Week 9 of the NFL season is already upon us. At the halfway mark of the campaign, the NFC East is in a tight race despite all four teams comprising losing records.
There is optimism if you’re a supporter of the Washington Football Team, however, because contrary to years past, in 2020, the young football team has fared well within the division.
Washington’s won two more games within the division than they did last season when they lost all six of their NFC East contest. The Burgundy and Gold have wins over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1 and a beat down of the Dallas Cowboys in Week 7. They narrowly lost to Sunday’s opponent – New York Giants – back in Week 6 after failing to convert a game-winning two-point conversion.
After benching second-year QB Dwayne Haskins, Washington has received steady play from new signal-caller Kyle Allen. Allen has turned the ball over but has also made plays when needed. On the year, Allen has produced four touchdowns through the air and one on the ground for a QB rating of 99.4. Against the Giants, Washington will need this trend to continue to have any success on offense.
Washington’s No. 1 ranked pass defense will have to get after Giants QB Daniel Jones and make plays to help secure a win.
Coming off of a bye week, Washington has a chance to go out and play well and try to separate from the NFC East pack in winnable games.
Coach Ron Rivera spoke about the importance of playing well coming out off a bye week but still treating the game as just another contest to reporters during his Zoom press conference on Thursday.
“Well, don’t go off my record because I think I’m 50-50 or close to it or something like that,” Rivera joked. “The thing about it, really, is to me, again, is the approach has to be this is a game we’re about to play and a very important game we’re about to play. Why? Because it’s the next one we play. I don’t think you can get too wound up about it. I think you have to just focus in and treat it as the next game you’re about to play.”
As mentioned before, in the team’s last contest on October 18 in the Meadowlands, Washington was defeated by the Giants 20-19.
Sunday’s game marks the 178th time in franchise history the two traditional rivals will play each other. It’s the most games played against an opponent in Washington franchise history. Washington is 39-47-2 against the Giants at home all-time, dating back to 1932.
What would a win over the Giants do for the Washington Football Team from a statistical and historical standpoint?
A win would snap a four-game losing streak to the Giants dating back to December 9, 2018.
A ‘W’ would mark the first time Washington has started a season 3-1 vs. the NFC East since 2012.
A victory would mark the first time Washington has gone 3-0 at home against the NFC East since 2012.
A win would give Washington their first home win against the Giants since 2017.
Beating the Giants would give Washington the same amount of wins in the NFC East division with Philadelphia at three.
Finally, leaving FedEx Field victorious would mark the first time since 1990 that Washington’s first three wins of the season came against their NFC East division brethren.