The New York Giants are headed into another NFC East battle against Washington in week 9, a game they must win if they want to keep their divisional hopes alive.
At 1-7, the Giants are journeying toward irrelevancy quickly, but the team still hasn’t given up even after losing two heartbreaking games back to back against the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Head Coach Joe Judge has his team committed and disciplined, proving that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to maintain a positive culture in the locker room this week, forcing consequences on veteran wide receiver Golden Tate.
Against Tampa, Tate yelled, “throw me the damn ball†on national television, and Judge found it necessary to discipline him for his actions.
However, the Giants proved they could compete against some of the best teams in the NFL, and Washington does not represent anywhere close to that. On paper, the Giants should overcome Washington easily, but they have a stellar defensive front, and the Giants’ offensive line has performed poorly this season.
New York Giants’ three keys to beating the Washington Football Team in week 9:
1.) Win the turnover differential
The Giants have failed to win the turnover differential in most of their contest this season, as Daniel Jones threw two interceptions against Tampa Bay. This category is essential, and turning the corner toward victory means cutting back on the turnovers and keeping the ball safe.
After reviewing plenty of film on Daniel Jones, it is apparent that he tends to make tumultuous decisions when rolling out to his right. He tends to break the pocket too early, which is subconsciously built into him after years of poor OL play. However, if he can stick in the pocket and throw accurately, he is as deadly as any quarterback downfield.
Against Tampa, the offensive line played their best game of the season, with predominantly rookies featuring. This was a positive sign, and the Giants will look to build off that performance, especially at left tackle with Andrew Thomas. Giving Jones time in the pocket and making solid throws results in low turnover probabilities — that will help the Giants extract a win in this contest.
2.) Daniel Jones must hit on the deep-ball
Last week, Daniel Jones showed an inept ability to throw the deep ball. He had several throws to Darius Slayton, and one to Sterling Shepard sail too deep or out of bounds.
Jones has a far better completion percentage when throwing toward the middle of the field; it has been noted that his ability to throw toward the sideline is questionable. He threw two balls out of bounds when Slayton was completely open, missing him on multiple reads later on in the contest.
Washington has a good secondary, allowing the least amount of passing yards in the NFL at 185.9. The Giants will likely come out running the football and hope their OL can hold up, but I fully expect Jones to take some shots downfield to Slayton and Shep. If he can hit on those downfield balls, the Giants should win this game easily.
3.) The defense must get off the field on 3rd down
Currently, the Giants’ defense allows a 58.57% success rate on third downs to opposing offenses. Washington’s offense has had struggles this year, averaging 23.6 points per game, which is enough to beat a Giants unit that hovers in the same realm. The major deficiency for Big Blue’s defense has been getting off the field on third down, but they have gotten better in recent weeks.
Against Tampa, the New York Giants allowed four third-down conversions on 12 attempts. That is a decent step forward compared to their average this year.
They must find a way to scheme pressure against Kyle Allen, Washington’s quarterback. Without Lorenzo Carter and Oshane Ximines, the Giants have had issues finding ways to collapse the pocket, heavily relying on their interior defensive pass rush. I expect to see a lot of Leonard Williams in this contest, pushing the interior and recording another sack to his tally.