New York Giants vs. Washington Commanders: 5 Questions Ahead of Week 11

ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Commanders are on the outside of the NFC Playoffs race looking in right now, but with a win over the New York Giants in Week 11 they can get back into arm's length of being in contention.

Ahead of this weekend's Commanders game, we took time to exchange a Q&A with Patricia Traina of Giants Country where she answered five questions pertaining to this NFC East Division rival and the state of that team.

Q: What's changed the most since the last time Washington saw New York?

A: There have been more injuries on the offensive side of the ball, most notably the quarterback situation.

Quarterback Tyrod Taylor is on injured reserve, which means undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito is the starter.

And it’s painfully obvious that there are shortcomings to his game, starting with the fact that right now the speed is too fast.

He’s been breaking the pocket too quickly instead of showing patience, and his best throwing range has been in the short- to intermediate areas.

This in turn has prompted the coaches to lean more heavily on the run. Over the last three games, the Giants have 100 rushing attempts; in their prior seven games, they had 190.

So that right there is all you need to know about the domino effect the quarterback situation has had on this team.

Q: Quarterback play has been an issue to my understanding, and I know many didn't like the deal the Giants gave to Daniel Jones. Do you think there's any buyer's remorse there?

A: I don’t think so. If you think about it, what choice did they have? They were drafting 25th, so it wasn’t as though they were going to get a franchise quarterback at that spot.

The free agent market also wasn’t exactly rich with prospects, and we know some were suggesting they trade for Jimmy G., and we all know how that worked out for the Las Vegas Raiders.

That’s why the Giants put an escape hatch midway through the contract. As the cap goes up, they should have no trouble absorbing that hit if they move on.

They’re not moving on next year, but they gave themselves a safety valve just in case.

Q: How does the Commanders' offensive line give themselves the best shot at containing Dexter Lawrence?

A: I think they have to double Dexter at every turn.

And even then, I’ve seen him defeat double teams. Dexter is a load to handle and right now he’s playing at an All-Pro level.

But in a nutshell, the more blockers you put against him—and I’d make sure they can match up with him pound for pound—the better chance you have of slowing him down.

Q: Given how the season has gone what is the temperature of the fan base? Would they rather get a divisional win or a better draft position?

A: Better draft position, and it’s not even close.

I think, even though the players won’t admit it, they’d just as soon get this season over and done with.

It’s been a long, draining, and disappointing year for everyone, especially given how promising things looked in the spring and summer.

Let’s hit the reset button and get some shiny new toys in here.

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Q: Is coach Brian Daboll catching any heat for what's happened? Should he?

A: He absolutely should as he’s the overseer of the program that we see on the field.

And yes, there is a growing number of people calling for him to be fired, but I think he’s safe given the equity he built up last year.

I can’t say the same for a few of his coaching staff members, but I don’t see Daboll going anywhere despite this team being historically bad on so many levels.

The Commanders are favored to win this weekend's contest by more than a touchdown and given the state of the Giants it should be a game they could win going away.

If games were played on paper and what should happen then it'd be as simple as that, but we all know it's never that simple.

So we expect a hard-fought battle with New York looking to find a way to make it arguably more competitive than it should be.