2. Defense continues sturdy play
The Giants had held two in their earlier 3 warring parties underneath 300 yards of overall offense whilst forcing 5 overall turnovers within the closing two weeks. They saved it happening Sunday with a powerful total efficiency from all 3 ranges of the protection, which incorporated proscribing the Commanders to only one third-down conversion on 15 makes an attempt.
The Giants had simply 5 sacks at the yr going into this recreation, which have been the fewest within the league. They greater than doubled their season overall on Sunday because the go rush picked up six sacks of Commanders quarterback Sam Howell. Defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence picked up his first two sacks of the season to head with 4 quarterback hits, whilst his linemate Leonard Williams recorded a sack, two quarterback hits and a blocked box target. Outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux registered 1.5 sacks, whilst protection Jason Pinnock (one) and inside of linebacker Micah McFadden (0.5) joined the birthday party as smartly.
“I thought we did a lot of good things, got after the quarterback, put up a fourth-down stop at the end of the game,” Brian Daboll mentioned after the sport. “They played a good complementary game, had a couple of turnovers which hurt us. Guys were ready to play, the coaching staffs on all three sides did a good job and we made the plays we needed to make. It was a little bit closer than it needed to be, but this is NFL.”
“Coaching,” Thibodeaux mentioned at the reason why in the back of the a success go rush Sunday. “I give it to Wink. Wink was calling it up, Wink was doing everything and “yeah, yeah, Dabs, I do know,” but Wink was calling a great play and a great game, and everything was working.”
Cornerback Deonte Banks has had a cast begin to his NFL profession, and it persevered on Sunday along with his first profession interception. Banks additionally completed 2d at the workforce with seven overall tackles (5 solo). Leading the take on division for the Giants used to be none as opposed to linebacker Bobby Okereke, who completed with 11 overall tackles for the second one consecutive week. He has now had double-digit tackles in 4 instantly video games (42 overall).
“It was joy,” Banks mentioned about his emotions after the protection got here up with the overall prevent. “Trying to win. That’s really what we want to do in this league is just win, no matter how bad or how good it is, just win the game.”
Howell finished simply 22 of 42 passes (52.4 %) with out a touchdowns and one interception, completing with a 60.5 passer ranking. The Giants held the Commanders to simply 76 yards at the flooring and had a complete of six go breakups, together with two from protection Xavier McKinney. The protection has now allowed a complete of 21 issues over the past two weeks.
Tyrod Taylor began his 2d consecutive recreation at quarterback for the Giants as Daniel Jones used to be dominated out 90 mins prior to kickoff because of a neck damage. The veteran used to be a gentle hand for the offense and put in combination a powerful efficiency in Week 7. Taylor finished 18 of 29 passes for 279 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, excellent for a passer ranking of 116.9. Taylor additionally contributed 25 yards at the flooring.
“It felt good,” Taylor mentioned in regards to the win. “I mean anytime you can win at home always is big, especially just the way our season has been going. Not being on the winning side of things, we’ve done some good things throughout the season, but haven’t been able to put a full game together and today I think was a true testament to us playing complementary football. Defense, special teams creating plays as well as us doing some things on offense.”
Taylor used to be just about very best on either one of the Giants’ landing drives. Starting on their very own 12-yard line, Taylor started the force with back-to-back 22-yard passes to Wan’Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton. The 34-year-old then finished a 13-yard go to Darren Waller prior to taking a raise 20 yards to get the ball inside of Washington’s 10-yard line. After a couple of performs and a conserving penalty set the Giants up with third-and-goal from the 15, he hit Waller in any case zone for a landing. The 2d scoring force noticed Taylor connect to Waller for a 16-yard acquire, and at the very subsequent play, he discovered Saquon Barkley, who took it 32 yards into the top zone.
“Tyrod had a good game, played well, took care of the ball, made good decisions, threw the ball where it was supposed to be thrown,” the pinnacle trainer mentioned after the win.
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