Giants Redskins
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The Washington Redskins are the lone NFC team the New York Giants have defeated in the last season and a half, but it will take a monumental effort if they’re going to beat them again on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

Jason Leach

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY—It has been a nightmare for the New York Giants and their fans for the last season in a half.

They’re 4-19 in their last 22 games and 1 and 1-16 in the last NFC conference games. Their lone win in the conference came against the Washington Redskins in the 2017 season finale when the Giants won 18-10.

If they are going to defeat the Redskins again, the Giants will have to do something they haven’t done all year: play four quarters of mistake-free and fundamentally-sound football.

Here are the keys to victory for the Giants:

Try something bold early

With the team off to a 1-6 start for the second year in a row and trading away two defensive starters this week in Damon Harrison and Eli Apple, the team and the fans have to be deflated.

To galvanize the team and the fans, the Giants need to try something bold early in the game. Whether it’s a trick play on offense or a fake punt, Pat Shurmur needs to do something to excite and motivate his team and the fans.

Feature Odell and Saquon

(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

One of the few positives for the Giants this season is that they have two of the most dynamic playmakers in the NFL in Saquon Barkley and Odell Beckham Jr.

The Redskins defense is giving up just 20 points per game which is seventh best in the league. Ideally, the offensive game plan would be to give what the defense gives you. But if the Giants are going to have any success against the stingy Redskins defense, Eli Manning must get the ball into the hands of Barkley and Beckham.

Beckham should be extra motivated this week since he’s going up against his longtime rival Josh Norman. Barkley will try to get back on track after his streak of six consecutive games of at least 100 all-purpose yards was snapped last week.

Force turnovers

The Redskins do not have a prolific offense, averaging just 21 points per game, but containing them will be harder with the departure of Harrison and Apple and the fact that they might be without linebacker Alec Ogletree who is nursing a hamstring injury. So the best way for the Giants to stop Redskins drives would be to force Alex Smith and the Redskins offense into turnovers.

This will be easier said than done, however, since the Redskins have only turned the ball over five times this year.

Win on 3rd down

During the Giants four-game losing streak, the offense has converted just 14 out of 43 third-down attempts (32.55 percent) conversely, their opponents are converting 25 out of 55 of their third down attempts (45.45 percent).

The Giants will have to break this pattern on Sunday or they’ll lose their fifth game in a row. It’s hard to win games when you convert less than 40 percent of your third-down conversions.

Stop Adrian Peterson

(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Despite being 33-years-old, Adrian Peterson is still playing at a very high level. In three of his last four games, he’s had at least 97 yards rushing and is currently the 10th leading rusher in the league with 438 yards.

The Giants defense has struggled against the run, giving up 113 yards per game and that was with Snacks. Dalvin Tomlinson, B.J. Hill and the rest of the Giants front seven must win the battle at the line of scrimmage if they have any hopes for slowing down Peterson.

Prediction:

This could be another long day for the Giants offensive line as they have to deal with Da’Ron Payne and the rest of the Redskins defense. Until they show otherwise, you can’t pick the Giants to beat a good team.

Redskins 20, Giants 16

Jason's first love was football while growing up in northern New Jersey. For the past three years, he has covered the New York Giants, as well as several boxing events along the East Coast.