The New York Giants started the 2022 season with a 6-1 record but have fallen back to Earth recently, dropping three of their last four. This weeks matchup is the second of four consecutive NFC East games for the Giants and their first matchup of the season against the Washington Commanders.This weekend could see the return of Commanders star pa s-rusher Chase Young, who hasnt played football since November 14th, 2021. Young tore his ACL against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and while he hasnt played since, the Commanders have been flirting with his return for weeks.In his place, Montez Sweat has been the best edge rusher on this team - and one of the most productive edge rushers in the NFL. Sweat has 48 pre sures on the season, Deshaun Watson Hoodies Sweatshirts leaving him with the .Sweat is nothing short of an absolute freak athlete off the edge with arguably the quickest first step of any front-seven player in the NFL. On the interior of this Commanders defensive line is someone who causes almost the same amount of havoc but from a le s glamorous position. Jonathan Allen generates the . That leaves Allen with more pre sures than Aaron Donald (40), JJ Watt (42), and the Giants very own Dexter Lawrence (39).Allen isnt the only force to be reckoned with on the interior of the Commanders line, as Daron Payne has 33 pre sures of his own. The Commanders defensive line is one of the best in the NFL with those three; once Chase Young returns, it could challenge for the best.The defensive line is Ka'imi Fairbairn Jersey the star of this defense, but on the back end, this team has young and talented playmakers. At safety, the Commanders use a trio that has all played over 540 snaps in Bobby McCain, Darrick Forrest, and Kamren Curl (who has been playing primarily as a box defender this season).McCain is primarily the deep safety in Washington, with Darrick Forrest as his running mate in a defense that utilizes a lot of two-high safety looks. McCain has been the weakest of the bunch, primarily as a run defender - where he has not only mi sed tackles but also struggled consistently with the angles he takes to the ball carrier and sometimes seems disinterested.Its also important to note that McCain has been asked to play the slot defender role this season due to injuries, roster moves, and a general lack of depth.Forrest is a second-year safety that has taken a ma sive leap this season while also coming up with two clutch interceptions in recent weeks against the Eagles and Texans. One of the biggest steals of the 2021 Draft, Forrest has , giving the Commanders a promising young safety on the roster.Curl is a safety that lines up mostly as a linebacker, and people will look at that and say that hes not a good safety because of that - but make no mistake that hes been excelling in his role this season. Curl can be hit or mi s in coverage, but hes been consistently reliable and an invaluable Swi s army knife.At cornerback, the Commanders have Kendall Fuller and Benjamin St-Juste as their primary options on the outside. Fuller and St-Juste have had their fair share of struggles in 2022, especially with St-Juste being asked Desmond King II Jersey to shadow top receivers at some point in the year.The duo can be physical at the line of scrimmage, and the versatility of having the smaller, more technically sound Fuller with the taller, more physical St-Juste allows the Commanders to line up against almost any outside receiver duo in the NFL.For the Commanders, linebackers are asked to be versatile defenders that are focal points of the defense. Jamin Davis is the linebacker that gets the most runs for the Commanders, especially with Cole Holcomb being injured. In Holcombs absence, veteran Jon Bostic has stepped up from depth defender to full-time starter.Davis is an elite athlete who is still trying to learn to play football at the NFL level. Bostic has the highest IQ on this defense, but the expectation for him was always to be veteran depth instead of being thrust into a starting role.Scroll to ContinueThe Commanders base defense is a 4-3 that when they operate out of the nickel, its a four-down line still. With a defensive line as talented as Washingtons, you could get away with never blitzing and never needing to get very creative; rather, just line up and say, Our four linemen will beat your five. But thats not what Washington does. This is a modern Commanders defense that likes to make the most of their defensive tools by breaking out two-high looks (two deep safeties pre-snap) that allow you to get creative and play multiple coverages out of the same look while also helping to prevent deep plays overtop. Out of these two-high looks, the Jalen Camp Jersey Commanders could seamle sly switch between Covers 0-4 while giving opposing offenses the same look pre-snap.The Commanders play plenty of zone coverage on the back end but also use their athletes defensively with fire zones and creepers--and no, Im not talking about Dan Snyder. For those who dont remember from earlier in the season, creepers are also known as replacement blitzes. The defense isnt showing blitz and technically doesnt blitz because only four defenders rush the pa ser. One of the traditional pa s-rushers, like a defensive lineman or stand-up edge rusher, drops back into coverage and is replaced as a pa s-rusher by a non-traditional pa s-rusher, usually an off-ball linebacker or nickel defender.This throws a new look at a quarterback post-snap, and if the offense is running an RPO, it could throw a wrench into the plans with an unexpected defender in the throwing lane. The only defender that isnt a threat here is the far corner, as, by the time hes in the backfield, the offense could target his area, and it would take a defensive front player too long to get to his spot.Fire zones are your more traditional zone blitzes. A fire zone is a blitz where the defender has five pa s- Jimmy Moreland Jersey rushers, three underneath defenders in coverage, and three overtop defenders in coverage. This allows the traditional pa s-rushers to do their jobs with the help of an extra pa s-rusher that usually either has a free run or allows for one-on-one pa s-rush opportunities acro s the line.Stop me if youve heard this before: Run the ball with Saquon Barkley. The Giants have been at their best when running the ball wide with Barkley, but in recent weeks, the Commanders have allowed explosive runs when targeting either shoulder of the offensive tackle.The expectation should be for the Giants to run power O often. No, Power O is not just a play from Madden; its specifically an off-tackle run that allows the back to choose either the inside or outside shoulder of the tackle.Mixing Saquons vision with the Commanders' weakne s should lead to chunk plays on the ground for the Giants.Whether the Commanders are calling their creepers or fire zones (which is usually 5-7 times per game), the weakne s of the coverage will usually be the seams. The seams are the weakne s, whether that
