WASHINGTON — Following a win against the Atlanta Falcons, the Washington Commanders have won six of their last seven games and will now face the New York Giants in back-to-back games on Dec. 4 and Dec. 18. The team has a bye week between the two games.
"The guys are excited," quarterback Taylor Heinicke said. "When you get to this time of the year and you're in the playoff hunt, every game is really exciting."
If the Commanders can win both games, it will have a major impact on the playoff picture. Let's look at the percentages.
Going into the Dec. 4 game, The Commanders have a 66% chance of making the playoffs. If the team beats the Giants on Sunday, the percentage jumps up to 88%. If the Commanders sweep the Giants coming off of the bye week, the number jumps up to 98%.
If the Commanders want to make a giant leap to make the playoffs, they will have to beat the Giants not once, but twice.
The Commanders roll into the NFC East showdown at the 7-4 New York Giants with a lot of things clicking, from the running game that racked up 176 yards with five different ball carriers in the Falcons game to the defense that made the last-minute interception to preserve the victory.
The defense made a steady improvement after a rough start thanks in large part to the defensive line led by tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne and edge rusher Montez Sweat. Now the secondary is starting to get in on the fun, with cornerback Kendall Fuller picking off passes in consecutive games — returning the first for a touchdown at Houston and then intercepting Atlanta's Marcus Mariota in the end zone with 58 seconds left.
“It all goes hand in hand,” Fuller said. “When those guys (on the defensive line) are hunting, we’re able to make plays on the ball. And when we’re able to play good coverage, they’re able to get sacks.”
As left tackle (and sometime-WUSA9 sports anchor) Charles Leno put it, the Commanders are “going to have to bring our lunch pail and our hard hats” to the Meadowlands to face the Giants for the first of two games against them sandwiched around their bye week. FanDuel Sportsbook lists Washington as a 1½-point favorite.