Five Storylines Ahead of New York Giants' Week 13 Game vs. Washington Commanders

The New York Giants are in the homestretch in a pleasant surprise of a season. Can they finish the season off with a playoff berth?

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Nov 29, 2022 10:23 AM EST

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New York Giants

"The season starts now."

According to outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux, such are the words that New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll told his players Monday when they returned from a mini bye week, hopefully, refreshed, healthier, healthier, and raring to go.

It's been a long and emotional season for the Giants. This was supposed to be a pure rebuild year in which expectations were minimal, but apparently, no one remembered to tell the players and coaches that.

The Giants sit at 7-4 and are still very much in the thick of the postseason hunt. They will host a red-hot Washington Commanders team on Sunday who, at 7-5, has won six of their last seven games.

And in these last remaining weeks of the 2022 campaign (by the way, how nice is it to be talking about meaningful football games this late in the season?), we're going to learn a lot more about this Giants team, its resolve, and its grit.

This team lacks in many areas on paper yet has found a way to get it done and remain competitive. Can they keep it up, or will the second half of the season, which has seen the Giants lose three out of their last four games, fall apart?

Here are a few other key storylines to watch for the week ahead.

Welcome Back?

The Giants took advantage of the mini-bye week to get rested and, more importantly, get healthier. They've designated three guys--outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari, guard Ben Bredeson, and defensive back Tony Jefferson--for return from IR. They're also hoping to have offensive tackle Evan Neal and tight end Daniel Bellinger back for this upcoming crucial stretch of games.

It's still early in the week to know who will be ready to go buy Sunday, so keep an eye on the practice participation reports that start coming out on Wednesday for clues. However, the Giants can use every one of those guys in some capacity.

Center of Attention

Last week against Dallas, Nick Gates made his triumphant return to the starting lineup, playing the position he had firmly secured before a horrific leg injury threatened his career.

But the Giants' Ed Block Courage Award recipient has a way of seizing onto things (or, in most cases, opponents) and doesn't let up until the bitter end. And it certainly wouldn't be surprising if Gates's latest seizure is that of the starting center position, previously held by Jon Feliciano.

Per Pro Football Focus, Gates, who graded at an all-time career-high 82.4, played the position with a physicality that had not always been there. Moreover, the entire offensive line operation seemed to suffer no dropbacks with him running things.

And there's an old saying: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Well, with Gates in there--and yes, it's only a one-game sample size, but it is definitely enough--the offensive line didn't look all that broke to us to warrant putting Feliciano back in there and putting Gates back to jumbo tight end duty.

Get Running Again

Opposing defenses have always known that the Giants' offense begins with running back Saquon Barkley. Despite this knowledge, most teams either didn't have the resources to slow the Giants down or the right game plan to do so.

That is until recently. Seattle, Detroit, and Dallas have made Barkley a non-factor, and with the NFL being a copycat league, future opponents are certain to take note of what those teams did to slow down Barkley and the Giants.

While there are things from a schematic perspective the Giants can try, a big key could lie in the return of certain personnel from the injury list, namely Bredeson and Bellinger. Both players were injured in Week 7, a week before the Seahawks became the first of several teams to slow down the Giants running game.

Coincidence? Bellinger and Bredeson currently hold Pro Football Focus run-blocking grades of 63 and 62, respectively, putting them in the top half of the Giants' best run-blockers on offense. Both were effective in climbing to the second level, where it seems the Giants are suddenly having trouble finding space.

If nothing else, the return of those players can't hurt. Still, it sure will be interesting to see what effect their eventual return has on the running game, especially against a Commanders team currently ranked eighth against the run (108.4 rushing yards allowed per game).

Going Deep?

No, a decision on free-agent wide receiver Odell Beckham won't be made this week, as according to multiple reports, he's not even due to meet with the Giants until Thursday of this week, a visit that will extend into Friday.

While a reunion isn't likely given multiple factors, the mere presence of the receiver in the building exploring a reunion is a stark reminder of what the Giants' current receiving group has struggled to achieve this year.

That would be making explosive plays. The Giants are currently last in the NFL in plays of 20+ yards (19) and have just four plays of 40+ yards, the most recent being receiver Darius Slayton's 44-yard catch against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving.

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has attempted 15 deep passes of 20+ yards, completing just six. Two touchdown throws have come on the deep ball, a strength of his.

The problem, though, is between the inconsistency in pass protection and the receivers' inability to separate consistently, there haven't been that many opportunities for the Giants to go deep. That said, getting the deep ball back into the offense on a semi-regular basis can only help the Giants in other facets--the short pass and the running game--if they can somehow find a way to make it happen.

Playoff Implications

According to the current NFL playoff picture, the Giants hold the sixth seed and the Commanders the seventh in the NFC playoff race. With the Giants having been swept by the Cowboys, who now hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over their division rivals, the Giants simply can't afford to let Washington do the same.

The Giants need to, at minimum, split the series with the Commanders, who, by the way, see the Giants again in Week 15 after a bye, which means they'll see the Giants on back-to-back games.

The Giants, meanwhile, have what should be a slugfest against the Eagles at home, a game that could potentially be flexed to Sunday night, making things even more challenging for a team that's fighting to hold on to a postseason berth.

There is another reason why the Giants will want to win the head-to-head tiebreaker over Washington. The second tiebreaker among teams in the same division is the division record. Right now, the Giants are 0-2 in division games, with both losses coming against the Cowboys. Washington is 1-2 in the division, having split with the Eagles and losing one to Dallas.

If the Giants somehow lose both games to the Commanders and their game to the Eagles that is sandwiched in between, they can probably forget about a postseason berth.