Kickoff: Wednesday, Oct 25th at 6 CST.
TV: Stream
Spread: Pick-Em
After 15 games, the Washington Redskins playoff hopes come down to the final week of the season. First they will need a little help from the Carolina Panthers who will need to defeat the Atlanta Falcons in an NFC South game that could be a playoff preview if the Redskins fail to make the playoffs and the Seahawks defeat the Cardinals.
The Redskins will have their own foe to worry about as they travel to take on the Giants. The Giants, who are 10-5 this season, fell to the Redskins 26-23 in week 12 which seen the Redskins rally from an early 10-0 deficit and featured 2 Kirk Cousins rushing touchdowns along with a passing touchdown to Jordan Reed.
The Giants are coming off a 31-19 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in which Eli Manniog & Davis Webb threw a combined 3 interceptions. A key piece to highlight is that The Giants rested much of their starting lineup in week 16, and may look to do the same against the Redskins, which tilts to a slight advantage to the Redskins.
The Giants & Redskins are both averaging 29.0 points per game this season, and both giving up an average of 23.0 points per game. To say this is an even match up on paper would be an understatement.
It's simple for the Redskins, they need to win this game and then get their Cam Newton jersey's on for the Carolina/Atlanta game to have any hopes of making the postseason.
3 Things To Watch For:
1. Kirk Cousins
This game will hinge on the play of Kirk Cousins. Cousins is coming off a 6 turnover game against the Broncos, and will certainly want to keep that game in the rear view mirror and out of his mind. The Giants have a stingy defense, being in the top 5 for passing yards and top 10 for rushing yards allowed and will certainly test Kirk Cousins and see if they can force him into some mistakes.
2. Can Washington develop a ground game?
It has been a question all season, and there will be no better time than in this game to get the ground game moving. In week 12 against the Giants, Washington had 106 rushing yards, but 37 of those were from Kirk Cousins. He has to get help from another player in the backfield.
3. Life without Zach Brown.
Zach Brown was lost for 7 weeks in week 13 against Dallas. With that, the team has had to to come together to fill the gap left at the middle linebacker position by the speedy Brown. Brown had accumuated 46 tackles and 3 interceptions over those 12 games but was a constant presence on most downs. In the past 2 weeks, the team has allowed 36.5 points per game, including 220 rushing yards last week against the Broncos. This team has to shore up it's defense and go back to the basics if it hopes to be victorious.