With the Eagles beating the Cowboys on Thursday night, the NFC East is already starting to segment into the haves and have nots. The winner of this game will be 1-0 in division play and one of 16 teams across the league to finish Week 1 with an unblemished overall record; the loser will be in a hole and its fan base is likely to go into a panic about the disastrous season that awaits.
Last year’s stats and accomplishments (or failures) mean nothing. It’s a new season and every team starts with a blank slate. Northwest Stadium is sold out and the crowd is expected to be electric as QB Jayden Daniels, WR Terry McLaurin, LBs Bobby Wagner & Frankie Luvu and extra-point-holder Tress Way head onto the grass with the intention of logging the Commanders’ first win of the season.
The only player on either team to have an injury designation for the game is the Giants starting left tackle, Andrew Thomas, who was listed as “doubtful” on Friday’s injury report. He was inactive for this game, which could offer an advantage to the Commanders.
The Commanders are favored by 6.5 points, but Week 1 games in the NFL — especially those between division rivals — are notoriously unpredictable.
The weather was cloudy all morning, but the skies are expected to clear as the game gets underway with temperatures around 70 degrees.
The game opened with New York kicking off to the Commanders who set up for the first offensive drive of the season. Deebo Samuel ran the ball out of the end zone, but only got to the 20-yard line, giving up 15 yards of field position. Not the ideal start.
After earning one first down, the Commanders were let down (twice) by Zach Ertz who was called for a false start on 3rd & 5 and then dropped an easy catch on the replay of the snap. Tress Way had to punt the ball away with just under 13 minutes in the quarter.
Javon Kinlaw made the Commanders first tackle of the ‘25 season, hitting the running back a yard behind the line of scrimmage. Two plays later, the Giants punted on 4th & 7. Jaylin Lane returned the punt — his first NFL touch — but a holding call against Jonathan Jones on the return pushed the ball back to the Washington 11-yard line.
The question of which player would lead the running attack was answered early as Austin Ekeler played every snap of both drives. The big play of the drive was a 34-yard completion to the right sideline to WR Chris Moore, who had been activated from the practice squad for this game. Noah Brown also caught one in the middle of the field for 18 yards.
With the ball in the red zone with 1st & 10 at the 12-yard line with about 8 minutes remaining in the quarter, Daniels is 4 of 6 passes for 64 yards, with another 20 yards on 3 carries.
Giants linebacker Micah McFadden got injured tackling Austin Ekeler and was carted off the field.
Ertz made up for his earlier mistakes by capping the Commanders’ 2nd offensive drive (8 plays, 89 yards) with Washington’s first score of 2025 on a 7-yard TD catch. After the PAT, the Commanders had a 7-0 lead.
At this point, Washington has run 14 plays; the Giants have run 3. The crowd roared to support the Washington defense. Deatrich Wise nearly got a sack on 1st down, but Russell Wilson managed to dirt the ball without drawing a flag. The Giants managed to convert 3rd & 4 despite tight coverage on the sideline from rookie Trey Amos to extend the drive.
A missed tackle by Frankie Luvu gave NY another first down, and then a 25-yard completion on the next play put the ball at Washington’s 29-yard line.
Giants rookie RB Skattabo got some tough hits in as a blocker and runner on back-to-back plays before getting stopped on 2nd & 4. The Giants got the 1st down on the next play, and a flag for unnecessary roughness against Marshon Lattimore pushed the ball deep into the red zone — 1st & 10 at the 8-yard line with under 2 minutes left in the first quarter.
On 3rd & goal from the 10-yard line, Russ Wilson tried to run it in but was stopped at the 3 yard line as the quarter came to an end. Russ fumbled the ball, but recovered it himself without any real danger of losing it.
Facing 4th & goal at the 3, Giants head coach Brian Daboll opted to go for the touchdown instead of the field goal. Under pressure, Russ ran around and threw an incomplete pass that was celebrated for a moment by the hometown crowd, but a hands-to-the-face penalty against Wise gave New York 1st & goal at the 1-yard line.
A first-down incompletion and a 1-yard loss by Scattebo on 2nd down was followed by Wilson just throwing the ball away on 3rd down. Facing 4th & goal from the 2 yard line, Daboll made the curious decision to kick the field goal in what felt like a win for the Washington defense.
After a 16-play, 76-yard drive, the Giants hit the FG to make the score 7-3 with about 14 minutes remaining in the half.
Washington’s offense had looked pretty good on the previous TD drive; they will need to do it again to start to put their collective foot on the neck of the Giants.
Bill Merritt took the 1st down snap for his first NFL carry. On 2nd down, Daniels made a good throw that was s touch too high and hot for Deebo to handle. On 3rd & 9, he overthrew Terry McLaurin running wide open 40 yards downfield — a sure touchdown if the play had connected — and Tress Way had to punt again.
Nick Bellore’s special team tackle was a huge hit that had the TV announcers exclaiming both live and on the replay.
The Giants started their 3rd offensive drive with about 13 minutes remaining in the half. Russ missed a sidearm throw against the blitz on 3rd & 1 and the Giants had to punt after a 3-play, 9-yard drive.
Washington had good field position at their own 42-yard line with just under 12 minutes remaining in the half.
A 10-yard run by Bill Merritt got Washington across midfield, but the Commanders ended back in their own territory when Brian Burns sacked Jayden Daniels for a 6-yard loss on the next play.
On 2nd & 16, however, JD5 found Deebo Samuel for the needed 16 yards and another 1st down.
After penalties against both teams, Brian Burns got his 2nd sack of the drive to force 2nd & 19. A completion to McLaurin brought up 3rd & 7 at the 28-yard line.
Daniels rolled to his right and ran for an easy first down; a holding penalty against the defense pushed the ball to the NYG 12-yard line — 1st down & 10.
Kingsbury called Croskey-Merritt’s number (22) on consecutive plays, and he walked into the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown to give the Commanders a 14-3 lead.
At this point, Ekeler has 4 carries for 19 yards; JCM has 4 for 24 yards and a TD; Daniels has carried 4 times for 31 yards. Chris Rodriguez is inactive and, so far at least, not being missed.
The Giants next offensive drive started at their 21-yard line with about 6 minutes left in the half.
Wilson got the ball away on first down, but took a big hit from Kinlaw who shot through the NY OL like a hot knife through butter. On 3rd & 5, two Washington defenders were offsides. The penalty resulted in 3rd & less than a yard at their own 30-yard line. Wilson ran it himself, gaining a yard for the 1st down.
Back to back running plays netted 3 yards to force 3rd & 7. NYG running backs are averaging 2.6 yards per carry at this point.
A false start penalty made it 3rd & 13. Washington rushed four and Daron Payne got to Russell Wilson first on a strong rush by the unit.
On 4th & 21 with just over 2 minutes in the half, the Giants punted the ball again. Washington took over as the officials gave the 2-minute warning.
With the ball at their own 41-yard line, Washington is in a good position to add to their 11-point lead before halftime.
With tons of time on 1st down, JD5 targeted Jaylin Lane deep in the middle of the field. The ball was slightly behind the rookie, who couldn’t pull it in. Daniels went right back to Lane for a 10-yard catch & run.
On the next play, Thibodeaux sacked Daniels — the 3rd sack of Daniels in the first half, and none of them of the ‘step out of bounds’ variety — all from strong pass rush by NY’s excellent defensive front.
On 3rd & 11 at midfield, Deebo Samuel pulled in a 21-yard pass in the middle of the field.
Two plays later, with Ekeler back in the game, a check down to #30 took the ball to the 13-yard line. Dan Quinn called his last time out. It looks like the Commanders will be throwing to the end zone on all the remaining plays.
On 1st down, Daniels missed Noah Brown at the back of the end zone with 15 seconds left on the clock.
On 2nd down, Daniels ran a called QB draw right up the middle, inside the 5-yard line.
On 3rd & 1, Daniels threw the ball to nobody and got flagged for intentional grounding. With the 10-second runoff, the half came to an end.
So much for “winning time moments”. This was bad game management by Dan Quinn and Jayden Daniels.
The Giants will get the ball to start the 2nd half.
The Commanders will honor Santana Moss by inducting him to the team’s Ring of Fame at halftime.
Aside from penalties, the Commanders clearly had the best of the game in the first half, but failed to finish off the right way, letting time run out without scoring when they had the ball at the Giants 4-yard line and the opportunity to expand their lead. Let’s hope that sloppy end to the 2nd quarter doesn’t end up costing them the game.
Washington kicked off to New York to open the second half. The Giants started the drive at their own 20-yard line to open the 3rd quarter.
On the 4th play of the drive (3rd & 4), Dorance Armstrong & Daron Payne sacked Russell Wilson to force a punt that went into the end zone for a touchback. If my count is correct, Payne is currently on track for 25 sacks over the course of a 17-game season.
Croskey-Merritt is back in for the Commanders.
On 2nd & 9, Daniels scrambled and JCM made TWO great blocks on the play. The gain was negated by a holding call against Allegretti, but the Merritt looked very good in his pass pro that flowed into run blocking. He currently has 6 runs for 37 yards and a TD.
On 3rd & 11, Zach Ertz bobbled the catch near midfield on a great throw by Daniels, forcing 4th down and a punt by the Commanders.
The punt was partially blocked by Abdul Carter who took out Tress Way’s legs. No penalty because of the partial block.
The Giants took over at their own 29-yard line.
Lattimore blanked Nabers on 2nd & 10; on 3rd & 10, Wilsons’ checkdown pass was dropped by his running back. 3 plays for zero yards.
After the punt, Washington took over at their own 25-yard line with 08:30 left in the 3rd quarter. Washington has outplayed the Giants on both sides of the ball, but the scoreboard simply doesn’t reflect that apparent domination with New York stubbornly keeping the deficit at 11 points probably because Washington is just 3-11 on third-down conversions.
Daniels opens up with a 14-yard strike to Terry McLaurin.
Three plays later, on 3rd & 5, a throw to McLaurin that looked like it could have been trapped was ruled incomplete. Dan Quinn threw the challenge flag; the TV replay made it look like a very good challenge.
The call on the field was upheld. Instead of a first down, Washington had to punt on 4th & 5.
After a touchback, the Giants took possession at their own 20-yard line with about 7 minutes left in the quarter.
The Commanders pass rush is pretty relentless. Wilson threw the ball away under pressure on 1st down; RB Tracy was tackled for a 2-yard loss on 2nd down. On 3rd & 12, however, Wandale Robinson had a catch & run for about 12 yards that the officials marked inches short.
Russ made the 1st down at his own 31-yard line on the quarterback sneak.
Igbinoghene got away with a facemask on 1st & 10. I’m reminded that the replay officials can now call a missed face mask penalty, but they didn’t. On 2nd down, Nabers made a nice catch for 21 yards on an under-thrown ball by Wilson, who was under pressure.
A defensive holding penalty on the next play gave NY another 1st down at the Washington 33-yard line. This is spinning out of control quickly.
An offensive holding call negated a 16-yard completion to force 1st & 20 at the 44-yard line. This timely penalty really helped Washington. Trey Amos broke up another underthrown “moon ball” to Nabers on the following play.
Under heavy pressure, Wilson got rid of the ball to Skattebo on a checkdown to bring up 3rd & 13. On the 3rd down play, Daron Payne knocked down Wilson’s pass to force 4th down and a 55-yard field goal attempt by Graham Gano, who nailed it to make the score 14-6 with 01:43 left in the quarter.
Luke McCaffrey had a 36-yard return to give Jayden Daniels the ball at the 39-yard line. Washington’s offense can’t just keep winning the stats battle; they need to score another touchdown.
The third quarter came to an end on a Jayden Daniels scramble that brought up 3rd & 2 at the Washington 48-yard-line.
On the 3rd down play, Deebo Samuel caught a pass near the line of scrimmage but was tackled for no gain, forcing another punt.
Trailing by 8 points, the Giants took over at their own 12-yard line.
The drive started with a 16-yard strike to Nabers, who was covered (and held) by Trey Amos.
Wilson scrambled for 15 yards on the next play — the Giants’ longest run of the day.
Two plays later, it was 3rd & 4 near midfield. On the 3rd down play, Jeremy Reaves tackled RB Stacey on the checkdown pass for no gain and an incompletion, forcing the punt.
After a touchback, the Commanders took over at the 20-yard line with about 12 minutes left in the game. A touchdown here would go a long way towards icing the win. The Commanders have been shut out so far in the second half.
Jayden starts the drive with a 13-yard gallop.
Jeremy McNichols makes an appearance, carrying the ball for a 2-yard gain on 1st down. The next play was an 11-yard strike to Ertz in the middle of the field for another first down at the WAS 47 yard line.
After a short run by Ekeler, Conerly was flagged for a hold to force 2nd & 17. The offense is going the wrong direction.
A designed QB run up the middle was nearly a disaster, but JD5 turned it into a 12-yard gain to bring up 3rd & 5 across midfield. On the 3rd down play, Deebo pulled in a pass for 19 yards across the middle of the field. At this point, Deebo is the game’s leading receiver with 7 catches or 77 yards (Nabers has 71 yards).
Deebo can’t hold onto the next pass, which was inches too far in front of the receiver and a bit too hot to handle.
Ekeler is back on the field and gets called for a false start, but immediately makes up for it by taking a short pass for 15 yards through heavy traffic and a first down at the 18-yard line with about 7 minutes left on the clock.
The next play was pure Deebo magic.
On an end around, Deebo drags NY Giants across the goal line and hits the pylon with the ball. Touchdown Washington! Cue the fight song!
21-6 Washington with 7 minutes on the clock.
Now the defense has to do what it struggled to do so often in 2024 — close out the game in the 4th quarter.
The Giants start their next offensive drive at the 35-yard line following the touchback.
The Commanders continue to rush the passer hard, but Russell Wilson continues to use his legs to keep plays alive.
On 3rd & 1, multiple flags flew. Illegal formation on the Giants, but an incomplete pass as well. DQ, choosing between 4th & 1 or 3rd & 6 opted to accept the penalty.
On the 3rd & 6 play, Igbinoghene fell and Robinson caught a 20-yard pass to keep the drive alive. The clock is ticking — under 5 minutes now — but the Giants have reached the 38-yard line.
On 3rd & 7, the pocket collapsed on Wilson, but he dumped it off to the RB to bring up 4th & 2.
On the 4th down play, Washington blitzed. Wilson threw up a prayer that was intercepted by Quan Martin. Flags flew — roughing the passer was called on Bobby Wagner, who patted Russell Wilson on the side of the helmet.
The interception was negated and the Giants were awarded a 1st down at the WAS 18-yard line.
Quickly, it was 1st & goal at the 3 yard line, with the Giants trailing by 15 points.
On 2nd & goal, Payne batted down another pass to bring up 3rd down with 02:49 on the clock.
Nabers came down with the ball out of the end zone on 3rd down.
On 4th & goal, Russell Wilson missed Wandale Robinson in the middle of the end zone vs zone coverage to turn the ball over on downs. with 02:39 on the clock. Kevin Burkhardt tells the audience that Russell Wilson has faced a 50% pressure rate on the day. He also mentions that the Giants have run 13 red zone plays without scoring a touchdown.
On 2nd & 8, Bill Croskey-Merritt breaks loos on an inside zone run and rambles 42 yards to the 47 yard line!
JCM now has 8 carries for 82 yards and a TD.
McNichols returned to the game and added another 13-yard run. The Commanders now have 215 yards on 28 rushing attempts and 212 yards on 30 passes with 19 completions.
When the two minute warning was given by the officials, Washington had 2nd & 8 at the NYG 38-yard-line.
For practical purposes, the game was over, though Jayden Daniels still needed to kneel a few times to make it official.
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