Commanders’ defense shut down the Giants’Offense in a 21-6 victory (9-7-25)
By: Jaden Golding
Headline Photo Credit: Washington Commanders
LANDOVER, MD – The New York Giants’ offense scored only two field goals on the day, as the Washington Commanders’ defense halted any chance of the Giants scoring a touchdown in a comfortable 21-6 season-opening victory at Northwest Stadium.
Washington (1-0) was the heavy favorite entering the game, as quarterback Jayden Daniels was looking to pick up where he left off from the previous season, where he was the NFL Rookie of the Year.
Daniels and the offense didn’t have their best performance today. Daniels completed 19-of-30 passes for 233 yards, one passing touchdown, and ran for 68 yards on the ground.
Daniels was a little off today, missed some throws that he usually makes, and he also held the ball a little long at times leading possibly to some holding calls. Albeit there were drops by Washington receivers. The key mistake made by Daniels came at the end of the second quarter, where the Commanders drove all the way down to the NY 4, but Daniels had an intentional grounding that caused a 10-second run off with seven seconds left which ended the quarter with no points for Washington.
The Washington offense scored three touchdowns:
1st quarter– seven-yard touchdown pass from Daniels to tight end Zach Ertz
2nd quarter– six-yard touchdown run to the right side by rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Meritt
4th quarter– 19-yard touchdown run on the left end by Deebo Samuel
Penalties halted Washington’s drives; they finished the day with 12 flags for 89 yards. Rookie tackle Josh Conely Jr. was flagged for a couple of holding penalties, and veteran left tackle Laremy Tunsil was flagged once for grabbing Giants’ rookie Abdul Carter. Noah Brown had an offside call in the second quarter on a 19-yard reception that was called off due to the penalty.
Croskey-Meritt had 10 carries for 82 yards, 8.2 per carry, and one touchdown run.
Washington outgained New York 432 yards to 231 yards.
Daron Payne stepped up today, he had four tackles, two solo tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, one QB hit, and two pass deflections.
Quan Martin spoke to Scott Abraham of ABC7 Washington and had a simple statement of the defense’s performance today stating;
“I think the standard is set, We know what we can do as a unit.”
Deebo Samuel Shines
One of the big additions this past offseason for Washington, was trading for wideout Deebo Samuel from the 49ers. Today, he showed why general manager Adam Peters brought Samuel over with him from San Francisco. Samuel hauled in seven receptions for 77 yards and also had a rushing touchdown for 19 yards. He was Daniels main target today, getting open across the middle of the field in key situations, and catching short passes and turning them into great positive yardage.
Russell Wilson Struggles
The Giants’ offense was at a standstill today. They had drives where they reached the redzone but could not capitalize and reach the endzone. Part of it was due to the offensive line struggling, the Commanders rotated a lot of different pass rushers today who were able to generate pressure on Wilson and cause him to have “happy feet” within the pocket. NFL / CFB analyst, Ryan Fowler stated after the game that Washington generated 22 pressures on 45 New York dropbacks, and defensive end Dorrance Armstrong recorded nine of them tying a career-high. Wilson completed only 17 of 37 of his passes for 168 yards and a rating of 59.3. Wilson and the offense could never settle into what they wanted to do, receivers seemed to struggle getting open, and the run game was a non-factor.
Standout Performance: Javon Kinlaw
Kinlaw had four tackles, two tackles for loss, two run stops, two pressures, one QB hit, one hurry and 86.9 run defense effectiveness grade. The defensive tackle was everywhere today displaying the athletic ability when rushing the QB but he also used his big frame to clog up the rushing lanes preventing any big runs from breaking out.
New York Performers
Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux each had 0.5 sack. Brian Burns led the way with two sacks.
Wan’Dale Robinson had six receptions for 55 yards.
Malik Nabers was the top wideout with five catches for 71 yards. He was visibly frustrated earlier even getting into a mini exchange with head coach Brian Daboll, due to the lack of targets in the first half.
Up Next:
Washington is on a short week, heading to Green Bay on Thursday evening. New York travels to Dallas next Sunday.
