The New York Giants (1-5) host the Washington Commanders (3-3) at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, October 22. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. ET.
The Giants are coming off a narrow 14-9 road loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football. The Commanders defeated the Falcons in Atlanta on Sunday, 24-16.
Here are five things to know before Sunday’s matchup.
The series
This will be the 181st meeting between the Giants and the Washington franchise since 1932 when the Commanders were known as the Boston Braves.
The Giants lead the regular season series, 105-70-5. The teams met twice in the postseason, in 1943 and 1987. Washington won the 1943 meeting, 28-0, while the Giants prevailed, 17-0, in 1987.
Last season, the two teams played twice — a 20-20 tie in Week 13 and a 20-12 Giants victory two weeks later.
Roarin' McLaurin
Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin has been a beast against NFC East rivals.
Since entering the league in 2019, McLaurin leads all offensive players in receiving yards (1,807) and is tied for first with Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper for receiving touchdowns (nine) against the NFC East. He also has recorded 76 first downs, which leads all offensive players.
In seven career games against the Giants, McLaurin has 50 catches for 650 yards (an average of 92.9 per game) and three receiving touchdowns. He also has 6+ catches in six of the seven games and 70+ receiving yards in all seven contests versus the Giants.
Inside men
The Giants are sporting a very productive duo at inside linebacker in Bobby Okereke and Micah McFadden.
Last week in Buffalo, Okereke led the team with 11 tackles, two for a loss with two passes defensed and an interception. He is one of two players in the league (the Jets’ Quincy Williams is the other) with 50+ tackles (53), 5+ tackles for a loss (5) and 5+ passes defensed (5) in 2023.
McFadden had seven tackles against the Bills along with his first career interception and first career fumble recovery. He had nine tackles and a forced fumble in the last home meeting versus Washington.
Saquon's favorite opponent
Giants Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley has had mush success against Washington in his career, which dates back to 2018.
In seven games versus Washington, Barkley has 634 rushing yards on 109 attempts (5.82 per carry) and four rushing touchdowns. He also has 32 receptions for 272 yards and another score.
Barkley is averaging 129.3 total yards from scrimmage against Washington in his career.
Giants, meet Sam Howell
This will be Commanders quarterback Sam Howell’s first game against the New York Giants.
Howell was a fifth-round pick out of North Carolina in the 2022 NFL draft. He was a college teammate of two Giants’ offensive linemen — Marcus McKethan and Joshua Ezeudu.
Through six games as the starter this season for Washington, Howell is ninth in passing yards in the NFL with 1,500, fifth in completions (145), tied for seventh in passing first downs (71), and has eight completions of 30 or more yards.
