One Win Away from Full-Blown Delusion - Giants vs. Commanders Preview

After spending last night successfully hate-watching the Cowboys into submission, my New York Giants now find themselves in prime position to ride this streak of weak competition into a potential division title.

While looking three months ahead kind of goes against the whole “1-0” thing, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t one win over Washington away from fully believing we can actually pull this off.

Sure, it’s stupid and nonsensical to put any sort of expectations on this team, but so is rushing Jayden back three weeks after his forearm and tricep made an acute angle. If having the same level of discernment as the Fred Durst of Football is some sort of crime, then throw me in whatever jail has NFL Sunday Ticket and leave me the hell alone.

While the Commanders haven’t exactly shot out of the gate this season, they do represent the highest level of competition we’ve seen since the Rams. Despite the fact that their injury report reads more like a short story, it does appear that Terry McLaurin, Sam Cosmi, and, of course, Jayden Daniels will all be back for Washington’s offense.

I fully expect Denard Wilson to build on the success he found in the second half against Arizona, bringing pressure against a disjointed offensive line and praying that our corners can hang in there against the injured and aging versions of Stefon Diggs and Terry McLaurin.

Amputee or not, Jayden is an obvious upgrade over Jacoby Brissett, so he’s going to hit on a few big plays. But living and dying by the blitz needs to remain the formula, especially knowing we’re one Abdul Carter hit away from another “Greek Rifle” cameo. Hell, maybe Kayvon decides to start his season this week, considering he loves nothing more than padding his stats against the skins.

Offensively, I remain concerned about the erratic play of Jameis Winston. While the pass-rush and sack numbers aren’t great, you know this Brian Flores disciple/wannabe is going to be bringing the heat. Considering Winston has been feeling pressure in clean pockets, I worry that the misfires and self-sacking trends will bleed into this week as well.

With that being said, the combination of injuries and Mike Sainristil forgetting how to play football has the Commanders’ secondary in complete disarray. If we can pick up the blitzes and locate the one-on-ones, there are plenty of downfield shots to be had against this group. The beat writers had a field day writing about Leek asking for the ball. How about we give those uncreative weasels a new topic for this week?

This one won’t be easy. Divisional games rarely are. No matter how well Washington plays the run (sixth in the rushing YPG), we simply cannot afford to abandon the identity of our team and have Winston drop back 40 times. Time of possession needs to remain the focus whenever we’re playing this tier of quarterback. Limit their possessions, limit our mistakes, and there’s a good chance we end Sunday with a two-game lead in the division.

And at that point, this fanbase and that locker room will have no choice but to believe.