NFC Game Of The Week
Washington Commanders at New York Giants
Commanders: They’re on a roll right now. Ever since they dropped that game to the Minnesota Vikings a few weeks ago, they’ve been in cruise control and one of the hottest teams in the NFC. What I enjoy about watching this team is there’s nothing flashy about them. They truly do it their way and it works for them. It’s also a testament to Ron Rivera and I’ve been a fan of his since he’s become a coach. He gets the best out of his players and they leave everything on the field for him. Also, he has no problem being blunt when something isn’t right. Carson Wentz was supposed to be the guy that would try to move the needle for this offense. As usual, he’s hurt. They turn to Taylor Heinicke and as of late, he hasn’t shown me any reason for him to lose the starting Quarterback job. They don’t ask much of him. Just hand the ball off, make a pass when the opportunity presents itself and most importantly, don’t turn the football over and he does just that. Every Tuesday, I do a production phone call with Ronnie Kumpf, the host of the NerdZone and he asked me about this Commanders defense. I told him I think this is the best Defensive Line in the league and what’s made them more impressive is they’ve still be a solid group even without Chase Young who’s still been recovering from a torn ACL last season. This is a team I wouldn’t want to face right now and they’re clicking. On Sunday, they’ll look to keep their momentum afloat in a huge divisional showdown.
Giants: It’s been quite the season for them. They’ve truly come out of left field and surprised so many people with such a strong start. At one point, they were 5-1 which nobody saw coming. After nine games, they were 7-2. At this moment, they are on a losing streak, but are still in good position to get to the playoffs. The Lions absolutely punched them in the mouth and forced Daniel Jones to throw the football 40 times which is a recipe for failure with them. Against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, the Giants got off to a fast start, then ran out of gas as the game went on. The weakness of this Giants team is their passing attack. In fact, they are actually at the bottom of the list with the fewest amount of plays down the field of 20 yards or more and this is to be expected because they don’t have enough in the Wide Receiver room to make noise. In other words, they don’t scare a defensive backfield as many of the other teams in their division do. The Eagles have A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, the Cowboys have CeeDee Lamb and the Commanders have Terry McLaurin. Who exactly do the Giants have outside of Saquon Barkley that scares a defense? This will be one thing they must address in the off-season. The Giants will look to snap their mini losing streak on Sunday when the Commanders come to town.
Commanders X-Factor: Brian Robinson– I tip my cap to him. He was shot during the Summer and months after the shooting, he comes back to play football. Since his return, he and Antonio Gibson have formed a very formidable 1-2 punch in the league. He’s a strong runner that takes would be tacklers with him. It appears that he can get stronger as the game goes on. Brian had himself a game on Sunday against the Falcons.
Giants X-Factor: Jaylon Smith– When heatlhy, he’s a tough matchup for any opponent. Jaylon might not be the explosive threat he was before his knee injury in college, but he’s still quick enough to close in on the ball-carrier. He’s a pure athlete that uses his athleticism to his full advantage. Jaylon plays that spy position perfectly. He mirrors what the ball-carriers do, then he attacks and go after the ball. His instincts have always stood out to me because he reads, then reacts.
Final Thoughts: This is a big time game on Sunday not just in the NFC East, but in the Wild Card hunt. All four teams in the NFC East are in the playoff picture as we speak. The Commanders will come into this game with a heavy dose of the rushing attack and that’s where the Giants struggle is against teams who lean on heavy ground attacks. If you know a team has a weakness, exploit it. This Washington Defensive Line will come after Daniel Jones and do all they can to make this Giants offense beat them through the air in the passing game. Either a winning streak will continue or a losing streak will be snapped here.
Prediction: Commanders 23, Giants 16
