NFL Week 2 kicks off tonight with two rivals going head to head tonight when the New York Giants take on the Washington Football Team. This matchup should be a grinder of a game, as both teams lost their opening matchup just a mere four days ago and can’t afford to go 0-2 with a loss to a division rival.

Keys Of The Game: Offense

The Giants have a tough test as WFT has one of the better defenses in the league which is going to cause nightmares for QB Daniel Jones and Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett. Daniel Jones has had fumbling issues over his career but tonight that has to come to a halt. The Giants have no chance to win if Jones continues his fumbling ways.

Another big question mark for the Giants offense is running back Saquan Barkley and what type of impact he will bring to tonight’s game. Saquan tore his ACL in week 2 of the 2020 season and in his first game back didn’t look like himself. Barkley produced 26 yards on 10 carries with his longest run being only 5 yards. Relying on Daniel Jones dropping back 40-50 times isn’t a recipe for success and we could see that have to happen if WFT jumps out ahead early.

Washington Football Team’s offense wasn’t going to be the best this year even with starting QB Ryan Fitzpatrick under center, but now with Fitzpatrick out and backup QB Taylor Heinicke starting they will be in dog fight week in and week out.

The run game has to be the biggest point of emphasis for the WFT offense. Antonio Gibson is a really good running back that should be getting 25-30 touches a gem going forward. The Giants defense let up over 150 yards to Denver on the ground on Sunday which plays into the WFT game plan going forward. With Heincke under center, you can’t have a dynamic passing attack down the field, and with that defense, WFT will be going more run-heavy as they should.

Keys Of The Game: Defense

This goes for both teams….. STOP THE RUN! That’s what this game is ultimately going to come down to, what team is going to make the opposing QB beat them. These defenses have to focus on the run and shut it down early because odds go way up if Jones or Heinicke have to drop back 40-50 times.

If both teams can shut down the run the Giants have an easier offense to shut down. The two biggest threats for WFT are RB Gibson and WR McLaurin and if the run game gets shut down, half of Gibson’s impact is gone and McLaurin is being doubled/tripled all game. Whereas the Giants have some big weapons at WR with the free-agent addition of Kenny Golladay in the offseason to pair with Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton. WFT has more talent to worry about in their defensive game plan that could cause them to lose this game.

This game is going to be a low-scoring slugfest and that fits the NFC East perfectly. Two division rivals going head to head will always bring out the best in teams and this will be no different. Defenses should rule this game but a big play will happen for one of the offenses being the difference-maker in the end.

Shares:

Drop a Reply