Week 9 Recap – Washington Commanders at New York Giants

Commanders Edge Out Giants 27-22

November 4, 2024

By Noonefromtampa

First Quarter

Washington won the coin toss and elected to defer the second half of the game. After the return, the Giants started at their own 30 yard line. Tyrone Tracy ran twice for 7 yards and Daniel Jones completed a pass to tight end Theo Johnson, but Jeremy Chinn stopped him for a 1 yard gain to force a Giants punt.

After a short 32 yard punt, Washington ran Austin Ekeler twice (Brian Robinson was out with an injury) for 5 yards and Jayden Daniels missed wide receiver Noah Brown on third down leading to a Tress Way punt. A personal foul on the play backed the Giants back to their own 8 yard line.

The Giants stuck with the running game, with Tracy running for 4 and 10 yards. Jones took the option and ran for 24 yards before being tackled by Quan Martin. Devin Singletary then ran inside for 15 yards and Tracy followed up with another 10 yard run. The Giants then tried to run a screen play, but Dante Fowler hit Jones as he attempted to throw. Initially it was ruled a forward pass, but it was challenged and reversed to a fumble with Bobby Wagner recovering at the Giants 31 yard line.

After Ekeler ran for 5 yards, Daniels threw deep to Noah Brown who drew a defensive pass interference penalty on Cordale Flott at the Giants four. Ekeler then rushed down to the 1 and Daniels hit Terry McLaurin on a quick in route for the touchdown. Austin Seibert converted the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

Following the kickoff, Singletary ran three times for 10 yards and the first down. Tracy then ran two times for 9 yards and Jones ran for the first down.  Keeping the ball on the ground, Tracy ran twice for 8 yards and Singletary ran for 6 yards getting the first down. The Giants then tried a bubble screen but lost 6 yards. Jones scrambled for 11 yards on the next play. Frankie Luvu was called for a neutral zone infraction which gave the Giants a third and 1.

Second Quarter

Jones ran a quarterback sneak for a first down. Jones then ran for 12 yards on a keeper on the next play. Tracy ran for 3 yards and Darius Slayton ran for 11 yards. Jones then threw the 2 yard touchdown to Chris Manhertz. Jude McAtamney converted the extra point to tie the game at 7-7.

After the touchback, Daniels picked up 9 yards on a designed run play. Ekeler gained the first down on the next play. Daniels hit Noah Brown for 16 yards and then for 3 yards. Ekeler ran for 20 yards and had a 9 yard reception. Three plays later, on fourth and 1, Daniels ran around right end for 6 yards to make it first and goal from the six. Ekeler carried two more times and scored the touchdown. Seibert gave the Commanders a 14-7 lead with the extra point.

Following the kickoff, Luvu batted down Jones’ pass attempt on first down. Tracy ran for 2 yards on second down. On third down, Chinn broke up the pass to Johnson by undercutting the throw. Matt Haack boomed the punt 60 yards and Olamide Zaccheaus returned it 8 yards to the Washington 13 yard line.

On Washington’s next drive, Jeremy McNichols ran up the middle for 6 yards and Daniels scrambled for 7 yards to move the ball out to the Washington 26 yard line. After Ekeler lost a yard, Daniels hit Noah Brown for 31 yards.  McNichols lost two yards on first down. Zaccheaus has a 6 yard reception on a quick out giving the Commanders a third and six at the Giants 40 yard line going into the two-minute warning. Zach Ertz picked up 5 yards on a catch over the middle. Ekeler ran for the first down which was reviewed on replay. Nick Allegretti was called for holding after a 16 yard scramble by Daniels. Daniels’ pass to McNichols on first and twenty was incomplete. After a Washington timeout, McNichols ran for two yards on a draw play. Then, Daniels hit Dyami Brown on a shallow crosser. Brown was able to break a tackle and run for 24 yards to the Giants 18 yard line. Daniels threw over Deonte Banks, who has taunted McLaurin in the past, to McLaurin for the touchdown. Seibert made the extra point giving Washington a 21-7 lead.

The Giants returned the kickoff 20 yards to end the half.

Third Quarter

After the touchback for Washington to start the second half, Ekeler first ran for two.  Then, Daniels uncharacteristically threw two straight balls low into the turf. Way punted  53 yards and Ihmir Smith-Marsette returned it 6 yards to the Giants 21 yard line.

On the Giants’ next possession, Dorance Armstrong was called for roughing the passer on a first down sack. After Tracy was stopped for no gain, Malik Nabers caught two passes for 9 yards and Jones rushed for the first down. Jones connected with Nabers for 16 yards. Jones was sacked on second down by Fowler but completed an 11 yard pass to Slayton on third down. The fourth down catch by Nabers looked short of the first down marker but was ruled a first down. The Giants quickly ran a play before it could be challenged. After an incompletion, Slayton caught a 15 yard pass over the middle down to the Washington 12 yard line. The Giants ran three straight time but came up short of the first down. An apparent touchdown was called back on fourth down due to offensive pass interference and the Giants had to settle for a field goal. The Washington lead was cut to 21-10.

Washington’s next drive started with a Daniels 16 yard scramble. Chris Rodriguez ran for 1 yard and Noah Brown caught an 8 yard pass. On third and short, Ben Sinnott caught a short pass and ran 12 yards up field for the first down. Rodriguez ran twice for 14 yards to push the ball down to the Giants 19 yard line.  Ekeler caught a 4 yard check-down and Noah Brown caught a short pass for 2 yards. Daniels was forced to throw the ball away on third down due to good coverage by the Giants and the fact that the pass rush was getting close. Seibert’s field goal attempt was right down the middle, giving Washington a 24-10 lead.

After the touchback, Noah Igbinoghene broke up a pass to Johnson and Singletary ran for 1 yard to end the third quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Wan’Dale Robinson caught a 10 yard pass over Igbinoghene for the first down. Naber caught a 13 yard pass on a double move against Benjamin St-Juste. Johnson missed his third catch of the game and Phidarian Mathis was injured on the play. Naber caught a 5 yard pass and then St-Juste was called for defensive pass interference on Nabers for 8 yards. Nabers then lost 5 yards on screen with a great tackle by Chinn. Tracy ran for 6 yards and the Giants went back to Nabers for a 9 yard catch for the first down after a successful challenge of the spot. Robinson caught a 7 yard pass and then Slayton caught a 22 yard pass down to the Washington 2 yard line. Jones took it in over the left side for the touchdown. The Giants’ two-point attempt failed, making the score 24-16.

After Ekeler returned the kickoff 35 yards, McNichols picked up 2 yards on first down. After a second down incompletion, Daniels found a wide open Ekeler who caught the short pass and ran for 27 yards to the Giants 36 yard line. McNichols ran over the left side for 1 yard and 8 yards to the right on the next play. McNichols then ran three tough yards up the middle for the first down. Rodriguez for 17 yards on an option play that froze Brian Burns. Rodriguez ran twice more for 5 yards but on third down Daniels had to throw the ball away. Seibert nailed a field goal attempt to increase Washington’s lead to 27-16. More importantly, the drive took 5:39 off the clock, leaving the Giants only 3:46 to go in the game.

The Giants were able to march down the field and score a touchdown on the following drive, aided by defensive pass interference on Mike Sainristil which negated an interception by Martin. Johnson, who dropped several passes earlier, caught the 35 yard touchdown pass from Jones over Wagner. The two-point attempt failed again, with Jones getting sacked.

After the touchback, Rodriguez ran for 1 yard on first down. On second down, Daniels hit a wide-open Zaccheaus for 42 yards to go into the two-minute warning. Rodriguez ran for 5 yards on first down and the Giants were called for a facemask penalty moving the ball down to the Giants 11 yard line. Rodriguez ran two more times for 9 yards down to the 2 yard line.  Rodriguez gained a first down on third down. With the ball at the one and the Giants without timeouts, the Commanders went into victory formation to run out the clock.

Thoughts

The run defense was porous a lot of the time. The defensive live got moved around by the Giants offensive line. They need better players on defense, especially at cornerback.

It’s hard to believe that Jayden Daniels is a rookie with some of the throws he makes but they are proven veteran-level throws.

Jeremy Chinn had a good game, until last in the fourth quarter in the prevent defense.

Kliff Kingsbury called a nice game in the fourth quarter, taking valuable time off the clock.

The remaining division games are going to be even more difficult than this one.