Commanders Seven Field-Goals Propel Them Over The Giants (9-16-24)

By: Jaden Golding

Headline Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated

Landover, MD- The Washington Commanders earned their first victory of the 2024 season over its NFC East foe, the New York Giants 21-18 at Northwest Stadium. 

Washington (1-1) newly signed kicker Austin Seibert had an amazing debut, hitting all seven of his field goal attempts including the 30-yard game-winner as time expired on the clock. Seibert has set a new franchise record with seven field goals made in a game. New York (0-2) now has dropped its first two contests of the season and will be looking to not let the season spiral early. 

Jayden Daniels had a nice afternoon, he made the right plays and didn’t turn the ball over. Daniels went 23/29 with 226 yards, 44 rushing yards, and no turnovers. His accuracy was on point today, making two nice notable throws, one to tight-end Zach Ertz in the second quarter towards the sideline that Ertz came down with wrestling the ball away from the Giant defender coming to the ground. The last throw was on the game-winning drive to wide-receiver Noah Brown over the deep middle that gained 34 yards. Daniels still has work to do, he has to let routes develop longer as he can sometimes be quick to tuck the ball down and run. That sometimes caused Daniels to be prone to some sacks and negative plays. In the second half, I felt he did a good job staying in the pocket longer and climbing up the pocket for throws. I won’t discuss that stinger Daniels took to the ribs in the first quarter that caused him to miss one play, definitely a PTSD moment for Washington fans but the coaching staff will do everything to protect their franchise quarterback. 

Washington’s offense as a whole played an ok game, the main reason they had seven field goals is due to the false start penalties sustained in the red zone that caused them to move backward. It happened five times if I recall causing first and goals to become first and longs. They must clean that up because this game could have easily been a New York victory due to unsuccessful attempts in the red zone.

Brian Robinson Jr. was amazing today rushing for a career-high 133 yards on 17 attempts with 7.8 yards per carry. He was explosive and powerful between tackles, and it helped that the offensive line was excellent in run blocking. Austin Ekeler was also excellent supporting Robinson Jr. with 8 carries and 3 catches for a total of 85 all-purpose yards. 

Ertz was Washington’s leading receiver catching four balls for 62 yards, Brown had three catches for 56 yards, and Terry McLaurin had six catches for 22 yards. 

The Defense The Defense The Defense

The Commander’s defense today still left a lot out there to be desired. The secondary still struggled to make plays and get off the field in key moments. The New York offensive line outplayed Washington’s d-line and was physically dominant at times in the trenches. Giants running back Devin Singletary gashed the d-line at times throughout the afternoon, running for 95 yards and gaining 5.9 on average. Daniel Jones looked comfortable throwing 16-28 for 178 yards and two touchdowns only being sacked once. Cornerback Michael Davis filled in for the injured Emmanuel Forbes Jr. (hand) and struggled lined up against Giants first-rounder Malik Nabers. Nabers played lights out catching 10 balls for 127 yards and his first career touchdown. Noah Igbinoghene came in the second half and also struggled, his coverage was tighter but he still was no match for Nabers. Cornerback Benjamin St-Juste had a good bounce-back game; he made some plays on the ball forcing some pass breakups, staying relatively tight in coverage, forced a key fumble on New York’s opening drive in the third quarter, and tackled well. There was not a lot of pressure from the line today, with the lone sack coming from defensive end Clelin Ferrell once again this week. They must figure out a way to dial up consistent pressure and make quarterbacks uncomfortable. The run defense was not up to par today, the Giants were running straight at our pro-ball d-tackles and doing a good job of keeping them away from plays. We have to be better at sealing the edges also filling up the a-b-c gaps.

Key Moment In The Game

New York had its final possession after Washington tied the game 18-18 with 7:16 left in the game. Jones led the Giants to the Washington 22 and had a fourth-and-four right before the two-minute warning. If completed New York had a chance to control the clock for a potential game-winning kick, though their kicker Graham Gano injured his hamstring in the first quarter leading to punter Jamie Gillian filling in which changed the Giants’ play calling. Anyways, Jones is in shotgun formation, snaps the ball, and steps up to the right side where he throws it to a wide-open Nabers right on the sideline for an easy conversion who drops the ball trying to corral it in his chest. This led to a turnover on downs and gave Washington the last possession. 

Up Next

● Washington travels to Cincinnati to take on the (0-2) Bengals on Monday Night Football at 8:15 p.m. on ABC.