Game Preview, Week 15: Washington at New York Giants
December 12, 2025
by Steve Thomas
Clearly, Washington is not in the position it wanted to be in for this week 15 matchup against the division rival New York Giants. What at the beginning of the season was supposed to be a second straight march to the playoffs and beyond has instead become a slog to the bottom of the barrel and a fight for draft positioning. Personally, I hate tanking for draft position, so my hope is that Washington finding just a tiny bit of pride inside them and plays to win against the Giants. It’s pretty likely that the losing team is going to end up in the top 3 of draft order, at a minimum. But, you know what? Who cares. Let’s play to win, Washington. That’ll be better for everyone, trust me. Our game preview begins below.
Game time & location: Sunday, December 7, 2025, 1:00 p.m. ET, Met Life Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ; Gates open 11:00 a.m. ET; parking lots open 8:00 a.m.
Television: FOX
Television announcers: Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma, Megan Olivi
TV broadcast map: Click here
DC-area radio: BIG100 (WBIG FM)
Washington radio network: Click here
Giants radio network: Click here
Satellite radio: SiriusXM: 386 (Wash. broad.); internet: 831
Washington roster: Click here
Washington depth chart: Click here
Giants roster: Click here
Giants depth chart: Click here
All-time head-to-head record vs Giants: 73 – 107 – 5 (last 10: 5 – 4 – 1)
Last meeting: W, September 7, 2025, 21 – 6
Giants record: 2 – 11 (4th place) / NFC: 1 – 8 / NFC East: 1 – 3 / Home: 2 – 5
Washington record: 3 – 9 (3rd place) / NFC: 1 – 7 / NFC East: 1 – 1 / Away: 1 – 6
Early odds: Giants, -2.5
3 KEYS TO THE GAME
Not be absolutely terrible in every facet of the game
This is a situation in which gameplans and matchups matter less than the basic concept that Washington can’t play horribly. They need to start looking like a real NFL team on both sides of the ball or nothing else really matters. Washington’s players and coaches will need to have enough pride to play well on both sides of the ball and look like they want to end the season with some pride and dignity and some indication that this is going to turn around next year. If they don’t play with an attitude like this, then the Giants are going to win via a blowout.
Commit to the run game
The Giants have been been the worst team in the NFL against the rush, by far, with opponents averaging 5.8 yards per carry. The best way for Washington to right the ship, so to speak, on offense, is to commit to a solid running game. Chris Rodriguez has been good recently – he averaged 5.2 yards per carry against the Vikings last week – but he hasn’t been getting enough carries. Washington needs to give him 15 to 20 carries against the Giants and generally use a running-based offense to have long, time consuming, conservative drives. This is what to do when the team’s offense has completely fallen apart and died.
Outstanding secondary coverage
First, Jaxson Dart has been good and is generally getting better. In his 8 starts this year, he’s only had one game in which his quarterback rating has been under 91.5. He posted a 70.3% completion percentage against the Patriots in week 13 and has only 3 interceptions. The Giants also feature a trio of talented receivers in Wan’Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton, and tight end Theo Johnson. I’m done pretending that Washington is going to be able to generate a substantial pass rush this season – they just don’t have the players or the coaches to make it happen. Instead, with that truth in mind, my recommendation is for Washington to focus on its zone coverages, eliminate mistakes, and keep any of these players from making big plays and getting easy scores.
3 KEY MATCHUPS
Jonathan Jones and Mike Sainristil vs. Wan’Dale Robinson
Robinson is the Giants leading receiver. He has 73 receptions for 828 yards in 110 targets and 3 touchdowns so far this season. Jonathan Jones is Washington’s #1 corner by default thanks to the myriad of injuries the secondary has suffered this season, but my guess is that Robinson will also be matched up against Sainristil in the slot quite a bit as well. As I mentioned above, Washington really needs to focus on not blowing coverages in this game if they are going to have a chance at a win again. Both Sainristil and Jones need to have good games against Robinson this week.
Burns already has 13 sacks so far this year. I don’t expect Burns and Tunsil to be matched up the entire day, but this is a battle that should get attention from the television broadcast crew. Tunsil has for the most part lived up to his billing as a legitimate plus-level let tackle, and Burns is probably going to be a Pro Bowler this season. Keep an eye out on how this is going, and when Burns inevitably gets into Washington’s backfield, watch out for whether he is getting through on Washington’s left or right side. This should be a great battle for any of you offensive line gurus out there.
Terry McLaurin vs. Paulson Adebo
McLaurin didn’t do much against the Vikings, but neither did anyone else. Adebo is the Giants’ #1 corner. Like I said before week 1, Adebo has been decent, but not great, which makes this a pretty good matchup for McLaurin to continue to work on getting back into top shape, just in time for the season to end. Assuming Jayden Daniels plays this week, he’ll need McLaurin to be himself in order to get the offense back on track.
OFFICIAL INJURY REPORT (active roster only)
LP – limited practice FP – full practice DNP – did not practice
NIR – not injury related Q – questionable O – out
D – doubtful
| Washington | Giants |
| DE D. Jackson, groin/knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; game: O | DL D.J. Davidson, illness; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP |
| CB J. Jones, rib; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O | LB V. Dimukeje, knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; game: O |
| OLB V. Miller, NIR (rest); Wed: DNP | P J. Gillan, left knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; game: D |
| RB C. Rodriguez, groin; Wed: DNP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; game: Q | DB N. Jones; shoulder; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; game: O |
| T L. Tunsil, NIR (rest); Wed: DNP ; Thurs: NL | DL R. Nunez-Roches, ankle; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; game: O |
| LB B. Wagner, knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: FP | WR G. Olszewski, concussion; Wed: DNP; Thurs: LP; game: Q |
| QB J. Daniels, left elbow; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; game: O | LB K. Thibodeaux, shoulder; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; game: O |
| WR N. Brown, groin/knee; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: DNP | OL G. Von Roten, shoulder; Wed: DNP; Thurs: LP |
| T G. Fant, knee; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP | TE T. Johnson, toe; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP |
| WR D. Samuel, illness; Wed: NL; Thurs: NL; Fri: DNP; game: Q | DB K. Black, biceps; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP |
| WR T. McLaurin, NIR (rest); Wed: NL; Thurs: NL; Fri: DNP | WR B. Collins, neck; Wed: FP; Thurs: LP; game: O |
| OL J. Ezeudu, calf; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP, game: Q | |
| LB D. Flannigan-Fowler, neck, knee, illness; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; game: Q | |
| DB A. Green, hamstring; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; game: Q | |
| LB D. Mussau, ankle; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; game: Q | |
| RB T. Tracy, hip; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP | |
| S T. Nubin, quad; Wed: NL; Thurs: LP | |
| DL D.J. Davidson, illness; Wed: NL; Thurs: NL; game: Q | |
| DL D. Lawrence, hamstring; Wed: NL; Thurs: NL; game: Q |
Steve’s Prediction
I can’t in good conscience pick Washington to win under any circumstances right now. Giants get an easy victory, 27-13.