The Washington Commanders vanquished the New York Giants for the second time this season, beating the division rival 27-22 on the road. Running back Austin Ekeler, linebacker Dante Fowler, safety Jeremy Chinn and the Washington offensive line as a whole had commanding outings at MetLife Stadium to help Washington secure its seventh win of the season.
Austin Ekeler
With Brian Robinson Jr. ruled out due to a hamstring injury just before kickoff yesterday, Washington's offense knew it would take a collective effort to make up for the star back's impact in the run game.
Ekeler, who has been considered the "lightning" to Robinson's "thunder," brought the boom at MetLife and ensured that Washington's was a threat on that front all afternoon. His performance on the Commanders' first touchdown drive of the second quarter provides a perfect snapshot of the dynamic offensive weapon he stood out as against the Giants.
On that drive, Ekeler flexed his pass-catching abilities, collecting a quick throw from Daniels and dancing through the middle for a nine-yard gain. Then, down in the red zone, he showed his churn-and-burn skill, working his low center of gravity to fight through contact and get to the 1-yard line. Immediately after, Ekeler capped off the drive by powering through tacklers again and stretching to get in the end zone to give his team the lead.
Ekeler's day finished with 14 touches for 83 yards. Fellow running backs Jeremy McNichols and Chris Rodriguez Jr. also made solid contributions, and while the Commanders will be very happy to have Robinson back, it is a major positive that this group, led by Ekeler, can step up so strongly.
Dante Fowler
Tack this performance on to Fowler's list of game-ball worthy days this season. The linebacker got going early against the Giants with a highlight reel play in the first quarter. Not even seven minutes into the game, Fowler juked out his man and sacked a flustered Daniel Jones who dumped the ball off. Bobby Wagner would end up recovering the loose ball, which was indeed ruled a fumble. The forced fumble was the 14th of Fowler's career while the sack was his 50th.
He wasn't one-and-done for sacks on Sunday. In the third quarter, Fowler busted through New York's offensive line again, bringing down Jones for a loss of four yards and giving him his tenth multi-sack game of his career. His trip to MetLife ended with two sacks, two quarterback hits and one forced fumble.
Washington's defense continues to make impressive strides, and Fowler, who has six sacks in his last five games as well as a pick-six, has been critical in that improvement.
Jeremy Chinn
Chinn was a menace in the Week 9 win, notching a team-high 12 tackles, including seven solo tackles, and seemed to always be one step ahead of New York's offense.
On the opening drive of the game, Chinn sniffed out exactly what the Giants were looking to do on third-and-3. Tight end Theo Johnson was barely able to get turned around with the pass from Jones before Chinn was right on him to extinguish the play and force a quick three-and-out.
Chinn's lockdown coverage at MetLife also featured a big pass breakup in the second quarter. Washington had just taken the lead with the Ekeler touchdown, and New York was looking to respond. Not on Chinn's watch. On third-and-8, Chinn did a stellar job of keeping with and reading the pass to Johnson. He swatted the ball down, and with that, the Giants were off the field.
The safety also added a couple tackles for losses, including a big fourth-quarter one in the open field on receiver Malik Nabers, to his tally. The kind of production Chinn was able to give yesterday is exactly what Washington's been searching for in the secondary.
Offensive Line
Washington's offensive line had a tall task to face in gearing up for the rematch against the Giants. Coming into the game, New York was ranked the best in the league at bringing down opposing quarterbacks.
The Commanders O-Line didn't just kind of handle the Giants pass rush, they all but neutralized the threat it posed all game. The line protected Jayden Daniels from being sacked. It also did great work supporting the Burgundy & Gold's run game, helping to amass 149 yards. What's more, it addressed a point it has been looking to address for the last few weeks: penalties. There were no false start penalties from the offensive line and just one penalty on the unit whole game.
Another promising takeaway is the fact that rookie left tackle Brandon Coleman, who missed last Sunday with a concussion, played 100% of snaps for the first time in his career. The rookie had been rotating snaps with Cornelius Lucas but with Lucas out with injury this game, Coleman was tested in a new way and rose to prove himself. He allowed 0 pressures on his 27 blocking snaps, good for the top pass-blocking grade on his team.
Week 9 was the first time this season the Commanders' starting offensive line played 100% of snaps together, and, considering how it panned out, O-Line coach Bobby Johnson and the rest of Washington should be feeling very good.
