NFC East kicked off Week 2 in the NFL: In a duel between two teams without a win in Week 1, the Washington Football Team beats the New York Giants by 30:29. In a curious game, both teams found their rhythm very inconsistently for a long time – until the game suddenly exploded in all directions in the final phase.
Washington went into the second matchday already battered: Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick injured his hip in the opening game and will be absent for weeks, his representative Taylor Heinicke (34/46, 336 YDS, 2 TD, INT) delivered his best Fitzpatrick interpretation: He needed two drives to get rid of the initial nervousness and to get rid of the ball faster, then he fearlessly attacked vertically in the best Fitzpatrick fashion.
Heinicke found rookie Dyami Brown as well as tight end Logan Thomas and top receiver Terry McLaurin with shot plays; The latter also compensated, the Giants had previously put down their best drive and took the lead early.
It was noticeably often the quarterback run game that New York carried across the field. The first touchdown of the game was a QB draw by Daniel Jones (22/32, 249 YDS, TD; 9 ATT, 95 YDS, TD), whose zone reads remained a dangerous tool. Another long touchdown run by Jones was called off by a bitter holding penalty : 7.
But that was not enough for the half-time lead because Washington marched down the field with more shot plays; Seconds before half-time, McKissic ran into the end zone from a very short distance, untouched.
Dramatic finish: punishment saves Washington
In the second half, too, it remained an open game, in which both teams made mistakes, but which was also why things went back and forth. The Giants offense came better from the half-time break, New York first managed a field goal, followed by finally also on the part of the G-Men some explosiveness in the passing game: A spectacular 33-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Slayton, the William Jackson had beaten in coverage, eventually brought the Giants back into the lead.
And while Heinicke on the other hand delivered more individual highlights and less consistency, it was now the guests from New York who found a rhythm. This was also due to the fact that the offensive line stabilized a little – until Washington started to reach into the lightning drawer. Nevertheless, the Giants could almost have opened the lid six and a half minutes before the end when Slayton stood completely free in the end zone during a coverage bust – but could not bring the long pass under control.
Instead, New York played it conservatively, and again increased with a long field goal – but the lead was lost in return: Heinicke only needed two plays – a long catch-and-run from McKissic, as well as a spectacular touchdown pass to Ricky Seals- Jones – for a 75 yard touchdown drive. Suddenly the Giants were with a point behind and four and a half minutes before the end and under pressure!
The wild finish was well underway at that point: The Giants punted, Washington seemed in the best position to run down the clock. But Heinicke’s pass landed easily next to McLaurin, Bradberry had paid attention and grabbed the pick deep in the opposing half! New York turned the game again with a field goal – but could hardly take any time from the clock. The home side still had two full minutes, and a brutally tough 2-minute drive followed, which was characterized by an inexplicably easy offense, as well as penalties on both sides.
Until Washington finally got into the field goal position, five seconds before the end – and the kick sailed right next to it! But before the Giants could celebrate, there was a flag on the field, a crazy dynamic! The penalty went against the Giants, so kicker Dustin Hopkins was allowed to play again – and this time he turned the game winner.
Washington Football Team (1-1) – New York Giants (0-2)
Result: 30:29 (0: 7, 14: 3, 3:10, 13: 9) BOXSCORE
Washington vs. Giants – the most important statistics
- Terry McLaurin was the clear center of the Washington offense with 14 targets (11 REC, 107 YDS, TD). With the Giants, the great role of Sterling Shepard was confirmed (10 Targets, 9 REC, 94 YDS). Also worth mentioning on the part of the hosts: Adam Humphries, who caught seven balls for 44 yards.
- The Gaints have now only won eleven of their last 38 games. Five of these eleven victories came against Washington, but the series also broke here: By Thursday evening, New York had won the last five direct duels in a row as well as twelve of the last sixteen clashes against the division rivals.
- For Saquon Barkley, it remains an arduous path: The Giants star-back ran a total of 13 times for 57 yards – with one of his runs bringing in 41 yards, so the remaining twelve were just 16 in total.
- For Daniel Jones it was the sixth loss in a primetime game in the sixth attempt.
- Both coaches should talk about penalties in the next meeting, and not just with a view to the final drive: the Giants received a total of eleven penalties for 81 yards, nine of which for 80 yards in Washington.
The star of the game: Terry McLaurin (wide receiver, Washington)
He was the best player on the field on Thursday night. McLaurin led Giants’ top corner James Bradberry nastily on the black ice a few times, his route running, his explosiveness – that made the difference in this game for a long time and kept Washington in the running. He shaped the first touchdown drive completely, he saw 14 targets in total and several critical first downs were on his account. He was the engine of the offense in this game, and that’s how it should be for Washington on a regular basis. Also worth mentioning was Daniel Jones, who made a very good game and was clearly the best quarterback on the field – and the Giants’ offensive line, which got significantly better access to Washington’s front during the course of the game. Washington’s second main weapon was JD McKissic, who put on several explosive plays.
Der Flop des Spiels: Joe Judge (Head Coach, Giants)
Ultra-cautious with his fourth-down decisions in the Red Zone too, he punted the ball back to the home side three minutes before the end and was five points ahead, he kicked the PAT after the Slayton touchdown instead of 2 – Increase point conversion to seven points. A creepy notion of in-game decisions. In addition, his team didn’t seem disciplined, had problems with substitutions in the end and once came back from the timeout seemingly haphazardly. Otherwise you would have to name the two outside receivers of the Giants. Slayton caught a long touchdown, but mercilessly dropped another – that could have decided the game. Golladay meanwhile had several drops and sometimes didn’t seem to be physically up to date.
Analyse: Washington vs. Giants – die Taktiktafel
- The Giants had a good plan for the initial phase, at least via a script. Play Action, they moved the pocket to undermine Washington’s front, they mixed no-huddle with their regular offense, used screens and the zone read: a clear plan was recognizable, like Jason Garrett the clear mismatch of his offensive line against the front of the Wanted to tackle Giants.
- And the zone reads in particular remained a more than effective tool. The Giants line was getting more and more into a flood, but New York had good total stats in the run game – because Jones was a real factor here. In the end, Jones ran nine times for 95 yards, leading rusher on both sides of the game. Even if it doesn’t go against such a dominant – and also aggressive, defensive front every week, which also helps – Garrett and the Giants would be well advised to build this remedy even further into the offense. Because his own line, in which Nick Gates seriously injured his leg early in the game, will remain a problem; and Jones is a more constant threat as a runner than in the passing game.
- This became clear in this game too, because too often the Giants lacked an overarching plan in the passing game to provide explosive plays. Instead, much short, a lot of security, too little creativity and too few ideas to create plays.
- Washington, on the other hand, received the confirmation in this game that with Heinicke instead of Fitzpatrick you don’t have to change too much offensively. Heinicke also attacked vertically and took risks against pressure – similar to the style we know from Fitzpatrick. But: Heinicke found his rhythm and became more and more confident in the passes, which gradually gave the offense a better rhythm. At the same time, as was also evident, he does not have the same level of confidence in the short passing game and he often holds the ball longer than Fitzpatrick.
- Play Action was the main tactical weapon for Washington in this game. Heinicke made 13 of his 15 play-action passes, for 153 yards and two touchdowns.
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