Game Preview, Week 2: Giants at Washington
September 15, 2021
by Steve Thomas
Washington’s week one game against the Chargers frankly looked like more of the same as we’ve had the misfortune to watch for years. Fortunately, though, this week’s opponent is the New York Giants, who have their own issues and got pounded by the Denver Broncos last Sunday. However, the downside here is that the Giants almost always play their best football of the season against the Redskins Washington and have won 5 in a row against them, including a couple of blowouts. Therefore, while it seems like Washington should be favored, the most likely scenario is that this will be a typical hard fought, tough game in which New York will outplay its talent level. Also, this is a Thursday night game, which has traditionally been the bane of Washington’s existence. All of this is to say that it’s a little tough to project what, exactly, we’re going to see this Thursday. If nothing else, the mystery and anticipation will be exciting. Our game preview begins below.
Game time & location: Thursday, September 16, 2021, 8:20 p.m. ET, Fed Ex Field, Raljon, Maryland; Gates open 4:20 p.m. ET; Red Zone parking lots open 3:20 p.m.; all other parking lots 4:20 p.m.
Television: NFL Network
Television announcers: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, Kristina Pink
TV broadcast map: National
DC-area radio: The Team 980
Washington radio network: click here
Giants radio network: click here
Satellite radio: SiriusXM: 225 (Washington 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 – 104 – 4 (last 10: 3 – 7; streak: 0 – 5)
Last meeting: L, November 8, 2020, 20 – 23
Early odds: Washington, -4.5
3 KEYS TO THE GAME
Dominate the line of scrimmage
Washington didn’t do very well on either side of ball along the offensive and defensive lines last week. This is going to be imperative in what is likely to be a tough, hard fought NFC East game this week. Washington’s offensive skill position players aren’t good enough to do significant damage without the offensive line consistently winning battles. The same can be said for the defensive – the front four were justifiably criticized for their collectively lack of impact against the Chargers, and they’re going to need to do better against a Giants team that features more talent than last year.
Don’t let Saquon Barkley rebound from last week
Barkley didn’t look like himself against the Broncos, which isn’t surprising considering the severity of his knee injury last season. Washington needs to limit Barkley’s effectiveness and force the Giants offense to become one dimensional. He only averaged 2.6 yards per carry last week, essentially eliminating New York’s run game. Washington is going to have their hands full with the Giants wide receivers and will need to keep the Giants from being able to rely on Barkley.
Play mistake free
The most important key to winning this game is going to be to play mistake-free football. Neither one of these teams played a consistent 4 quarters of quality football last week. Washington hasn’t been able to do that very often for many years. The Giants have some talent; Daniel Jones has talent, and I suspect that the team that emerges victorious on Thursday night will do so because they were able to eliminate more mistakes than their opponent.
3 KEY MATCHUPS
William Jackson III vs Sterling Shepard
One thing that the Giants have in abundance is receiver talent, led by Shepard, who posted 113 yards against the Broncos. Jackson needs to do his thing and hold Shepard to a reasonable offensive output in order to keep Daniel Jones and the Giants offense from establishing a productive rhythm.
Terry McLaurin vs James Bradberry and Adoree’ Jackson
The corollary to Jackson versus Shepard is Terry McLaurin versus New York’s highly-paid corners. McLaurin is deservedly Washington’s #1 receiver and rapidly rising amongst the ranks of the better receivers in the NFL. Washington needs McLaurin to produce this week in order to lead the team to a more consistent performance. This will be a high-visibility battle to follow during the game.
Jonathan Allen vs. Will Hernandez
This is a matchup that’s perhaps a bit off the radar scope, but Allen vs Hernandez is an interesting trench battle. Hernandez was a highly regarded second round pick coming out of college and produced quality results for his first two years, but has gone downhill since then. Jon Allen has an opportunity to take advantage of a favorable matchup and create pressure on Daniel Jones up the middle. Theis matchup may end up be one of the more important of the game.
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 |
| QB R. Fitzpatrick, hip; Mon: DNP; Tue: to IR | LB C. Brown, hamstring; Mon: DNP; Tue: DNP; Wed: DNP; game: O |
| RB A. Gibson, shoulder; Mon: LP; Tue: FP; Wed: FP | TE E. Engram, calf; Mon: DNP; Tue: DNP; Wed: DNP; game: O |
| G S. Lemieux, knee; Mon: DNP; Tue: DNP; Wed: DNP; game: O | |
| RB S. Barkley, knee; Mon: LP; Tue: LP; Wed: LP; game: Q |
TEAM STATISTICS
Washington:
Statistically, Washington’s offense in week one was suspect, scoring just 16 points and gaining a total of 259 yards, with only 133 passing yards. Running back Antonio Gibson led the rushing attack with 90 yards at a 4.5 yards per carry pace, but little else went particularly well on offense from a statistical perspective. The saving grace was that Washington’s two quarterbacks, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Taylor Heinicke, managed to avoid throwing interceptions.
On the defensive side of the ball, Washington gave up a total of 424 yards, including 334 net passing yards and 90 rushing yards, plus 20 points, to the Chargers. Beyond Justin Herbert’s passing yards, the statistical outlier was Keenan Allen, who had 100 receiving yards. It was a below average statistical performance against one of the better passing teams and worst rushing teams in the NFL.
Record (2020): 7 – 9 (1st) (Home: 3 – 5; NFC: 5 – 7; NFC East: 4 – 2); 2021: 0 – 1
All-time franchise record: 610 – 613 – 28
Offense (2020)
| Offensive rankings | 25 (points) / 30 (total yards) / 30 (yards per game) / 31 (yards per play) / 25 (passing yards) / 30 (passing yards per att.) / 26 (rushing yards) / 28 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points for | 335 |
| Yards per game | 317.2 |
| Passing
|
601 att (9th); 389 comp; 64.7% comp per. (21st); 6.3 Y/A; 3465 net yds; 16 TD; 16 Int |
| Passing leader | Smith (252 att (34th), 1582 yds (35th), 66.7% comp perc (114th), 6 TDs / 8 Int, 78.5 QB rating (31st) |
| Receiving leader | McLaurin (1118 yds (13th), 134 tgts (12th), 87 rec (18th), 4 TDs, 12.9 YPC(49th)) |
| Rushing | 400 att (25th); 1611 yds; 4.0 Y/A; 100.7 Y/G (26th); 18 TDs |
| Rushing leader | Gibson (170 att (18th), 795 yds (20th), 11 TDs (9th), 4.7 Y/A (19th), long 40) |
| Sacks surrendered / rank | 50 / 31 |
| Ave time of possession / rank | 29:54 / 18 |
| 3rd down conversion rate / rank | 39.11% / 23 |
| TD percentage in red zone / rank | 57.45% / 20 |
Defense (2020)
| Defensive rankings | 4 (points) / 2 (total yards) / 2 (yards per game surrendered) / 3 (yards per play) / 2 (passing yards) / 3 (passing yards per att.) / 14 (rushing yards) / 11 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points against | 329 |
| Yards per game surrendered | 304.6 |
| Opponent’s passing | 529 att (4th); 330 comp; 62.4% comp perc. (3rd); 6.4 Y/A; 3068 net yds; 21 TDs; QB Rating 81.4 (3rd) |
| Opponent’s rushing | 428 att (16th); 1805 yds; 4.2 Y/A; 14 TDs; 112.8 Y/G (14th) |
| Sacks / rank / Sack leader | 47 / 6 / Sweat (9.0) |
| Tackles leader | Bostic (118) |
| Int / rank / Int leader | 16 / 6 / Fuller (4) |
| Opponent 3rd down conv rate / rank | 37.5% / 6 |
| Opponent TD percentage in red zone / rank | 53.49% / 4 |
Special Teams (2020)
| Kick returns | 20.8 Y/R (21st), 31 returns, long 46 yards (19th), 0 TDs |
| Punt returns | 5.7 Y/R (27th), 31 returns, long 22 yards (21st), 0 TDs |
| Kick return defense | 26.1 Y/R (27th), 9 returns (2nd), 0 TDs |
| Punt return defense | 5.8 Y/R (5th), 36 returns, 0 TDs |
| Punting | 48.0 Y/P (5th) |
Turnovers (lost by O / recv’d by D / net / rank) (2020): 27 / 23 / -4 / 24
Penalties (total accepted # / rank): 82 / 16 (2020): 87 / 17
Giants:
The Giants scored just 13 points against the Denver Broncos in week one, with 254 net passing yards and just 60 rushing yards, the latter of which being terrible. Wide receiver Sterling Shepard was the lone Giants offensive player who had significant production, with 7 receptions for 113 yards. Other than that, New York was significantly below the statistical bell curve on the offensive side of the ball.
On defense, the Giants surrendered 27 points and 420 total yards, including 255 yards passing and 165 rushing yards, to the Denver Broncos. Running back Melvin Gordon III had 101 yards on just 11 carries, which included a long of 70 yards.
Record: 6 – 10 (3rd; tied); Away: 3 – 5; NFC: 5 – 7; NFC East: 4 – 2); 2021: 0 – 1
All-time franchise record: 702 – 619 – 33
Offense (2020)
| Offensive rankings
|
31 (points) / 31 (total yards) / 31 (yards per game) / 29 (yards per play) / 29 (passing yards) / 26 (passing yards per att.) / 19 (rushing yards) / 13 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points for | 280 |
| Yards per game | 299.6 |
| Passing | 517 att (26th); 321 comp; 62.1% comp per. (29th); 6.5 Y/A; 3026 net yds; 12 TDs (32nd); 11 Int |
| Passing leader | Jones (448 att (19th), 2943 yds (19th), 62.5% comp per. (31st), 11 TDs / 10 Int, 80.4 QB rating (30th)) |
| Reception leader | Slayton (751 yds (46), 96 targets, 50 rec, 3 TDs (123rd), 15.0 Y/C (17th); Engram (654 yds, 109 targets (31st), 63 rec, 1 TD, 10.4 Y/C; Shepard (656 yds, 90 targets, 66 rec (37th), 3 TDs (___), 9.9 Y/C) |
| Rushing | 399 att (26th); 1768 yds; 4.4 Y/A; 110.5 Y/G (19th); 13 TDs |
| Rushing leader | Gallman (147 att (26th), 682 yds (26th), 6 TDs (33rd), 4.6 Y/A (23rd), long 60 yds (15th)) |
| Sacks surrendered / rank | 50 / 3 |
| Ave time of possession / rank | 28:42 / 26 |
| 3rd down conversion rate / rank | 36.36% / 29 |
| TD percentage in red zone / rank | 46.34% / 31 |
Defense
| Defensive rankings | 23 (points) / 10 (total yards) / 10 (yards per game surrendered) / 17 (yards per play) / 9 (passing yards) / 7 (passing yards per att.) / 18 (rushing yards) / 21 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points against | 426 |
| Yards per game surrendered | 343.4 |
| Opponent’s passing | 543 att (12th); 340 comp; 62.6% comp per. (4th); 6.8 Y/A; 3578 net yds; 29 TDs; QB rating 91.4 (14th) |
| Opponent’s rushing | 427 att (14th); 1917 yds; 4.5 Y/A; 17 TDs |
| Sacks / rank / Sack leader | 27 / 25 / Williams (11.5) |
| Tackles leader | Martinez (151) |
| Int / rank / Int leader | 12 / 17 / Bradberry (3) |
| Opponent 3rd down conv rate / rank | 43.63% / 22 |
| Opponent TD percentage in red zone / rank | 58.18% / 9 |
Special Teams (2020)
| Kick returns | 21.9 Y/R (18th), 36 returns, long 48 yards (17th), 0 TDs |
| Punt returns | 11.4 Y/R (7th), 20 returns, long 20 yards (27th), 0 TDs |
| Kick return defense | 26.9 Y/R (29th), 34 returns, 0 TDs |
| Punt return defense | 15.2 Y/R (31st), 37 returns, 1 TDs |
| Punting | 44.1 Y/P (27th) |
Turnovers (lost by O / recv’d by D / net / rank) (2020): 22 / 22 / 0 / 19
Penalties (total accepted # / rank) (2020): 81 / 5
* Statistics courtesy of www.pro-football-reference.com, www.nflpenalties.com, www.nfl.com, www.teamrankings.com, www.espn.com, www.sportingcharts.com