The New York Giants head down to the Nation’s Capital to face the Washington Commanders in a matchup between the NFC’s sixth and seventh playoff seeds.
Here are five storylines we are following in Week 15.
A high stakes affair
Both teams enter the game at 7-5-1. Unless the game ends in another tie, it will serve as the tiebreaker between the two teams should they be deadlocked at season’s end.
The Giants are 1-4-1 since Week 8 while the Commanders are 4-1-1.
Big Blue is 0-3-1 versus NFC East opponents this season and are trying to become the first NFL team since 2002 to qualify for the postseason with less than two division wins (they also play the Eagles in Week 18).
The Giants are 0-2-1 in their last three games versus Washington. Before that, they had won six of the previous seven meetings.
Injuries still affecting the Giants
The Giants have offensive lineman Josh Ezeudu (neck), cornerback Adoree’ Jackson (knee), and guard Shane Lemieux (toe) listed as out this week.
Outside linebacker Elerson Smith (achilles) was placed on IR this week. Safety Xavier McKinney (hand) remains on NFI and tight end Daniel Bellinger (rib), cornerback Nick McCloud (illness), and defensive tackle Leonard Williams (neck) are all listed as questionable for Sunday.
This means the Giants will be short on the offensive and defensive lines and in the secondary. This is not the time of year to be undermanned.
Time for Barkley to step up
The key to any Giants’ victory lies in the legs of running back Saquon Barkley.
The Giants are 0-3-1 over their last four games and Barkley, who is reportedly over his neck issue, has rushed for a total of 152 yards over that span, an average of 2.8 yards per attempt.
Barkley has also not contributed in the passing game, catching just 14 passes for a total of 72 yards over the past five games. That need to change if the Giants are going to make a run.
Will this be Daniel Jones' signature game?
Quarterback Daniel Jones is at a crossroads in his career. Even though the Giants have a winning record, Jones’ passing numbers have been less than impressive.
Joens has a solid touchdown-to-interception ratio (12-4) but for a player who has played nearly every snap at quarterback this season, those numbers are low. His 2,534 passing yards rank 17th in the NFL and his 41 sacks are the second-most in the league this year behind Denver’s Russell Wilson (43).
Jones does more than pass, however, and his 538 rushing yards are fifth among quarterbacks this season and his five rushing scores rank third.
The Giants need Jones to make plays with his legs this week. In the first meeting two weeks ago, Jones hit on 80 percent of his passes and rushed for 71 yards. They will need him to at least replicate that in this game.
Bookend pass rushers
The Giants pride themselves on their young pass rushers, outside linebackers Azeez Ojulari and rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux. The two, however, have played just four games together thus far.
They will line for the third consecutive game for the first time this Sunday night in Washington. Since Ojulari came off IR, the duo has combined for a total of four sacks, six QB hits, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and 18 pressures.
Thibodeaux has been a force with 17 pressures over the last three weeks, giving him 36 in 11 games. He currently ranks third among NFL rookies, behind Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson (39) and Kansas City’s George Karlaftis (37), who have two more games than Thibodeaux.
The Commanders’ quarterback, Taylor Heinecke, has been sacked at least three times in three of Washington’s past five games, so there is an opportunity here. The Giants sacked him five times in the first meeting two weeks ago.
