Behind Enemy Lines: 5 Questions with Commander Country Reporter David Harrison

The New York Giants have historically, at least of late, had some success when facing the Washington Commanders, whom they host this weekend. Can New York notch a win and snap its four-game losing streak? We'll find out soon enough, but in the meantime, let's check in with Commander Country reporter David Harrison for some intel on the Commanders.

What have you seen from Eric Bieniemy's offensive schemes?

Bieniemy's scheme is fun and creative, especially in the passing game. The benefit of this is that there are almost always routes coming open. What we haven't seen as much in the regular season is that same creativity in the rushing attack and the screen game. Not because it isn't there, but because some of the installs we saw in training camp haven't been used. Perhaps this weekend will change some of that.

What's your take on quarterback Sam Howell after six games?

He's a good young quarterback with an emphasis on good and young. He's got NFL arm talent and has already made multiple All-Pro caliber throws. But he's also decided to take hits and sacks that remind you of how young and inexperienced he is.

Once his decision-making meets his IQ--he knows to throw the ball away and prevent the sacks, he just doesn't do it all the time--he could take off and become one of the better quarterbacks in the NFC East.

Give me an assessment of the offensive line's strengths and weaknesses.

This line likes to run block more than pass protect, which isn't new. However, as many struggles as this line had initially, they've begun to find their groove as of late. Some of that could be that they've faced back-to-back opponents ranking last in sacks per pass attempt, but technically, they also look cleaner in the past few weeks.

Most sacks recently have come from Howell holding the ball too long, which is good news for Washington. The presence of Nick Gates, who Giants fans are well aware of, has also given them a bit of an edge and helped them be violent at the point of attack.

Where is the Commanders defense most vulnerable?

In the secondary, and it's not close. We've seen this unit give up chunk plays all season long, and the issue only seemed to get worse the past couple of weeks, not better. Statistically, it looked better coming out of Atlanta last week.

Still, the hard truth is that quarterback Desmond Ridder didn't take advantage of some of the opportunities he had to secure potentially game-changing completions.

What is the X-factor in this game?

That deep pass coverage, and specifically to me, safety Percy Butler. Butler has range, ball skills, and all the tools to be successful. But he's very young and still developing, which leads to his desire to make plays overriding some of his dedication to his responsibilities on a play-to-play basis.

Several times last week, he lost the deep man while providing cover one top-coverage. Butler needs to get that cleaned up this weekend because quarterback Tyrod Taylor isn't likely to give him the same breaks this weekend.

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