3 causes for concern in Week 9

The New York Giants are riding a three-game losing streak and will be on short rest when they host the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium this Sunday.

Meanwhile, as the Giants continue to battle during their losing season, the Commanders come in as winners of back-to-back games and six of their last seven games following the successful Hail Mary on the final play of Week 8 to defeat the Chicago Bears.

This will be the second time the two teams meet this season. Washington defeated Big Blue in Week 2 despite not scoring a touchdown in the game.

With the emergence and growth of quarterback Jayden Daniels every week, these games against the division rivals are going to be ones the Giants fear for years to come.

Here are three causes for concern ahead of Sunday’s divisional showdown.

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Home not so sweet Home

Most teams desire to play at home in front of their home crowd. Not these Giants and certainly not Daniel Jones.

Jones’ home and away splits are well documented for being incredibly lopsided in favor of when he plays on the road.

This season, the Giants have played four games at MetLife Stadium and four games on the road. At home, they are 0-4 and have been outscored 93-31 in those games. Meanwhile, on the road, the Giants hold a 2-2 record and have outscored their opponents a combined 86-82.

Needless to say, MetLife Stadium has not been kind to Big Blue.

Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Commanders’ ground attack

The Commanders come into Week 9 as the team with the second-best yards per carry in the league, third in rushing yards per game, and second in the league in rushing Touchdowns per game.

On the other side, the Giants have had trouble stopping the run all season long. No team has given up more yards per rush than Big Blue.

Washington has the fourth-highest percentage of run plays in the league and you can bet that number will probably be a tad lopsided on Sunday going against a soft Giants’ run stop.

John Jones-Imagn Images

Injuries and effort

Last week, cornerback Deonte Banks was benched and had been talked about in recent weeks for his lack of effort. The Giants will be going up against a Commanders team with the second-highest completion percentage in the league.

The Giants are already down Andrew Thomas and Kayvon Thibodeaux and as of Wednesday, rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. remains in concussion protocol.