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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
John Fennelly

Giants force six turnovers, ride Saquon Barkley to 31-19 win over Commanders

The Washington Commanders hosted their long-time rivals, the New York Giants, at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland on Sunday afternoon.

It was a game that had very little significance in the NFC East standings between the third- and fourth-place teams.

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Washington was favored by 9.5 points on most betting platforms with an over/under of 35 total points.

The Giants came into the game 2-0-1 versus the Commanders under head coach Brian Daboll.

Make that 3-0-1 after this one as Big Blue won for just the third time this season.

 

Final score: Giants 31, Commanders 19

Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Giants 7 7 0 17 31
Commanders 3 6 3 7 19

Keys to the game

Rob Carr/Getty Images
  • The Giants forced six turnovers, which covered up their many blemishes in this game. Three of the turnovers led to touchdowns for Big Blue.
  • The Giants relied on the loyalty of Saquon Barkley — a lot — in this game. The trust paid off as Barkley put the Giants on his back and led them to victory.
  • The defense was impressive, especially in the ball-hawking department. The takeaways took a long time to show up this season, but now we can see how effective this unit can be.
  • The Giants basically played a clean game. They only had five penalties for 33 yards — all in the second half.

It was over when...

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

When Giants linebacker Isaiah Simmons picked off a Sam Howell pass with 16 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and returned it 54 yards for a touchdown.

The pick-six iced the game for the Giants as the Commanders were in the process of driving down the field for the possible winning touchdown.

Players of the game

Patrick Smith/Getty Images
  • Saquon Barkley rushed for 83 yards — all in the second half — and caught four passes for 57 yards and two touchdowns. The Giants needed to lean on him in this game and he responded.
  • Tommy DeVito was 18-of-26 passing for 246 yards and tossed three touchdowns for a 137.7 rating. Not bad in a game in which he was sacked nine times.
  • Dexter Lawrence was a monster in the middle again for the Giants with four total stops, a sack, and batted two passes.
  • Linebacker Bobby Okereke continued to make his case for Pro Bowl consideration with 14 total tackles and two forced fumbles.

Injuries

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Wide receiver Darius Slayton left the field late in the first half and headed to the locker room with an arm injury and was ruled out in the third quarter.

Both left tackle Andrew Thomas and nose tackle Dexter Lawrence also got a little banged up, but remained in the game.

What's next?

AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper

Head coach Brian Daboll will hold a Zoom call with the team’s beat writers on Monday afternoon before a few players are also made available.

Big Blue will return to practice on Wednesday ahead of a Week 12 game against the New England Patriots on Sunday, November 26 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Kickoff is 1:00 p.m. ET.

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