The New York Giants face the Washington Commanders on Sunday for the second time this season. The teams have gone in opposite directions as the 6-2 Commanders lead the division with the 2-6 Giants at the bottom.
This week’s ‘5 questions’ segment with ‘Hogs Haven’ is answered ‘ Eboracum.’
Ed: Alternate universe question. The Commanders choose Drake Maye No. 2 overall. The Giants, who loved Jayden Daniels, trade up to No. 3 with the Patriots and get him. Where are these two teams right now?
Eboracum: Assuming good injury luck, the Giants are probably 6-2 or 5-3, having lost to the Vikings in week 1 and lost to one or two of the Bengals, Eagles, or Steelers. The Giants would be discussed as division contenders, though they probably wouldn’t be at a level to compete with the Lions for the NFC Championship this year. Even without Malik Nabers, Jayden would elevate the players around him on the Giants offense and the talent on the entire offense would look much better than it does now.
The Commanders would probably be 4-4 or so, having lost three straight to start the season, but turning things around against the Cardinals and continuing to beat out bad teams like the Browns and Panthers. This part of the answer has a bit more variability, because a lot would depend on our veteran QB, since I don’t think Maye would have started for us Week 1 and it’s fair to question when he would start, given that I don’t think the Patriots intended to start him by now and only did so out of desperation. Mariota looked really good in his play against the Panthers, but the Panthers are cooked and we don’t know how well he’d play against better defenses. However, I think this Washington team would continue to look very well coached and get better as the season wears on, with players on both sides of the ball playing above the level we expected based on talent. Overall, fans would still be relatively happy and looking forward to an even better team next year.
Ed: What was that like to experience the Daniels ‘Hail Mary’ vs. the Bears? Have Commanders fans come back down to earth yet?
Eboracum: It was a magical moment and I think it’s not an exaggeration to say Commanders (and Bears) fans will remember it for the rest of our lives. In retrospect, one of the things I liked so much about it was how well it was executed. Not only did Jayden Daniels do his normal great job of buying loads of time (12.79 seconds!) in the pocket for his guys to get in place, but the pass catchers in the endzone were perfectly positioned and spaced out to get the ball. There was still chance involved, but the players did everything they could to make the most of that chance.
Ed: Deonte Banks was ticked off that the Commanders did not draft him (choosing CB Emmanuel Forbes) and had some not-so-nice things to say. It won’t happen, but considering Banks’ struggles and Week 8 benching, would you trade for him at this point? If so, what would you be willing to give up?
Eboracum: I think we’d be happy to do a player swap of Emmanuel Forbes for Deonte Banks to see if we can change the timeline on that first round. Forbes has struggled in the pros and is only playing a rotational role right now. As many predicted before the draft, his slender build creates problems in run support or covering more physical WRs. Those Ron Rivera drafts were brutal for us. Maybe each of these players would do better in a new home. I don’t think we’d be willing to part with any significant draft capital for Banks though. The Commanders are building for the long term, which has meant focusing on good culture (which we’ve achieved) and building through the draft. I don’t think we’d pay for someone else’s problem child.
Ed: The most surprising thing about this season for the Commanders has been what?
Eboracum: How good we’ve been. Literally every staff writer at Hogs Haven predicted a losing season this year, yet we’re sitting at 6-2 and leading the division. Most of us expected Jayden Daniels to be good, but couldn’t have predicted how he’d only seem to have one game of looking like a rookie (week 1 against the Bucs), then immediately transition to looking like a seasoned NFL starter. We also didn’t expect the team to get coached up to such a high level. Our 2nd best pass catcher is some combination of Noah Brown (who couldn’t make the 53 of the Texans) and twilight years Zach Ertz. Our CB group is composed of guys that would not have started on most other teams. Yet the team is performing as a whole much greater than the sum of its parts. I think most fans were happy to give Dan Quinn and his coaching staff a chance, but did not expect them to put on the coaching clinic they’ve been showing so far.
Ed: The Giants win this game if what happens? The Commanders win it if what happens?
Eboracum: The Giants win if Daniel Jones does his normal Brett Favre impression whenever he plays Washington. I don’t know what it is about us, but Daniel Jones always seems to pull it together and play at his highest level against us. Also if we are forced to start our third-string left tackle Trent Scott opposite Brian Burns. Our top 2 LTs are both injured: Cornelius Lucas with an ankle injury and Brandon Coleman working his way back from a concussion sustained in Week 7. Both are considered day-to-day at this point and could miss the game.
The Commanders win if we look as well coached as we have the last seven games (I’m not counting week 1, where we looked terrible). Part of looking well coached will mean having a plan in place for compensating for our injuries at LT. Another part of it will be leaning on the run game, which we have done so far this year (Commanders have the 4th-highest rush rate in the NFL so far this year). Also if Jayden Daniels continues to play well and make good decisions, which I have confidence he will do.
