Five Things to Watch in Giants' Week 15 Game vs. Commanders
After starting the season 7-2 and looking from the outside in, the Giants have found themselves in a month-long-plus slump that they desperately need to break this weekend against the Washington Commanders on Sunday Night Football.
At stake is the head-to-head tiebreaker in the division. And if that's not enough motivation, the winner will vastly increase their chance of getting into the NFC playoff tournament.
Here are five things to watch in this do-or-die contest.
Giants OTs Andrew Thomas & Evan Neal
The Giants offensive line has been a work in progress. But over their last four games, this group has struggled significantly.
Though the entire offensive line has played some sort of role in these shortcomings, the tackles of late haven’t been able to garner the resiliency we’ve seen from them earlier this season.
Of late, Andrew Thomas has had some struggles. After not conceding a single sack ten games into the season while pitching four pass-blocking shutouts performances in that same time frame, Thomas has allowed a sack in each of the Giants' last three games to go with a total of seven pressures.
Conversely, rookie Evan Neal is coming off his worst game of the season. In 34 pass-blocking snaps, Neal allowed eight pressures, including a sack and two quarterback hits. His 86.4 percent pass-blocking efficiency was his lowest of the season.
The good news for Neal is that one of his two pass-blocking shutouts came in Week 13 against the Commanders, where he looked impenetrable. This week, the Giants tackles figure to see Chase Young for the first time as the defensive end is projected to make his 2022 season debut.
(Update: the NFL Network reported Sunday morning that Young will not make his 2022 NFL season debut Sunday night.)
The Commanders also have a defensive line that has three defensive linemen with 7+ sacks apiece: Daron Payne (8.5), Jonathan Allen (7.5), and Montez Sweat (7).
The Commanders are eighth in the league in sacks per pass attempt this season (8.42). They are capable of causing problems if the offensive line, particularly the tackles, can’t provide the protection the pass offense needs.
Saquon Barkley
Ever since Saquon Barkley’s big game against the Houston Texans, when he had a career-high 35 attempts for 152 yards (his fourth 100+ yard rushing performance on the season), he has not looked like the same running back.
In his four games since, Barkley has put up no more than 63 yards rushing, hasn’t had a yards-per-carry average higher than 3.5, and only has two rushing touchdowns.
In all fairness to Barkley, he has been dealing with a neck injury that limited his workload last week against the Eagles to just nine carries. However, Barkley told reporters this week that he is ready to go against the Commanders and is expecting more of a "normal" workload.
Getting the version of Barkley they had earlier in the season would be big for the Giants’ offense. Though a handful of factors play into this reality, a large one has been due to a shaky run game that’s put the Giants in third-and-long situations where they currently rank 20th in overall third-down conversion attempts (38.24 percent).
During his second-half slump, Barkley's "best" outing came against the Commanders in Week 13, when he ran the ball 18 times for 63 yards and a touchdown. This weekend, he will go against a Commanders run defense ranked ninth in the league in rushing yards allowed per game (110.4).
Giants Pass Rush
The Giants pass rush has been red-hot of late. After coming away with five sacks against the Commanders in Week 13, the Giants followed that up with another four on the day against a much better Philadelphia Eagles offensive line.
Dexter Lawrence, Azeez Ojulari, and Kayvon Thibodeaux have been tough to stop and don’t appear to be running out of steam anytime soon.
Lawrence leads the Giants defense in sacks (6.0) and pressures (48), and Ojulari has 4.0 sacks in four games this season, two of them coming against the Eagles last week. And Thibodeaux (2.0 sacks) is second on the team in pressures (36).
The Giants pass rush could see the return of Leonard Williams, who missed last Sunday’s matchup due to a neck injury. While Williams only has one sack, he’s third on the team in pressures (25) despite only playing nine games.
The Giants pass rushers match up favorably against the Commanders offensive line, which has the third-worst pass-blocking efficiency rating in the league (81.6), has allowed the third-most sacks (26), and the fourth-most pressures (159).
Giants Defensive Secondary
The Giants defensive secondary has had its share of struggles. Over the last two weeks, quarterbacks Taylor Heinicke and Jalen Hurts connected on two touchdown passes each with ease, exposing the Giants secondary.
Though the Giants pass defense is ranked 17th in the league in passing yards per game (216.1), they’ve conceded 492 passing yards in the last two games, with 275 coming from Heinicke alone.
What it comes down to for the Giants defensive secondary is twofold. The first and biggest concern is coverage. Although some of the Giants defensive backs have done a good job against the pass throughout the season, these last three weeks have been well-below par for just about everyone.
Cornerback Fabian Moreau, who has a team-best reception percentage average of 56.1, has seen that number jump to 62.5 percent or higher in his last two games, along with 105 yards and a touchdown. Safety Julian Love has allowed 11 of his last 12 targets to be completed for 114 yards.
Nick McCloud, who played well against the Commanders in Week 13, has conceded 12 of his last 17 targets for 157 yards and two touchdowns. Rookie Cor'Dale Flott has allowed his last six targets to be caught for 88 yards. And Darnay Holmes gave up his first touchdown of the season last Sunday.
This unit has another tough test against receivers Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, and Jahan Dotson. In their Week 13 game against the Giants, McLaurin had eight receptions for 105 yards and a 19-yard touchdown catch, while the rookie Dotson had five receptions for 54 yards and the game-tying 28-yard touchdown catch-and-run.
Giants Special Teams
The Giants special teams have been inconsistent this season, coming up short all too often in the quest to win the starting field position battle.
Last week against the Eagles, punter Jamie Gillan dropped the ball on a punt attempt in the second quarter and wound up kicking it off the bounce, drawing a rare illegal kick infraction.
In Week 10 against Houston, Gillan shanked a punt that traveled 14 yards.
The kick return team is 27th in the league in yards averaged per return (20.2), while the punt return team is 31st in the league in yards per return (5.6). As a result of these very low outputs, the Giants offense rarely enjoys a short field.
This week, the challenge for this group starts with their return game. The Commanders are the best team in the league with punts placed inside the 20-yard line (30) and have only given up 6.1 yards on punt return attempts, fourth best in the NFL.
Whether its field goals or punt returns, this unit has to capitalize on its opportunities and produce at a higher level across the board. Any missed chances to score points or position the defense or offense in a good spot on the field could jeopardize the Giants chances of coming away with the win they desperately need.
Join the Giants Country Community
- Sign up for our FREE digest newsletter
- Follow and like us on Facebook
- Submit your questions for our mailbag
- Check out the new Giants Country YouTube Channel.
- Listen and subscribe to the daily LockedOn Giants podcast.
- Subscribe and like the LockedOn Giants YouTube Channel
- Sign up for our FREE message board forums
- Get your Giants tickets today from SI Tickets!
