5 Keys to Washington Football Team Shrinking the New York Giants for a Week 6 Win
Hoo boy last week was something wasn’t it. It was arguably the worst offensive performance of my lifetime by any Washington offense. And that include the slop that happened last year against San Francisco in the mud and rain for the entire game.
Watching that game was like watching one of your boys at a bar going up to a woman, knowing he has no chance, strike up a conversation and then two minutes in watch it go down hill in slow motion. So much so that he is so desperate that the woman ends up slapping him, throwing her drink in his face, and storming off to the bouncer to throw him out of the bar. The ultimate social car wreck that you just can’t turn away from.
While this week is no gimmie for Washington, there should only be up to go from here.
The New York Giants have been mostly competitive despite their 0-5 record. There is also a reason why the Vegas books currently have the Giants as a -2.5-point favorite heading into Sunday.
Offensive coordinator Scott Turner is starting to be questioned by fans and getting some pressure from the local media for his game plan—or lack thereof—against Los Angeles. He was unable to scheme against keeping Aaron Donald from accumulating four sacks against his offensive line. The offense has been so bad—with and without Dwayne Haskins—that I have even started to wonder if head coach Ron Rivera made a mistake going with Turner instead of trying to stick it our with Washington’s former offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell. The man that helped Dwayne improve and show promise at the end of last season.
We are only five weeks into a weird season, so there is still the possibility that things turn around after the bye week or in the last month. We also need to remember that Rivera is 32-33-1—prior to coming to Washington—through the month of October. Ron’s teams typically start slow, and then kick it into high gear in the back half of the season.
With that statistic in mind, this game against the Giants is one that can help him close that now 33-37-1 record closer to .500.
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Here are my 5 key to a Washington win on Sunday:
Run Right: The left side of Washington’s offensive line has been one of the worst in the NFL this year. The regular and advanced analytics don’t lie. Ironically, New York’s right side of their front seven is arguably their strongest with their left side their weakest. Washington has also had the most success running through the right side whether it’s the interior right side or stretching it outside the wide blocker (tight end or slot receiver).
Dallas is in a similar situation that Washington is with the left side of their offensive line. That is why you saw them run heavily to the right side, or create counters to the left giving the offensive line the ability to try and create a big enough cut back lane for Elliot to hit.
We have seen already this year that running back Antonio Gibson is getting better with his vision. As the season progresses, he is hitting holes in the opposite direction quicker than the game before. If Washington is going to win, they will need to run the ball effectively and hit a weakness in the Giants defense to extend drives and limit the opportunities of the Giants offense.
Blitz All Day: One of the best ways to hide deficiencies in the secondary is to get home to the quarterback. Daniel Jones has been pressured on 28.7% of his drop backs ranking him fourth according to pro football reference. Jones has also been sacked 8.1% of his drop backs. With taking the snap from under center—and the Giants offensive line having issues with speed rushers—you can get to Jones. If you can get that type of pressure on him, then you can force turnovers and create the same short fields that helped them beat Philadelphia.
It will be on the linebackers other then Jon Bostic to get off their blockers to create this pressure. Washington might even want to bring someone like Kamren Curl or Jimmy Moreland on a corner blitz to keep Jones and the offensive line guessing. Getting that quarterback pressure 30% or higher will force short drives and create opportunities for the offense to put points up.
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Force Daniel Jones to Beat You: As mentioned above, quarterback Daniel Jones as been one of the most pressured quarterbacks in the NFL this year. Add that to his propensity to turn the ball over, this is the type of game that can make some defensive players.
Part of this factor is getting out to a fast lead. Finding ways to put up a couple of touchdowns has been difficult this year. With potential matchups to exploit this is possible in Week 6. Doing that will put the pressure on Jones to lead a comeback and chuck the ball around. For a quarterback with turnover issues, you can put him in a position to lose the game for New York.
Stacking the box, blitzing (see above), and creating unique coverage disguises will put this game in a position where Washington can lead for all 60-minutes and put Jones in a position that head coach Joe Judge likely doesn’t want them in.
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Free Antonio Gibson: Last week against the Rams Antonio Gibson continued to see an increase in his snap percentage. That’s great. Except targets to him were behind J.D. McKissic who saw a game high eight. You can’t win a game when you are not using your playmakers as much as possible in the passing game.
Gibson is arguably your second-best playmaker on offense. According to Pro Football Reference’s advanced receiving statistics, Gibson’s average yards before catch per reception (YBC/R) is -2.1 and has a yard after catch per reception (YAC/R) of 10.4. He clearly knows how to find holes in the passing game and make the most out of every reception.
Freeing Antonio Gibson, using him on more then screens, and letting him loose will free up more space on the field for a player like Logan Thomas.
Feed Isaiah Wright: One of the most curious occurrences of the game against Los Angeles was wide receiver Isaiah Wright only seeing one target. While his total yardage for the season hasn’t been overly impressive—though other than McLaurin it hasn’t been impressive either—Wright still provide a match-up issue in the slot.
Wright is a receiver who can help fill the void that Kelvin Harmon left when he was lost for the year during the offseason. Isaiah can get into space, find holes in zone defense, and has shown willingness to run block. While Dontrelle Inman may get more attention on the outside, you can feed Wright over the middle and use him as a main third down threat.
Isaiah is not Terry. There is no dispute in that. But, setting him up with routes and plays that utilize his skillset can allow him to pop and create match-up issues. Involving Wright will stretch the Giants defense more allowing for more one-on-one match-ups for Terry to take advantage.
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Game Prediction: If there ever were a “get right game” for the Washington defense this is it. Daniel Jones has nine turnovers through the first five weeks. Jason Garrett does not run as much motion as the Rams and the Giants have run play action only 22.8% of the time this year. This lines up with what the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns do in the passing game. Those were two games where the defense was able to keep the team in the game to win. Being able to take advantage of that and putting pressure on Jones will create turnovers. Evan Engram will likely get his like Austin Hooper, Dallas Goedert, and Gerald Everett have previously. But having cornerback Kendall Fuller shadowing Darius Slay will make the overall passing game more difficult.
The offense should be in better shape going up a defense who is good, but not Los Angeles Rams good. Allen should have more time in the pocket. Gibson and Barber should have better holes to run through. Wide receiver Terry McLaurin will likely be shadowed by cornerback James Bradberry who has allowed 54.2% of passes thrown his way completed. The middle of the field is where Allen will need to take advantage of which means tight end Logan Thomas and wide receiver Isaiah Wright should see close to five targets each.
Washington goes into East Rutherford and buries the New York Giants further behind in the NFC East and improve to 2-3. They’ll keeps pace with the Dallas Cowboys whom they will meet in an early pivotal Week 7 throw down.
Washington 24 New York Giants 20
Game Info: Time: 1:00 PM EST – MetLife Stadium; East Rutherford, NJ
TV: FOX – Adam Amin, Mark Schlereth, Lindsay Czarniak
Radio: The Team 980, ESPN 630, 105.9 WMAL – Julie Donaldson, Bram Weinstein, DeAngelo Hall
Line: NYG -2.5; O/U 43
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Alan Lepore joins "Washington Football" on SI.com, while still doing outstanding work as an editor/writer at FullPressCoverage.com or @FPC_Redskins. You can follow him on Twitter @AlanLepore or on instagram @leporealan. Alan is a Villanova University MPA Nonprofit Management candidate and is a fundraising/development professional.
