Game Recap – New York Giants at Washington Commanders

December 19, 2022

By Noonefromtampa

First Half

New York won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. The Commanders started on offense and opened up with two big plays from Brian Robinson. He ran for 7 yards on first down and caught a pass from Taylor Heinicke for 18 yards. Washington continued their trend of moving the ball well followed by a number of mistakes which halts the drive. After moving the ball down to the Giants 31 yard line, Heinicke was sack for a loss and took Washington out of field goal range.

The Commanders defense held the Giants to a three and out on their first possession. The Commanders continued to run the ball well. Robinson picked up 15 yards on first and five after penalty by Kayvon Thibodeaux. Heinicke picked up 9 yards on an option play and Antonio Gibson picked up 10 yards. Then the mistakes started again. Two straight penalties after a two yard loss on a Robinson run put Washington into a third down and 22 yards to go spot. Curtis Samuel picked up 14 yards on a quick slant. Joey Slye converted the 41 yard field goal. Commanders 3, Giants 0.

On the Giants second possession, they were able to pick up a first down with a Daniel Jones to Saquon Barkley for 9 yards and two-yard run by Barkley. The Giants committed a false start on second down to put the Giants in a 2 and 11. They only picked up 9 yards on the next two plays and were forced to punt.

On second down, after a short Gibson run, Cornelius Lucas was called for holding on an 11 yard Gibson run. On second and 18, Thibodeaux strip sacked Heinicke and scored on the fumble recovery. Graham Gano converted the extra point. Giants 7, Commanders 3.

Robinson ran for 13 yards on first down to start the next Washington possession.  Then after a no gain running play, Robinson picked up 11 yards. Then on successive deep pass plays, Dyami Brown and Curtis Samuel appeared to be interfered with, but no calls were made on either incompletion. The Brown play was debatable, bit Samuel was hit early and in the head. At a minimum that should have drawn an unnecessary roughness call. Washington was forced to punt. Tress Way was able to drop the ball on three where it was downed.

The Giants then went on a drive of 97 yards in 18 plays. Daniel Jones was sharp and decisive on the drive. He went 10-12 for 91 yards. The Giants also ran the ball six times, including a three yard touchdown by Barkley on a direct snap. Giants 14, Commanders 3.

The Commanders started back on offense with 1:37 left in the half. The were only able to pick up one first down on a 10 yard pass to Terry McLaurin. After the Way punt, the Giants ran out the clock to end the half. Giants 14, Commanders 3.

Second Half

The Giants started on offense in the second half. On their first possession of the half, the Giants picked up one first on a Darius Slayton 7 yard catch and a three yard run by Barkley. The next three plays were two incompletions and a 7 yard catch by Slayton. The Giants were forced to punt it away.

Washington has its best offensive series of the game on its first possession of the half. McLaurin started the drive with back-to-back catches of 18 yards and 13 yards. Brown picked up 15 yards on an end around. Logan Thomas was called for illegal motion, but unlike other drive, Heinicke hit McLaurin for 20 yards and a first down. Jahan Dotson then caught back-to-back passes of 11 yards and a 19 yard touchdown.  Coach Ron Rivera elected to go for the two-point conversion which was successful except Dotson was called for offensive pass interference. In my opinion, on replay it appeared to be a horrible call. Slye missed the long extra point attempt. Giants 14, Commanders 9.

The Giants then went on another time-consuming drive of 10 plays and 43 yards. The Giants caught a couple of breaks during the drive. Jones fumbled the ball away but was ruled down. Jon Feliciano was called for holding but Jones was able to scramble for 10 yards on third down and 15 to put the Giants back into field goal range. Gano nailed a 50 yarder. Giants 17, Commanders 9.

The two teams then traded three and outs. Washington got the field position benefit out of the exchange because of Way’s 65 yard punt, which was downed on the Giants’ 1 yard line. Washington started the next drive at their own 46 and made good use of it. Heinicke ran for 15 yards on third and 1 moving the ball down to Giants 34. Thomas dropped a pass on first down and Gibson recovered his own fumble on second down to put the Commanders into a third and nine which was incompletion to Dotson. Slye then hit a 51 yard field goal attempt. Giants 17, Commanders 12.

The Giants were able to pick up 33 yards and a couple of first downs on their next drive. Big plays included a 15 yard completion to Richie James, who had a good game, and an 8 yard completion to Barkley on third down to get the first down. Two incompletions and short run by Jones forced the Giants to punt on fourth down.

On the following possession, the Commanders starting at their own 9.  The drive began with a 61 yard completion from Heinicke to Dotson, who out jumped the Giants defender, Jason Pinnock, for the ball. Robinson picked up 19 yards around the left end on the next play. Washington picked up 6 yards on the next two plays. Heinicke was sacked on third and as Washington lined up for the field goal, the Giants challenged the ruling that the Heinicke was down before he fumbled. The ruling on the field was overturned, which gave the Giants the ball.

Barkley then ripped off successive runs of 12, 15 and 14 yards. The Giants ran four more times for 14 yards and then loss one yard on a third down completion. Gano hit the 50-field goal to extend the Giants lead. Giants 20, Commanders 12.

Gibson returned the subsequent kickoff 43 yards to the Washington 43 yard line. Heinicke hit Samuel for 37 yards, then Thomas for 6 and Dotson for 14 yards. After an incompletion, Heinicke scrambled for 9 yards down to the Giants 1 yard line. At this point, the game got even more bizarre. Robinson scored on a 1 yard run, but the touchdown was nullified by a penalty on McLaurin for being lined up incorrectly; however, McLaurin was seen arguing with the official who he appeared to consult on his placement before the snap. After the penalty was assessed, there was an incompletion on third down. On fourth down, Heinicke scrambled around and tried to hit Samuel in the end zone. Replays showed that Samuel was held and interfered with on the play, but no calls were made. The Giants ran out the clock.

Final Score: Giants 20, Commanders 12.

Game Thoughts

Horrible officiating, wrong calls, missed calls, phantom calls – the NFL should be embarrassed by the quality or lack of it in the officiating.

Heinicke is consistently inconsistent. Big, good plays, big bad plays. You have to be more consistent to win close games.

Brian Robinson is a running back stud. He had 12 carries for 89 yards and 7.8 yards per carry average.

Dyami Brown can get open deep, but Heinicke doesn’t have the arm to get the ball there before the defensive back recovers.

I bet the Lions knock Washington out of the playoffs, no teams with winning records left on their schedule.