The New York Giants (1-2) and Washington Redskins (0-3) will square off on Sunday afternoon in a Week 4 matchup featuring two NFC East teams seemingly headed in very different directions.
The Giants opened the week as three-point home favorites, and little has changed in that regard as the spread sits at 2.5 points.
With this matchup on tap, Giants Wire took the opportunity to hold a Q&A with Redskins Wire managing editor Zachary Neel.
Giants Wire: There’s obviously a lot of emotion that will go into Sunday’s game. Everyone knows how Josh Norman feels about Giants GM Dave Gettleman, and now Landon Collins feels similarly. There’s also Ereck Flowers returning to face his old team and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on the sideline. Do you feel those guys will be able to keep themselves in check, or do you anticipate some of the ongoing animosity to spiral out of control?
Zachary Neel: For the most part, I think that all of these players are professionals, and I don’t think anything too crazy will happen. However, with that being said, I have no idea what is going to happen with Josh Norman plays the Giants. Though he has less of a chance to impact the game on the field as of late, that doesn’t mean that he’s not liable to affect the game off the field, and not always for the better. There’s a real possibility that Norman ends up near the Giants sideline at some point in the game, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him exchange a few words with Gettleman. If he does, it will surely be fun to watch.
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What factored into the decision to keep Case Keenum in at starting quarterback as opposed to going to rookie Dwayne Haskins, who could have benefited from facing a highly questionable Giants secondary?
This was an interesting decision made by the Redskins, and one that I probably wouldn’t have made myself. We all saw how bad Keenum looked last week against the Bears, and that type of performance definitely warrants a new starter to be crowned, but Washington didn’t make the change, which leads me to believe that Haskins isn’t 100% ready to take the field. If he were ready, the Redskins would have undoubtedly used a matchup against the Giants porous secondary, allowing him to build some confidence in his first start. Nonetheless, they chose to ride things out with Keenum and hope that he looks more like the QB we saw in Weeks 1 and 2. It’s not the call that I would make, but we’ll see how it works out.
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There are two players the Giants will surely need to concern themselves with in Week 4 — wide receiver Terry McLaurin and edge rusher Montez Sweat. What is the consensus on those players, and how are they progressing?
Well, in a surprise development this week, it’s starting to look like McLaurin may not play against the Giants due to a hamstring injury, so you caught a break there. So far this year, he’s been the lone bright spot for the Redskins, and he’s been fun to watch along the way.
As far as Montez Sweat goes, I expect him to continue to come along as the season goes on. He started very slow in the first two games but showed the skills that Washington knew they were getting when they drafted him in the first round this year. If you’re worried about someone getting pressure on Daniel Jones, you need to worry about Sweat.
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Daniel Jones displayed a surprisingly cool demeanor in his NFL debut, earning praise from just about everyone for conducting himself like a longtime veteran. How do the Redskins approach that on Sunday, and how will they aim to rattle his cage and create some rookie mistakes?
I hate to be a pessimist, but I could really see Jones having another great day against the Redskins on Sunday. Washington is allowing over 30 points per game, and their secondary has been easily exploitable. For once, on Monday night, the Redskins were able to get a little bit of pressure on Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears offense, forcing him into a few bad throws. If they want to get Jones rattled on Sunday, they’re going to need to knock him to the turf a couple of times early in the game.
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Should the Redskins lose to the Giants on Sunday, do you believe that will bring to an end the Jay Gruden era in Washington?
I thought he would be fired if the Redskins lost to the Bears, and when they fell behind 28-0 in the first half, I was sure it would happen. However, Gruden is still around to coach another day, so I can’t say with any certainty that one more loss to the Giants will do him in. I don’t see how you can start a season 0-4 and keep your job after entering the season on the hot seat, but Gruden has managed to do it more than once.
Make sure you check out Zachary Neel for all of your Redskins needs over at Redskins Wire.
