When the Commanders host the struggling Giants, they hope to get back on track. Ron Rivera has been emphasizing the opportunity in front of the Washington Commanders this week, with the New York Giants visiting town, in an attempt to reset his team after they have lost six of their last eight games.
Rivera stated, “It’s an opportunity to get ourselves back on track and keep going.”
The Commanders (4-6) are still in the running for the playoffs, which is quite amazing considering the lackluster teams vying for the NFC’s three wild-card spots. The underdog Giants (2–8), who are currently on a three-game losing streak and are starting undrafted rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito at quarterback, are the favorites to lose. However, Washington isn’t taking Sunday’s matchup against a third-stringer for granted—it has already suffered a loss to New York this season.
“He’s an NFL, professional quarterback,” Commanders cornerback Kendall Fuller said. “Anybody out there can win a football game. That’s the mentality that we’re going with, and we’re going to need all 11 guys on the field to be able to stop their offense.”
FanDuel Sportsbook has Washington as a 9 1/2-point favorite, the largest spread in the team’s favor since 2017. That’s not so much a reflection of the Commanders as it is of the Giants following two crushing losses—49-17 at Dallas last week and 30-6 at Las Vegas on November 5.
Furthermore, it ignores the Giants’ 14-7 victory over Washington at home last month.
Giants right guard Ben Bredeson said, “It’s not like Washington’s going to roll over just because we beat them the first time.” Before our second meeting with them, there were undoubtedly some things that went well and some things that we need to work on improving.
Since then, the Commanders’ offense has significantly improved, averaging 420 yards and just under 26 points per game over the previous three contests. Eric Bieniemy, the offensive coordinator, has favored a pass-heavy game plan that highlights Sam Howell, the NFL’s highest-throwsing quarterback with 2,783 yards and 264 completions.
