Giants-Commanders rematch: Teams have been on different paths since Week 2 meeting

At the time, it was a game that barely registered on the national radar, involving teams that were 0-1 and pegged by oddsmakers to win fewer than seven games.

Then things got weird, and the result continues to echo seven weeks later.

The Commanders beat the Giants at Northwest Stadium, 21-18, on Sept. 15, largely because Giants kicker Graham Gano was injured on the opening kickoff, rendering the visitors’ placekicking game non-existent.

Washington kicker Austin Seibert, the picture of health, kicked seven field goals that day.

Thus did the Commanders become the first team in league history to score no touchdowns, allow three and win in regulation time.

“We still don’t know how we lost that game,” receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said on Wednesday as the Giants prepared for Sunday’s rematch at MetLife Stadium.

Daniel Jones threw for two touchdowns in that first meeting in Landover, Maryland — two more than in his four home games this season combined.

“We put ourselves in a position to win,” he said. “We didn't win the game, so that's all that matters. And whether you say we should have, or we could have, it really doesn't make a difference.”

Beyond being a statistical quirk, that game set a tone for both teams.

The Giants are 2-6, on track to underperform their preseason projection.

The Commanders are 6-2 with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels — whom the Giants coveted during the draft process — and have reinvigorated their fan base under new ownership.

The capper to their ascent came last weekend, when Daniels threw a pass that traveled 66 yards in the air as time expired and was tipped into the waiting arms of Noah Brown for a shocking 18-15 victory over the Bears.

Daniels, the No. 2 overall pick, has seven touchdown passes, two interceptions, a yards-per-attempt average of 8.43 and a passer rating of 104.3. He has thrown for 1,736 yards and rushed for 424.

“They’ve got my dawg at quarterback,” Giants receiver Malik Nabers said of his former LSU teammate. “He's a great quarterback . . . I mean, he’s a winner.”

Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen said of Daniels, “He’s having a heck of a year. The shots down the field, they're on target, they're catchable balls. I think the run game is always a factor, the scrambles, everything with him.”

Daniels played through a rib injury last week but still ran for 52 yards and threw for 326, including that pass to Brown that ranks as the play of the year the NFL.

“He can make every throw,” Bowen said. “He's able to make every throw going into the first game, too. So, an elite quarterback as a rookie who can really do a lot of things that can hurt you.”

Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke knew Daniels could play before seeing him in person in September. That experience reinforced it.

“We’ve got to force them to punt and eliminate Jayden Daniels’ ability to convert with his feet, make him throw the ball and hopefully get some turnovers in those situation,” Okereke said. “He’s a very dynamic player.”

With a game next week in Munich against the hapless Panthers followed by an off week, a victory over Washington could be the last, best hope for the Giants to make something of their season.

They need something positive to happen after a week in which the buzzword in the locker room was “frustration.”

Nose tackle Dexter Lawrence said it all when asked about his frustration level after Monday night’s loss to the Steelers. “Extremely high,” he said.

The only way to fix that is with a victory over a division rival that was launched on a different trajectory than the Giants’ by that Week 2 triumph.

But nothing ever seems to come easily for these Giants. Just as they were set to move past the memory of that Week 2 loss, they learned on Friday that Greg Joseph, the guy signed in Week 3 to replace Gano, is out with an oblique injury.

Enter Jude McAtamney, a rookie out of Rutgers who was signed off the practice squad and is a former Gaelic footballer from Northern Ireland. The Giants declined to elevate him in Week 2 just in case Gano aggravated a preexisting injury.

This should be interesting. But the Giants would just as soon it not get quite as interesting as it did in September.

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.