The Takeaways, week 11: New York Giants at Washington
November 20, 2023
by Steve Thomas
Whelp. So much for beating the teams you should beat. This game also conclusively blows up my theory about Washington having a series of on, then off games this season, as this game against the division rival Giants is the second poor performance in as many weeks. This one hurt even more since it was the first time Washington has been at home in three weeks. For those of you keeping score at home – and I know most of you are – Washington hasn’t won a game at home since their week one defeat of the Arizona Cardinals. If you are a franchise which is beginning a new era, start of a new era, that’s not the way to endear yourself to victory-starved fans. Yes, this game probably represents a low point of the year to date, and also conclusively spells the end of the competitive portion of the season, because (1) if they win their final 6 games, the best record with which they could end up is 10 – 7, and (2) they aren’t going to go on a 6 game winning streak. So, from here on out, expect alot of talk about Ron Rivera’s job status and team needs. For now, though, we’re going to address The Takeaways for this week.
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers
You can’t win in the NFL if you have 6 turnovers in one game. Washington had 14 possessions in this game. Of those, 1 was the final, pointless play of the game, which doesn’t count, 2 were three and out punts, both in the first half, and one was three plays at the end of the first half. That leaves 10 remaining possessions. Of those 10, Washington had 3 interceptions and 3 fumbles recovered by the Giants, which leaves just 4 successful drives. Of those 6 turnovers, the Giants converted 4 of them into points, including 3 touchdowns and a field goal, which is 24 of the Giants 31 points scored. No team at any level of level of football, from youth ball to the NFL, can win with that level of incompetence. The only saving grace is that this is an aberration. Washington has had a total of 69 games in franchise history with 6 or more turnovers. The worst two games were on December 4, 1938, and December 8, 1963, with 10 in each, both against the Giants. The last time Washington had 6 or more turnovers in one game was September 25, 2014, against – you guessed it – the Giants. In team history, Washington has given up 6 or more turnovers in a single game to the Giants 14 times, more than any other team. That’s your history lesson for today. You’re welcome.
Sam Howell’s bad day
In this game, Howell had 31 completions in 45 attempts, 255 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions, for a quarterback rating of 62.7, and was sacked 4 times. He also got away with two more that probably should have been intercepted. The bad part was that most, if not all, if them interceptions were his fault. Granted, the Giants got significant pressure on him throughout the day, including on several of the interceptions, but each of the throws were the result of either bad decisions or bad throws, which is on him. This was definitely a low point of his short career, but I caution fans to not read too much into this performance. Yes, Howell does have alot of interceptions this year, but it’s still very early in his career, and he’s shown quite a bit of his strengths over the past two months. Don’t overreact – just let this season play out and see how the new coaching staff handles the quarterback situation. At this point in his career, Sam Howell is not a “franchise quarterback”, the long-term answer to the team’s quarterback situation, or a bust. He has a ways to go yet. This game was not the norm. Relax.
Run – pass balance
This week, Eric Bieniemy had 77 offensive plays, including 45 pass attempts, 4 sacks, 3 quarterback scrambles, and 25 running plays. That equates to 52 called passing attempts and 25 running back carries, for a balance of 67.5% pass / 32.5% run. That’s a little better than prior weeks, as the run rate usually hovers in the range of 20 – 25% or so; however, going into this game, the Giants had one of the worst run defenses in the NFL. Bieniemy’s game plan should’ve featured a major effort to take advantage of that weakness, particularly with an offensive line having to face the likes of Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence. He did that, sort of, by his standards, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Washington’s running backs had 25 carries for 139 yards, which equates to 5.6 yards per carry. They should’ve been a much bigger part of the game plan this week. You need to do better, Eric, even though I know you won’t.
At least there was a pass rush
On the positive side, Washington managed to sack Tommy DeVito 9 times, thanks to a combination of quality pass rushing, bad offensive line play by the Giants, and a young quarterback who held the ball entirely too long. The best part about this was that we saw pressure from all fronts, both edge and middle, and the sacks were split up between 7 different players. It’s hard to believe that Washington figured out how to lose a game in which they terrorized the opposing quarterback, but . . . turnovers. Enough said. This was a bit of a pyrrhic victory, as they lost Efe Obada for the year because of a broken leg. Obada was a bright spot and has a solid future.
The Giants’ big two came through
I told you in the game preview that Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence were the key players on the Giants defense. That wasn’t a stunning insight, of course, as that should’ve been obvious to everyone. That came true, though, as Thibodeaux and Lawrence terrorized the Washington offensive line for a good part of the game. Washington needs to make a concerted effort to improve the offensive line in the offseason, including, for the first time in a long time, multiple high draft picks. This should be a priority of the new coach and GM.
Bonus Takeaway
Can the all-black uniforms please go away and never return? Black isn’t a team color and they look remarkably similar to the Steelers uniform. They are a ridiculous travesty of justice that should be placed into the ashtray of history where they belong.
That’s it for this week. Next up is a Thanksgiving Day loss matchup against the hated Cowboys in Dallas. See you next week.