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Giants (1-2) Redskins (0-3)
The Redskins lost their Monday night game to
the Chicago Bears, 31-15. It wasn't their best outing. They are now 0-3, losing
in their first game by 5 points, the second by 10, and this one by 16.
On Sunday
the Giants didn't take the lead in the game until there were less than two minutes
left. Tampa Bay's comeback failed with a missed field goal attempt. The Giants
ended up with a 32-31 win, their first of the season. Washington
Redskins
It's been tough over the years for the Washington fans. Since 2000 they've topped
8 wins only four times. The first two, 2005 (10-6) and 2007 (9-7), got them into
the playoffs as a wild card team. They lost in the divisional playoff game in
2005, and in 2007 lost the wildcard game. The more recent ones, 2012 (10-6), and
2015 (9-7), had the Redskins winning the NFC East division titles, where they
then went on to lose in the wild card playoff games.
In the draft, the Redskins
picked quarterback Dwayne Haskins at No. 15.
The Giants were up first, and could have done that, but instead selected Duke's
Daniel Jones with their No. 6 pick. Sources say that Washington was interested
in both quarterbacks, with Jay Gruden and his staff favoring Jones, and owner
Daniel Snyder and president Bruce Allen preferring Ohio State's Dwayne Haskins.
As it turned out, they didn't have both options available to them at the time. Redskins
Offense
Quarterback Case Keenum did not
do well in the Monday night 31-15 loss to Chicago. Keenum turned the ball over
five times, and was dealing with a foot injury this week. His boot was removed,
and he is slated to start this week despite some calls for rookie Dwayne Haskins
to get his first shot. Currently the Giants defense ranking is in next to last
place in the NFL, having given up an average of both points (31.3) and total yards
460.3), and last place in passing yards (332.3) per game.
You would think
that Jay Gruden would like that matchup for Haskins, but he feels that Keenum
gives him his best shot for a win. One thing you do have to consider is that even
including their last game against a tough Chicago defense, Keenum is completing
nearly 70 percent of his passes. He has 7 touchdowns against 3 interceptions,
all of which came playing Chicago.
Top receiver Terry McLaurin is listed as
questionable due to a hamstring injury, but should play. If he's slowed at all,
it would benefit Janoris Jenkins, who had trouble covering Tampa Bay's Mike Evans
last week. Adrian Peterson is the lead rusher, but he's averaging just 2.8 yards
per attempt, down from 4.2 over last year. The Redskins are averaging just 48
yards a game. Chris Thompson is a dual threat running and catching. He totaled
over 100 yards from scrimmage last game.
Redskins
Defense
The defense is giving up 31 points
a game, and allowing their opponents to convert on over 63 percent of third downs.
The opposition has been able to complete 79 percent of their passes. The strength
of the defense is up front with linemen Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, and Matt
Ioannidis joined by linebacker Ryan Kerrigan, and rookie Montez Sweat. In this
game, they won't have to deal with Daniel Jones, a mobile quarterback, and Saquon
Barkley on the field together, and wide receiver
Golden Tate won't be back until next week.
The Redskins weakness is in the
secondary, even though they have cornerback Josh Norman, and former safety for
the Giants, Landon Collins. Collins really wanted a long term contract with the
Giants, but they let him walk in free agency. Collins will have to stay cool in
this first game against his former teammates, and not allow his emotions to take
over. Giants Offense
Rookie
quarterback Daniel Jones will be making his second start, this time in front of
the home crowd. Last week he led the Giants back from an 18 point deficit in their
win over Tampa Bay. Jones had a real good connection with receivers Evan Engram
and Sterling Shepard, completing 13 of 17 passes to them. Each came away with
a touchdown, and had 100 yard and 100 yard plus games. Rookie Darius Slayton also
had his first start after coming off a hamstring injury. He looked impressive
on the field with his blocking, and he was the next leading receiver with 3 catches
for 82 yards.
What Saquon Barkley brings to the field can't be ignored by
opposing defenses. The Buccaneers did surprisingly well containing Barkley until
he was injured. Wayne Gallman is now on the spot to give the Giants a rushing
attack that must be respected, as Barkley is expected to miss a number of weeks
with his sprained right ankle.
Overall Jones got off to a great start, but
it won't last long if he continues with his combination of indifference and unawareness
in the pocket, as defenders zero in on him. Tampa Bay hit him 11 times and sacked
him five times, causing two fumbles. The offensive line could be responsible for
some of that, as well as not providing better run blocking for Barkley while he
was still in the game. Giants
Defense
Do they need a better pep talk before
the games? I each one so far they've started out poorly before turning things
around in the second half. The ratio of points given up is 70-24. It looked like
the Giants were in trouble last week when rookie Ryan Connelly had to take over
the call signaling in place of linebacker Alec Ogletree. Ogletree suffered a strained
hamstring after recovering a fumble, that was then ruled an incomplete pass. In
the second half of the game, even without Ogletree, the Giants defense held Tampa
Bay's scoring to just 3 points.
The Redskins offensive line will be missing
center Chase Roullier, who has been ruled out with a knee injury, and right guard
Brandon Scherff is questionable with an ankle injury. The Giants will see left
guard Ereck Flowers on the field playing against them. Flowers has done well for
Washington, allowing only five hurries, no sacks, and no quarterbacks hits this
season. Dexter Lawrence and B.J. Hill could put him to the test. Linebacker Markus
Golden leads the team with 3 sacks, getting two last week. Cornerback Janoris
Jenkins has asked for more up front pressure. Even with the Giants getting four
sacks against the Bucs, the defense saw Mike Evans rack up 190 yards and three
touchdowns. Overall
The Giants didn't take over the lead last week until there was just over one minute
left. Even with that, Tampa Bay could have won except they missed on an easy field
goal attempt. This upcoming matchup could have been a game between two teams looking
for their first win of the season. Instead the Giants have a chance to go 2-2
with a win over the struggling Redskins.
The Redskins have already taken losses
to two teams in their division, the Eagles and the Cowboys. Losing this one to
the Giants would complete the unwanted trifecta. If that happens, the Redskins
won't be able to even things out until the very end of the season, where they
finish up the last three weeks playing in succession, the Eagles, Giants and Cowboys.
NFC East Games
Thursday at 8:20pm Eagles (1-2) at Packers (3-0).
- Eagles win 34-27, Eagles (2-2), Packers (3-1).
Sunday at 1:00pm Redskins
(0-3) at Giants (1-2)
Sunday at 8:20pm Cowboys (3-0) at Saints (2-1).
The
Giants and Cowboys are the only NFC East teams favored to win in these games.
Check out.
Giants
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Notes.
Giants
Daniel Jones, for his performance last game, was named the NFC Offensive Player
of the Week. Giants defense leads the
league in points given up in the first half of games. Giants
and Redskins over 3 games have the same record as far as points scored (63) and
given up (94).
Next Games
Oct 6 Vikings at Giants.
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Oct 10 Giants at New England.
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