per carry prior to this game. Admittedly, star defensive tackle Jonathan Allen is now on injured reserve, but still: Washington’s opponents have averaged 5.1 yards per carry prior to this game, so they weren’t really much better with Allen on the field. The only upside here is that the bulk of the big yards per carry came from quarterback Daniel Jones, who had 54 yards in 7 carries and 1 touchdown, for an average of 7.7 yards per carry. The running backs, Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary, combined for 23 carries for 99 yards, which equates to 4.3 yards per carry. That’s still not ideal, but it’s far better than the number Jones posted. Still, though, does it matter whether its the quarterback or the running backs got the yardage? Not really. This needs to be a major focus for the front office in the offseason.
The secondary regressed to the mean
In similar fashion, Washington’s secondary wasn’t great in this game, and they were saved by the fact that the Giants’ passing game hasn’t been particularly successful all year. There were several instances of blown coverages in this game, probably highlighted by Theo Johnson’s easy-peasy 35 yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter. A better team could have really caused problems for Washington in the air. I feel like I’m repeating myself at this point, because I’ve had to mentioned Washington’s poor secondary after what seems like most games, so I’m not going to dwell on this point. Suffice to say that the corner group is another area that will need some significant help in the offseason.
That’s it for this week. The 6 – 2 first place Pittsburgh Steelers come to D.C. next week for what seems like a fairly epic showdown.