The NFC-East leading New York Giants (3-1) travel to Landover, Md. Sunday to face the 1-3 Washington Commanders. What are the storylines to watch this week, beyond the Giants trying to defend a solo grip on first place for the first time since November of 2015?
Let’s take a look.
Jayden Daniels: ‘Looks like we’re going to get him’
Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels has not played since dislocating his left, non-throwing, elbow in Week 2 against the Philadelphia Eagles. That is the second time in two seasons Daniels has suffered that injury.
Head coach
John Harbaugh and the Giants are expecting to see Daniels behind center on Sunday.
“We’re going to have to prepare for Jayden. I mean, that’s got to be, until they say he’s not playing, we’re assuming he’s playing and we’ll be preparing for all the things he does, as if he was 100 percent healthy,” Harbaugh said. “They’re not going to put him out there if he’s not ready to play. So, that’s the way we’ll approach it.
The Commanders have used now-injured veteran Marcus Mariota and seventh-round pick Athan Kaliakmanis, formerly of Rutgers, at quarterback in Daniels’ absence. They surprisingly won a game against the Seattle Seahawks with Mariota at quarterback, but Daniels, the 2024 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, is a difference-maker.
“He’s different. He’s a premier quarterback who can operate just in all those modalities. Is that a good word? I mean, he can RPO. He’s quarterback driven. It’s drop back pass. It’s under center. It’s under center, play-action, downhill run game. He does it all. He’s a very accurate passer. Outside throwing lanes, especially accurate, which is tough. Nice touch underneath,” Harbaugh said. “I mean, he’s proven himself to be a very, very dangerous quarterback, obviously. So, yeah, premier guy and it looks like we’re going to get him, so we’re going to have to be at our best.”
Who’s at center?
Bryan Hudson made his first NFL start on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals after John Michael Schmitz missed a couple of late-week practices due to the birth of a child. Hudson played well in what was his first meaningful NFL action.
So, now the question is whether or not he played well enough to displace Schmitz, a decent player but one who has never lived up to his status as the 57th overall player taken in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Harbaugh was non-committal on Monday.
“We’ll see. We haven’t really talked about it yet today,” Harbaugh said. “So, we haven’t had that personnel meeting yet, but I’ll say Huddy (played really well, and we were excited about him going in. So, maybe create some options for us, but JMS was playing really well too. So, a very good problem to have.”
How will the Giants solve it?
I think Hudson starts against the Commanders. Why? I believe the Giants know that Schmitz, in the final year of his rookie contract, is not their answer at center beyond this season. Unless something changes drastically, I can’t see Schmitz getting a second contract from New York.
They will almost certainly need a new center for 2027, and it would be a shame if they didn’t give Hudson an extended run to determine if they already have their answer in place.
Harbaugh said something interesting on Monday that applies to the center position, even though he was responding to a question about potentially having to fill Braxton Berrios’s roster spot.
“We’ll turn over every stone,” Harbaugh said. “But sometimes the best stones are right under your feet.”
That, I think, is the best explanation for why Hudson needs an opportunity to play.
Hitting the road
The Giants are 3-0 at home, and establishing a home field advantage is an important step in becoming a truly good football team. You do, though, have to win some games on the road. The Giants have gone 3-14 on the road the past two season, including 1-8 in 2025. They got manhandled by the Los Angeles Rams on the road in their only loss so far this season.
Showing the ability to win games that matter on the road would be another step in the evolution of a team still trying to transition from down-trodden loser to truly dangerous contender.
Are the Giants ready to take that step?
‘Protect the football at all times’
The Giants have already fumbled the ball seven times this season, but have been fortunate enough to lose only two of those. Cam Skattebo has three of those fumbles in 76 touches. That kind of sloppiness with the ball will eventually cost the Giants games
“Sometimes you try too hard. Sometimes you try too hard to get the extra couple yards, to break out of the pile, to get the run game going. And then the ball becomes a little bit vulnerable in there and I just think we just stick (to it),” Harbaugh said. “You watch what Skatt and Najee have been doing, too. But protect the ball at all costs. The yards are going to come. Make that the first priority. Don’t forget that. Play to play. Keep reminding each other of that.”
Harbaugh said holding on to the ball is a priority for everyone.
“We have these heavy balls now that we bring in, and they carry this. But it’s not really punishment. They do it all anyway. They carry them around. We punch them out. They’ve got to hold them behind the line. But that’s what all the guys do anyway,” Harbaugh said. “So even our managers have to not fumble the ball. They’ll punch it out if they’re holding it loose. So, it just kind of needs to be like an organizational priority. You protect the football at all times if it’s in your hands.”
Something else Harbaugh said might be considered a warning shot for quarterback Jameis Winston, who has three touchdown passes and three interceptions since taking over for the injured Jaxson Dart.
“It’s definitely a priority for us. The priority for us,” Harbaugh said. “Not turning the ball over, whether it be fumbles or interceptions. If we’re going to accomplish the things we want to accomplish, that has to get done. That is the number one priority offensively. Everybody knows it. We all know it. We have to know it and do it.”
‘3 yards and a cloud of dust’
That has, more or less, been the Giants’ rushing attack so far this season.
Skattebo is averaging 3.5 yards per carry. On 68 rushing attempts, his longest gain is 13 yards. Over the last three games, he has gained just 154 yards on 50 carries, 3.08 yards per attempt.
Najee Harris is averaging 4.0 yards per carry (22 rushes, 88 yards). His career average, though, is just 3.9 yards on more than 1,100 attempts.
The Giants want to grind teams down with their running game, but overall they are 23rd in the league at 3.7 yards per rush. The Giants’ rushing Expected Points Added (EPA) is -15.6, 26th, per NextGenStats. Their 37.8% success rate is 22nd. The Giants are at -45 in rushing yards over expected, 26th in the league.
Remember when the Giants were flirting with Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker in free agency, or considered a legitimate landing spot in the draft for Jeremiyah Love? This is why. They don’t have a home run hitter in their backfield.
The closest that they have is Tyrone Tracy, who has a career average of 4.3 yards per carry, but he has carried only four times for 16 yards this season. In an effort to create some chunk plays, the Giants might need to give the ball to Tracy more often.
They might also have to turn to this:
The J.J. McCarthy package
The Giants manipulated their roster against the Arizona Cardinals is such a way that McCarthy was QB3, with Harbaugh saying it was “unrealistic” for J.J. McCarthy to be able to function in a full backup role. Harbaugh, though, admitted that there were “certain plays that we had prepared for” McCarthy. They ended up choosing not to use them.
That could change this Sunday. Harbaugh said on Monday that McCarthy being the No. 2 quarterback behind Jameis Winston this week is “definitely on the table.”
McCarthy is not the runner Jaxson Dart is. In 10 games, he has averaged 3.7 rushes per game for 4.9 yards per carry. Dart, an excellent runner, averages 6.1 rushing attempts per games and 5.6 yards per carry. Still, McCarthy is an athletic 23-year-old who offers the Giants the chance to keep the quarterback run game in the playbook.
I am going to guess that we see a little bit of it against the Commanders.
