Washington Commanders VS New York Giants Week 15 Preview
The Commanders and Giants play each other for the second time within three weeks. The Commanders are coming off a bye, so they will be playing the Giants in back to back games. This should help Washington since they have only been game planning for the Giants the last few weeks. The Giants are coming off a blowout loss to Eagles last week 48-22. The Commanders defense will need to do a better job containing Daniel Jones when he runs. For the offense of the Commanders they need to score touchdowns when they get inside the red zone. Two weeks ago they kicked a field goal when they had the ball 2nd and goal on the four. If the Commanders do these things they should win the game Sunday night.
Offense
The game plan for the Commanders offense should be to run the hell out of the ball. Last week the Giants gave up 250 yards on the ground to the Eagles. 144 of those 250 yards came from running back Miles Sanders. Also in the last meeting the Commanders ran the ball well against the Giants, but went away from it at times. This time I would like the Commanders to stick with it throughout the game.
Now when the Commanders do throw the ball Heinicke needs to hit the open receiver. The last couple of weeks Heinicke has been missing throws to wide open receivers. If he can start making these throws it will make this offense so much more effective. Also for Heinicke he needs to protect the ball better. In the last game he was striped sacked, which led to a Giants touchdown.
Finally penalties were a huge killer for the Commanders offense last game. Now some of the calls were bad, but other weren’t. Tight End Cole Turner had a holding penalty on a run that would’ve put the Commanders in the red zone. Instead the Commanders were pushed back and would end up missing a field goal. If the Commanders can stay disciplined and not make mistakes the offense should move the ball all game.
Defense
The Commanders defensive game plan will be doing a better job containing Daniel Jones. Last game Jones was the Giants leading rusher with 71 rushing yards. Jones had a couple of runs last time where pass rushers allowed him to escape, which allowed him to pick up a first down. I expect the Commanders to do a better job this time and make Jones throw the ball.
Hopefully the secondary will get Benjamin St-Juste back for this game. Last game the secondary struggled at time because of his absence. Christian Holmes who started for St-Juste was benched because he gave up a couple of big plays including a touchdown in the third quarter. If St-Juste plays the Giants will have a tougher time moving the ball.
Now for Chase Young. He is not expected to play today. At this point I’m not sure if he will play this season. Tonight seemed like the perfect game for his return especially since the playing surface is grass. Hopefully he will be back at some point this year, but at this point I don’t expect him to play a game until next year.
Injury Report
Commanders
C Tyler Larsen Out and place on IR with a Knee injury.
OT Saahdiq Charles is out with a Concussion.
DE Chase Young is Questionable with a Knee injury. Now downgraded to out.
CB Benjamin St-Juste is Questionable with an Ankle injury.
WR Cam Sims is Questionable with a Back injury.
Giants
G Joshua Ezeudu is Out with a Neck injury.
CB Adoree’ Jackson is Out with a Knee injury.
G Shane Lemieux is Out with a Toe injury.
LB Elerson G. Smith is Out with a Achilles injury.
TE Daniel Bellinger is Questionable with a Rib injury.
CB Nick McCloud is Questionable with a Illness.
De Leonard Williams is Questionable with a Neck injury.
Predictions
The Commanders will run the ball a lot tonight and rush for over 150 yards. On defense if St-Juste is back the Giants should have a tougher time passing the ball. Finally on defense I expect them to do a much better job containing Jones tonight. The Washington Commanders will win tonight 24-13 and stay in the sixth seed in the NFC playoff picture.
Lines from BetUS
Commanders -4.5
Over/Under 40.5
