Game Preview, Week 16: Giants at Redskins
December 20, 2019
by Steve Thomas
This game is the battle for draft position, as the Washington Redskins and New York Giants are both 3 – 11. If the Giants win, they will most likely end up with a better season record and will thus move down below Washington in the draft order. So, for those of you rooting for draft order, this is your Super Bowl. For my part, I always root for the Redskins to win, so that’s what will make me happy regardless of the effect on the 2020 draft. The fact of the matter is that the Giants are a better team right now with Eli Manning than Daniel Jones at the helm, but Jones is the future, and it is very likely that Jones is going back from his injury this week. This long slog of a season is almost over, thankfully, as it has been a miserable experience at times. However, we’d like to see rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins continue to make progress by having another game similar to or better than last week’s contest against the Eagles. Oh yeah, and win. On with the preview.
Game time & location: Sunday, December 22, 2019, 1:00 p.m. ET, Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, Raljon, MD; Gates open 11:00 a.m. ET; Red Zone parking lots open 8:00 a.m.; all other parking lots 9:00 a.m.
Television: Fox
Television announcers: Thom Brennaman, Chris Spielman, Shannon Spake
TV broadcast map: Click here
DC-area radio: The Team 980
Redskins radio network: Click here
Giants radio network: Click here
Satellite radio: XM: 231 (Redskins broad.) Sirius: 135 (Redskins broad); internet: 831 (Redskins 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 – 101 – 4 (last 10: 4 – 6) (streak: 0 – 2)
Last meeting: L, September 29, 2019, 3 – 24
Early odds: Redskins, -2.5
3 KEYS TO THE GAME
Turnovers – the Redskins need to get them
The Giants are turnover prone in an extreme way, and rookie quarterback Daniel Jones is responsible for most of them. New York has 31 turnovers on the year, which is a huge number, and of those, Jones is responsible for 11 interceptions and 10 fumbles. The enormous number of turnovers are a big reason why New York’s offense isn’t more successful. The Redskins therefore need to win the turnover battle in order to get a victory.
The passing game needs to click one more time
The Giants actually aren’t the disaster in run defense that you might think. They are only giving up 3.9 yards per carry. This likely means that Redskins quarterback Dwayne Haskins needs to build on his quality performance last week and have another efficient, mistake-free day. The coaching staff needs to help him out by calling a nice mix of plays again, but ultimately a big part of Washington’s chances to win is going to fall on Haskins’ shoulders. If he looks like he did last week, the Redskins will be in a good position to win. It also should not be lost on anyone that Haskins was embarrassed by his performance in the second half of the first Giants game back in September; in fact, Haskins said that he “threw up watching that film”. He further stated, “I don’t like watching that tape, so it’s a total different guy.” Dwayne knows he played very poorly in that game and he’s going to go all out to prove otherwise this week.
Stop Barkley and dare the rest of the Giants to beat you
Star running back Saquon Barkley hasn’t been quite as successful in his second year in the league as he was last year, but this is mostly due to his injury and teams focusing on him in light of the fact that the rookie Jones is at quarterback. Barkley is still the Giants’ best weapon, though, so the Redskins need to follow the script by stacking the box to stop Barkley and daring Jones to beat them. If they are successful, odds are that they’ll be in a good position to win. On the other hand, the Redskins basically haven’t stopped any running back all year, so expecting them to do it now might be a little far-fetched.
3 KEY MATCHUPS
Terry McLaurin vs DeAndre Baker and Corey Ballentine
The Giants cut star corner Janoris Jenkins this week after Jenkins used an offensive personal slur in a tweet. Jenkins is now a Saint, and the Giants are left with Baker and Ballentine to try and control McLaurin. Good luck, fellas. McLaurin hasn’t really been blanketed for an entire game all year, and considering that the gameplan should again involve Haskins upping his passing totals, McLaurin needs to take advantage of a relatively weak matchup and get some more game-changing plays. Watch for McLaurin to have a big day on Sunday.
Ryan Kerrigan is on injured reserve, making the rookie Sweat the team’s #1 pass rushing threat. The Giants’ weakness lies with Jones, making Sweat’s ability to get to Jones and make him uncomfortable, as well as causing a few turnovers, will be a crucial part of this game. Sweat has something to prove, as his rookie year has been a bit of a letdown by some standards, so now is a perfect chance to prove he can assume the mantle of being Washington’s top edge rusher while simultaneously making a big impact on the Redskins’ ability to win this game. Keep a close eye on this matchup.
Darius Slayton vs Quinton Dunbar or his replacement, whoever that is
If the Redskins are actually able to stop or at least slow down Barkley, the Giants’ next best hope of generating offense is rookie wide receiver Darius Slayton. Dunbar has missed the past couple of games due to a hamstring injury. It looked like he might be on track to play earlier in the week, but had a setback on Thursday and didn’t practice, so the Redskins’ corner situation is once again a bit up in the air. So, either Dunbar or his replacement, along with whoever ends up starting opposing Dunbar as a result of the continued injury to Fabian Moreau, will be tasked with eliminating this threat, or at least keeping Slayton in check. Considering that essentially the entire secondary is injured, this matchup becomes all the more important. If the Redskins can control both Barkley and Slayton, they have a solid chance of earning a victory.
OFFICIAL INJURY REPORT (as of Thursday (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
| Redskins | Giants |
| S L. Collins, achilles; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: FP; game: Q | S A. Bethea, NIR; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: FP |
| CB F. Moreau, hamstring; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: D | G K. Zeitler, ankle; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP |
| DT J. Allen, toe; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP | TE R. Ellison, concussion; Wed: FP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP ; game: O |
| CB Q. Dunbar, hamstring; Wed: LP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O | QB D. Jones, ankle; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP |
| S M. Nicholson, ankle; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP | LB O. Ximenes, ankle; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP |
| T D. Penn, knee; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP | CB A. Hamilton, NIR; Wed: NL; Thurs: DNP; Fri: FP |
| LB R. Anderson, shoulder/hand; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP | |
| QB D. Haskins, ankle; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP | |
| LB C. Holcomb, thumb; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP | |
| RB A. Peterson, toe; Wed: FP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: FP | |
| WR S. Sims Jr., NIR; Wed NL; Thurs: DNP; Fri: FP |
TEAM STATISTICS
Redskins:
The Redskins finally rose out of the NFL basement in the total points scored category, as they have climbed all the way up to 31st in the league. Of course, the team is still 32nd and last in total yards, yards per game, pass yards, time of possession, and third down conversions. The effect of the awful third down conversion rate is that Washington just hasn’t had many plays over the season, so they are ranked 30th in both pass attempts and rushing attempts. Dwayne Haskins has a 70.2 quarterback rating on the season, which is obviously bad but it is significantly better than last week thanks to his big game against the Eagles last week. Future hall of famer Adrian Peterson needs 216 yards over the next two games to get to 1,000 yards on the season.
Defensively, the Redskins remain in the lower middle of the rankings, for the most part. They are ranked 22nd in points surrendered (347 on the year), 21st in total yards, and 20th in rushing yards per attempt. Despite Chase Young not being on the roster, Washington actually has 42 sacks on the year, which is 8th-most in the NFL. The team has been horrible in third down defense, giving up a first down on 58.49% of opponent’s attempts, which is 31st in the NFL. Opposing quarterbacks have a combined 97.2 rating.
Record: 3 – 11 (4th) (Home: 1 – 6; NFC: 2 – 8; NFC East: 0 – 4)
All-time franchise record: 603 – 601 – 28
Offense
| Offensive rankings | 31 (points) / 32 (total yards) / 32 (yards per game) / 27 (yards per play) / 32 (passing yards) / 24 (passing yards per att.) / 20 (rushing yards) / 12 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points for | 215 |
| Yards per game | 269.5 |
| Passing
|
404 att (30th); 251 comp; 62.1% comp per. (20th); 6.7 Y/A; 2358 net yds; 14 TD; 12 Int |
| Passing leader | Keenum (188 att, 1343 yds (33rd), 67.0% comp perc (8th), 9 TDs / 4 Int, 94.8 QB rating (13th); Haskins (188 att, 1232 yds, 56.9% comp perc, 5 TDs / 7 Int, 70.2 QB rating) |
| Receiving leader | McLaurin (833 yds (32nd), 84 tgts (48th), 51 rec (52nd), 7 TD, 16.3 YPC) |
| Rushing | 311 att (30th); 1415 yds; 4.5 Y/A; 101.1 Y/G (20th); 7 TD |
| Rushing leader | Peterson (183 att (19th), 784 yds (16th), 4 TD, 4.3 Y/A (27th), long 29) |
| Sacks surrendered / rank | 44 / 27 |
| Ave time of possession / rank | 26:49 / 32 |
| 3rd down conversion rate / rank | 28.1% / 32 |
| TD percentage in red zone / rank | 43.75% / 28 |
Defense
| Defensive rankings | 22 (points) / 21 (total yards) / 21 (yards per game surrendered) / 15 (yards per play) / 12 (passing yards) / 21 (passing yards per att.) / 28 (rushing yards) / 20 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points against | 347 |
| Yards per game surrendered | 363.8 |
| Opponent’s passing | 465 att (8th); 320 comp; 68.8% comp perc. (29th); 7.4 Y/A; 3183 net yds; 26 TDs; QB Rating 97.2 (24th) |
| Opponent’s rushing | 431 att (30th); 1910 yds; 4.4 Y/A; 12 TD; 136.4 Y/G (28th) |
| Sacks / rank / Sack leader | 42 / 8 / Ioannidis (8.5) |
| Tackles leader | Collins (111) |
| Int / rank / Int leader | 13 / 11 / Dunbar (4) |
| Opponent 3rd down conv rate / rank | 47.98% / 31 |
| Opponent TD percentage in red zone / rank | 58.49% / 21 |
Special Teams
| Kick returns | 25.8 Y/R (4th), 30 returns, long 91 yards (5th), 1 TD |
| Punt returns | 4.7 Y/R (31st), 22 returns, long 15 yards (32nd), 0 TDs |
| Kick return defense | 24.7 Y/R (28th), 12 returns, 0 TDs |
| Punt return defense | 10.1 Y/R (31st), 34 returns, 0 TDs |
| Punting | 49.4 Y/P (1st) |
Turnovers (lost by O / recv’d by D / net / rank): 19 / 21 / +2 / 13
Penalties (total accepted # / rank): 98 / 19
Giants:
The Giants do not have a “good” offense, but it’s also not as bad as the team’s record may suggest, at least statistically speaking. They are actually fairly mediocre in most areas – 23rd in points scored, 25th in total yards, 21st in passing yards, 21st in third down conversions, and 17th in red zone efficiency. Rookie quarterback Daniel Jones (who is injured and might be replaced by longtime starter and future hall of famer Eli Manning this week) hasn’t been good, but he hasn’t been awful, either: he has a 61.6% completion percentage and an at least not atrocious 84.0 quarterback rating. Saquon Barkley hasn’t had the same kind of year as he did last season, (4.1 yards per attempt as compared to 5.0 last year), but his numbers drop off significantly when Daniel Jones is playing. But why are they 3 – 11? The answer is turnovers: they are an astounding -15 on the year, with 31 lost. That 31 is an even mix of 16 interceptions and 15 fumbles, the bulk of which can be attributed to Jones for both interceptions and fumbles. If Jones could manage to not turn the ball over at such a prodigious rate, this offense would at least rise to the level of mediocrity.
Defensively, the Giant have given up a ton of points (382, which is 27th) and a significant amount of yards (ranked 25th). The Giants have actually been better than one might think against the run – they have only surrendered 3.9 yards per rushing attempt, which is 5th-best in the NFL. They are ranked 21st on third down defense and are solidly middle of the pack in red zone defense (ranked 17th). Statistically, they are worse against the pass than the run, as opposing quarterbacks have a 100.6 quarterback rating.
Record: 3 – 11 (4th); Away: 1 – 6; NFC: 2 – 8; NFC East: 1 – 3)
All-time franchise record: 695 – 607 – 33
Offense
| Offensive rankings
|
23 (points) / 25 (total yards) / 25 (yards per game) / 24 (yards per play) / 21 (passing yards) / 27 (passing yards per att.) / 22 (rushing yards) / 19 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points for | 283 |
| Yards per game | 319.1 |
| Passing | 518 att (12th); 320 comp; 61.8% comp per. (22nd); 6.6 Y/A; 3110 net yds; 24 TDs; 16 Int |
| Passing leader | Jones (370 att, 2374 yds (28th), 61.6% comp per., 18 TDs / 11 Int, 84.0 QB rating (26th)) |
| Reception leader | Slayton (690 yds (44th), 73 targets (61st), 44 rec (74th), 8 TD, 15.7 Y/C) |
| Rushing | 315 att (29th); 1357 yds; 4.3 Y/A; 96.9 Y/G (22nd); 9 TDs |
| Rushing leader | Barkley (178 att, 722 yds (20th), 4 TDs, 4.1 Y/A (30th), long 59 yds) |
| Sacks surrendered / rank | 38 / 20 |
| Ave time of possession / rank | 28:29 / 28 |
| 3rd down conversion rate / rank | 36.26% / 21 |
| TD percentage in red zone / rank | 56.76% / 17 |
Defense
| Defensive rankings | 27 (points) / 25 (total yards) / 25 (yards per game surrendered) / 20 (yards per play) / 26 (passing yards) / 29 (passing yards per att.) / 22 (rushing yards) / 5 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points against | 382 |
| Yards per game surrendered | 376.9 |
| Opponent’s passing | 478 att (13th); 317 comp; 66.3% comp per. (27th); 8.1 Y/A; 3665 net yds; 26 TD; QB Rating 100.6 (26th) |
| Opponent’s rushing | 412 att (29th); 1611 yds; 3.9 Y/A; 14 TD |
| Sacks / rank / Sack leader | 32 / 22 / Golden (9.0) |
| Tackles leader | Bethea (98) |
| Int / rank / Int leader | 10 / 22 / Jenkins (4) |
| Opponent 3rd down conv rate / rank | 39.57% / 17 |
| Opponent TD percentage in red zone / rank | 51.11% / 8 |
Special Teams
| Kick returns | 23.2 Y/R (9th), 41 returns, long 52 yards (12th), 0 TDs |
| Punt returns | 11.2 Y/R (1st), 22 returns, long 60 yards (5th), 0 TDs |
| Kick return defense | 18.4 Y/R (1st), 18 returns, 0 TDs |
| Punt return defense | 6.0 Y/R (9th), 22 returns, 0 TD |
| Punting | 45.7 Y/P (12th) |
Turnovers (lost by O / recv’d by D / net / rank): 31 / 16 / -15 / 30
Penalties (total accepted # / rank): 82 / 5
* Statistics courtesy of www.pro-football-reference.com, www.nflpenalties.com, www.nfl.com, www.teamrankings.com, www.espn.com, www.sportingcharts.com