By Michael Stewart/@TheTruthNYG
The Giants will be facing the Washington Football team that was projected in the off season as a game that could decide the NFC east champion. Instead, the Giants are 4-12 and will be playing for draft position; which is currently sitting in the 5th spot. The Giants offensively rank near the bottom in the league in just about every category, so there’s not much scoring on the Giants part expected as they have scored only 19 points over their last 3 games. Here are my top 5 ways the Giants can finish out the season with a win.
- Run Saquan Run: Saquan Barkley enjoyed his best game of the season with 102 rushing yards on 21 carries (4.9); which was the Giants first 100-yard game by a running back since Wayne Gallman’s 135 yard performance against the Seattle Seahawks last year. Aside from Barkley, DaVontae Booker has been playing well and it would be in the Giants best interest to utilize their two-headed monster and run the ball at a 70% rate.
- Defense, Defense,Defense: The Giants defense has fared much better than the offense in this disappointed season, but that’s not saying much. However; they do have some pieces on the defensive side that can put forth a solid effort and perhaps keep the Giants in the game to possibly win. The Giants defensive front-7 must throwing the kitchen sink at Washington’s quarterback Taylor Heinicke who dismantle the Giants defense in their first meeting with a season high 34/46 for 336 yards with a touchdown. The Giants defense must not allow Heinicke a repeat performance.
- Play Keep Away: Time of Possession will be essential for the Giants to have a shot at a victory; especially with quarterback Jake Fromm making his 2nd career start. OC Freddie Kitchen must devise an offensive game plan that will allow the Giants offense to limit what Fromm can control and allow the offensive game play to be geared towards the running game and short high percentage passes. This type of strategy could backfire on the Giants as they will be shortening the field, but in reality; what choice do they have.
- Slippery Fingers: Both teams have been dismal in the turnover department as the Giants are -5 and Washington is -9. A high scoring game is not expected, so it would benefit the Giants to create more turnovers defensively and to hold onto the ball better offensively. If the Giants can somehow manage to can the advantage in this category they could get better field position and in the process have better scoring chances.
- Evil Knievel Mentality: Let’s be real here Giant fans, the Giants must not play conservative at all in this game; they have nothing to lose. Joe Judge despite reports indicating he will be back next season is under the gun and perhaps this game will not matter anyway if he does return. So he needs to throw caution to the wind and pull out every conceivable trick play and be bolder on 4th down situations to at least show the fans that he will do anything to win. Let’s face it; he has nothing to lose and a lot to gain if he can somehow pull this off.
The Giants have the odds stacked against them ever since quarterback Daniel Jones went down. Their offense struggled with him, but now this offense has a very difficult time scoring touchdowns. Last two weeks against the Eagles and Bears, it appeared that the Giants players have given up and Joe Judge has lost the team. If Judge can somehow find a way to collectively motivate these players in this final game, it might help save his job. In the end, I see Washington able to capitalize more than the Giants and make the big plays down the stretch.
Final Score: Washington-17/Giants-10