Washington vs. Giants Odds
| Washington Odds | -6.5 |
| Giants Odds | +6.5 |
| Over/Under | 37.5 |
| Time | 1 p.m. ET |
| TV | FOX |
| Odds via DraftKings. Get up-to-the-minute NFL odds here. | |
The Washington Football Team will head to MetLife Stadium on Sunday to close out their season against the division rival New York Giants. Washington was eliminated from the playoff picture last week by Philadelphia.
The Football Team (6-10) had a solid 16-7 lead over the Eagles heading into halftime, but saw their defense surrender 13 unanswered second-half points in what eventually amounted to a 20-16 loss. The Giants (4-12), meanwhile, found themselves on the wrong end of a 29-3 blowout loss at the hands of the Chicago Bears last week.
In a game with absolutely no playoff implications, which of these NFC East rivals should we be looking to back in this Week 18 matchup?
Click the arrow to expand injury reports
Washington vs. Giants Injury Report
Washington Injuries
- WR Curtis Samuel (hamstring): Out
- TE Ricky Seals-Jones (concussion): Out
- DE Montez Sweat (personal): Out
- T Saahdiq Charles (knee): Out
- TE Sammis Reyes (hamstring): Questionable
Giants Injuries
- QB Mike Glennon (wrist): Out
- WR Kadarius Toney (shoulder): Out
- WR John Ross (knee): Out
- G Will Hernandez (ankle): Questionable
- FB Cullen Gillaspia (knee): Questionable
- WR Collin Johnson (hamstring): Questionable
Washington vs. Giants Matchup
| Washington Offense | DVOA Rank | Giants Defense |
| 21 | Total | 22 |
| 21 | Pass | 17 |
| 21 | Rush | 29 |
| Washington Defense | DVOA Rank | Giants Offense |
| 27 | Total | 32 |
| 28 | Pass | 31 |
| 10 | Rush | 29 |
| Football Outsiders' DVOA measures efficiency by comparing a team's success on every play to the league average based on situation and opponent. | ||
|---|---|---|
Washington's Heinicke Looks For Redeeming Game
Losers of their last four games, the Washington Football Team will look to end their season on a high note against a Giants team that has been one of the worst in football this year. That said, quarterback Tayler Heinicke has noticeably struggled over his last four outings, throwing for just 686 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also turned the ball over six times in that span.
This week, however, he’ll have an opportunity to remind the Washington brass why they entrusted him with the role of their starting quarterback position for much of the season. He’ll take on a struggling Giants team that comes in ranked 22nd in Total DVOA and 17th against the pass. Their defense has also been particularly poor of late, allowing an average of 30.3 points per game over the last four outings.
The Giants have also allowed big games to opposing receivers lately, including a 7/69/1 performance from Darnell Mooney, 5/80/1 from DeVonta Smith and 8/67/1 from Dalton Schultz over the last three weeks. That bodes well for Heinicke’s top receiving option, Terry McLaurin. Per PFF’s WR/CB Matchup tool, McLaurin comes in with a 67.1 matchup advantage against his primary defenders, the top mark among all players in this game. This could be a get-right spot for him after a string of performances that have seen him average just 50.6 receiving yards per game over his last three.
Washington will also have running back Antonio Gibson back just in time to take on a porous 29th-ranked Giants rush defense. Gibson excelled in limited work against this same Giants defense back in Week 2, averaging 5.3 yards per attempt on 13 carries. While he’s struggled lately, averaging just 2.9 yards per carry over his last three games, those were all in come-from-behind efforts against two teams in the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles that are far better than this Giants squad.
Fromm Gets Another Start For Giants
Jake Fromm will get another start for the Giants this week with Daniel Jones out for the season and backup Mike Glennon out with a wrist injury. Fromm struggled mightily in his last start, completing just 35% of his passes for a paltry 25 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception. The Giants made a point to heavily focus on the run early on in that game, however, preventing Fromm from getting into any type of groove throwing the ball.
While Washington’s 28th-ranked pass defense presents a relatively strong matchup, the Giants will likely look to limit Fromm’s exposure again in this one. Unfortunately, that means running directly into a Washington rush defense that comes in ranked 10th in rush DVOA on the season thus far.
Running back Saquon Barkley had his best game of the season last week against the Bears, rushing for 102 yards on 21 carries, but he has not been his usual dominant self this season. He’s averaging just 3.7 yards per carry on the year and has exceeded 60 rushing yards on just two occasions. With this Giants offense becoming one-dimensional with Fromm under center, expect Washington to key in on the run and prevent Barkley from back-to-back 100-yard performances.
Washington vs. Giants Predictions
Since the loss of Daniel Jones back in Week 13, this Giants offense has been laughably bad. During that time, the Giants are averaging just 9.8 points per game and have lost five straight. While Mike Glennon was by no means a strong option, the Giants were at least able to move the ball occasionally with him under center.
This week, they’ll run out Jake Fromm, a second-year quarterback who threw for just 25 yards in their 29-3 loss last week. In a Week 18 game with nothing to play for, there’s no reason to expect an offensive breakthrough here. While Washington has been ineffective in their own right, they’ve at least been able to find the end zone, averaging 17 points over their last five.
After losing their last four games, WFT coming in as a seven-point favorite on the road may feel like too many points. Against any other opponent, that would likely be the case. Fortunately for them, they’re going to be lining up against one of the most incompetent NFL offenses we’ve seen in a long time.
At the time of writing, 76% of tickets and 98% of the money has come in on Washington, indicating that both the public and sharps have found themselves on the same side here (check real-time public betting data here). Even at the key number of seven, I’m taking Washington to cover here and would play this up to -9.5, if the line were to shift prior to kickoff.
Pick: Washington -7 | Bet to: -9.5
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