The New York Giants (7-4) host the Washington Commanders (7-5) in an NFC East divisional clash with playoff hopes on the line on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New jersey.
Here are five storylines we are following in Week 13.
The season starts now
The Giants have lost three of their last four games and the Commanders have won six of their last seven.
The Giants hold the sixth seed in the NFC playoff picture and Washington is currently seventh.
None of that matters as Giants head coach Brian Daboll stated it best this week: “The season starts now.”
The two teams play again in two weeks. There’s a lot a stake.
Taylor Heinicke makes Washington a different team
Taylor Heinicke took over for the injured Carson Wentz at quarterback after a 1-4 start. Since then, they’ve gone 6-1 and bolted into contention.
Last year, Heinicke won his two starts against the Giants and aims to make it three in a row.
The Giants have not lost three consecutive games to Washington since 1998-2000 when they lost four straight.
Washington is favored to win
The line opened last weekend with the Giants as slight favorites over the Commanders (-2.5).
Since then, the line has widened to 2.5-points in favor of Washington.
The over/under is 40.5 points.
It will be interesting to see if any late money comes in on one side to tilt these numbers before kickoff.
Getting healthy
Outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari (calf), guard Ben Bredeson (knee) and safety Tony Jefferson (foot) returned to practice. All three had been on IR and could play this week.
Right tackle Evan Neal, center Jon Feliciano, cornerback Fabian Moreau and tight end Daniel Bellinger all have participated in practice this week and could also return.
Getting the running game back on track
The Giants have rushed for under 90 yards in three of their last four games. They lost all three.
The have to get back to what makes then successful in order to get righted for this stretch run and that means unleashing Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones in the run game.
Barkley has averaged just 66 yards per game on the ground and gained a total of 43 yards receiving over the last four weeks.
Jones has rushed for under 24 yards in three of the last four games.
