The New York Giants and Washington Redskins will renew their bitter NFC rivalry with both teams trying to avoid falling to 1-3 on the season.
The Redskins have games against Seattle and at Arizona on deck. The Giants have a hot Atlanta team at home followed by road games at Philadelphia and Dallas.
The loser of this contest could essentially be already looking towards next season.
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1. Which Eli Manning Will Show Up?
Last week the Giants exceeded 27 points for the first time since Week 1 of 2013. Eli Manning has started to look the part in Ben McAdoo’s version of the west coast offense. Rashad Jennings 36 carries for 136 yards eased the burden on Manning tremendously. Manning was 21 for 28 for 235 yards against Houston, and helped Victor Cruz get his first 100-yard game since Week 11 last season. Manning will have to be efficient and take chances for the Giants to hang with a Redskins offense that has no problem putting up points.
2. Is Cousins Legit?
After lighting up the Jaguars in Week 2, Cousins got the start against the Eagles. He threw for 427 yards on 48 attempts (8.9 YPA) while completing 62.5 percent of his passes. He appears to be a perfect fit for Jay Gruden’s offense, progressing through his reads and mostly making smart decisions. His inability to close out games and finish teams off will likely to start to get questioned, but he’s a player and that’s all that matters.
3. Redskins Are Hurting-
Washington came out of Sunday’s 37-34 loss at Philadelphia banged-up with cornerback DeAngelo Hall (ruptured left Achilles) and safety Duke Ihenacho (broken left foot) lost for the season.
Linebackers Brian Orakpo (left middle finger) and Jason Hatcher (hamstring) are also questionable participants.
”We’re losing guys left and right,” Orakpo said. “Football’s a tough game. Look, if you’ve got kids and can’t stand injuries, don’t let ’em play football.”
Random Notes:
DeSean Jackson was limited Monday and Tuesday with a shoulder injury while Alfred Morris was a full participant with a knee injury. Brian Orakpo was limited with a finger injury as he tore a ligament in the middle finger of his left hand Sunday and is expected to wear a hard cast Thursday night.
In 10 games, not starts, Cousins has 11 interceptions. Manning is a walking turnover machine, so it will be interesting to see who give it up more.