5 things to watch as Giants face Commanders in Week 9 of 2024 NFL season

In Week 2, the Giants narrowly lost to the Commanders in a game where an untimely injury to placekicker Graham Gano proved critical. While New York will get another chance to defeat them on Sunday, Washington is now on a hot streak, having won five out of their six games since beating the Giants.

Here are the biggest stories to watch as the Giants look to improve to 3-6:

How will Deonte Banks respond to his benching?

Banks has faced some tough assignments this year and generally held up quite well. However, the consistency of his effort has been called into question by fans, media members, and Giants coaches.

On Monday night, he was benched after allowing Najee Harris to hurdle his tackle attempt in the open field. How Banks responds to this could be important to his future within the organization.

Can the Giants exploit the Commanders’ run defense?

Washington’s primary weakness is probably their run defense, which has given up 140 rushing yards per game, including over 200 against the Bears on Sunday.

Unfortunately, the Giants might not be in the best position to exploit this weakness. Rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr. had a season-high 145 rushing yards on Monday night and is in concussion protocol — but seems to be on track to get cleared to play. Could the Giants also try to get some production from Daniel Jones on designed runs?

It’s also unclear who will start at offensive tackle for New York. Chris Hubbard started on the left on Monday night. The pass protection held up well until halftime, but gave up four crucial sacks in the second half.

Hubbard is a good run blocker, but a right tackle by trade. The Giants could perhaps consider moving Jermaine Eluemunor to the left side since they’re not facing T.J. Watt this week.

Can Jayden Daniels be stopped?

Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate Daniels is having a spectacular season, as he’s posted a quarterback rating of over 100 and accounted for 11 touchdowns – seven through the air and four on the ground.

Daniels is coming off his first 300-yard game, although the Commanders were kept out of the end zone until the last play of the game; Daniels’ miracle Hail Mary pass to Noah Brown for the walk-off win.

New York must keep Daniels contained in the pocket, communicate well in coverage, and tackle efficiently to minimize the damage he can do on Sunday.

Is Theo Johnson starting to break out?

Johnson, who head coach Brian Daboll has compared to Rob Gronkowski, got off to a slow start with just three catches in the first four games. However, he’s caught at least three passes in three of the past four games and now has 14 receptions on the season.

Johnson has dropped three passes and committed two offensive penalties, but seems to be a player the Giants are looking for more and more as the season progresses. Can he start to produce with more consistency?

Can the Giants force any turnovers?

The Giants led the NFL in forcing turnovers in 2023 with 31, but they’ve been hard to come by in 2024, as they have forced just seven. That doesn’t bode well against a Commanders team that has just three turnovers all year and has been turnover-free for the past three games and six of their games overall.

Six Giants players had multiple interceptions last year, but the only player to record an interception in 2024 has been rookie linebacker Darius Muasau. He’s just a backup who has played fewer than 100 defensive snaps on the season, so the Giants need some of their key contributors to step up in this area.