After not playing since Thanksgiving day, a 28-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the Giants will encounter another challenging National Football Conference East Division opponent on Sunday when the 7-5 Washington Commanders come into MetLife Stadium. After starting the season an abysmal 1-4, the Commanders have won six of their last seven games and bring a three-game winning streak to New Jersey. Conversely, the Giants began 6-1 but have dropped three of their last four games.
Four of the Giants’ last six games are versus division foes—two with the Commanders and two against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants have finished their home-and-home series with the Cowboys, losing 23-16 in Week 3 at MetLife Stadium. The 10-1 Eagles have the best record in the NFL and are the league’s only team with just a single defeat. The 8-3 Cowboys are in second place in the division while the Giants and Commanders are third and fourth respectively.
The Giants are currently the No. 6 seed in the NFC and the Commanders No. 7. Seven teams from each conference—the American Football Conference is the other—make the postseason, which will include the four division winners and three wild card entries. So each of the Giants’ remaining games will have playoff implications either altering seedings or bids.
“I think December, when you play meaningful games in December, I think that’s why we all do this,” said Giants head coach Brian Daboll to the media on Tuesday. “You go all the way back to OTAs [organized team activities] and to preseason and the beginning part of the season; now you’re in December.
“And I’ve been on teams that have played meaningful games in December, and I’ve been part of teams that haven’t,” Daboll expanded. “It’s not a lot of fun when you’re not playing meaningful games. So, let’s come to work with a great attitude, a positive mindset. Keep getting better. And you focus on the week’s opponent—that’s how you have to do it. But they’re important games now.”
The Giants, like so many other teams in the league at this juncture of the season, are trying to navigate and manage a plethora of injuries. Safety Xavier McKinney, who was the defensive signal caller for coordinator Wink Martindale’s unit, suffered an injured hand in an ATV accident in Mexico during the Giants bye-week (Week 9) in early November and has not played since Oct. 30, a 27-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. But this week McKinney told ESPN week he expects to return sometime this season.
Because McKinney was placed on the non-football injury list on Nov. 7, he cannot be designated to return until after this Sunday’s game. The Giants are optimistic tight-end Daniel Bellinger will be back in the lineup against the Commanders. He’s been sidelined with an injured eye-socket that occurred on Oct. 23 in the Giants’ 23-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.