Sportsnaut
The euphoria of what the New York Giants achieved this offseason and preseason quickly vanished on Sunday as they were outclassed by the Washington Commanders 21-6.
With the additions of Russell Wilson and Abdul Carter, 2025 was supposed to be a new beginning where the team re-gained credibility. Instead, it was the same uninspiring display of football that fans have grown accustomed to seeing over the last decade.
There’s a grocery list of issues that plagued Big Blue against the Commanders. But we’ll just dig to the top three and explain why 2025 is quickly shaping up to be the same disaster we’ve seen time and time before.
The team signed Russell Wilson to a one-year deal with the belief he would rejuvenate the offense with his moon balls downfield. But on Sunday, the 36-year-old quarterback was out of sync and looked overwhelmed by the Commanders pass rush.
Wilson completed 17 out of 37 passes for 168 yards, and while some of his misfires were due to being under duress, he didn’t play up to expectations. Although he was sacked only twice, he was pressured frequently, and it was clear that it was affecting him.
There was speculation before the game that the team had a couple of packages for Jaxson Dart, but he never saw the field. You have to wonder, based on how ineffective the team was with Wilson, why head coach Brian Daboll didn’t bring the rookie in the game to see if he could provide a spark.
Wilson is not expected to have a long leash on the starting job with how well Dart played in the preseason. If the offense doesn’t improve against Dallas next week, the leash will get even shorter.
As we mentioned, Washington’s pass rush was one of the reasons for Wilson’s struggles. But the offensive line was just as bad, if not worse, in their run blocking. The line was unable to create holes for their running backs as Tyrone Tracy Jr, Devin Singletary, and Cam Skattebo ran the ball 15 times for just 30 yards.
It was expected that the line might struggle without Andrew Thomas, but the issues up front run deeper than just the absence of their All-Pro left tackle. This has been the Achilles heel for the team for years, and there’s no reason to believe that even when Thomas returns, the unit won’t struggle.
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After the success Washington had in their two-game sweep of New York last season, you knew their game plan would be to dominate the tempo of the game with their ground attack. They would execute their plan to perfection as they ran the ball 32 times for 220 yards with two touchdowns.
It wasn’t just the Commanders’ backs that had success running all over New York; quarterback Jayden Daniels had 11 rushes for 68...
