After all of the waiting it does feel a bit surreal to see honest-to-goodness football again. And, the NFL isn’t wasting time with warmup games. The New York Football Giants are coming to Washington for one of eight Division games during the first weekend. Those games count more than just one-up or one-down in the standings. When it gets to tie-breaker time those Division games have special meaning. Want to win the Division? Go 4-2 or better in those head-to-head tilts. Washington didn’t win the NFC East last year. But, the 4-2 was invaluable in getting them into the playoffs. The recipe is easy to state; harder to deliver: Split the games with Philly and Dallas while sweeping the Giants. If you think that’s an easy deliverable, think again. Washington has played the Giants 184-times over the course of their history. The WFT has lost 107 of them.
Zero-Zero
It’s easy to revel in the miracle that was last year. When the season started the “Guys in the desert” posted an over/under win total of 6.5 games. For those so inclined to put a few bucks on a bet this one turned out to be a stone-cold lock. Few teams exceed their predictions by such a wide margin as 5.5 games. The afterglow of that season has carried the fanbase through the summer. But, there are always many more things in play for a football team than just W’s and L’s. Last season’s schedule was not particularly robust. Playing the NFC South and the AFC North was a gift from the schedule makers. Playing the NFC North and the AFC West this year is the overcompensation. Here are some Quarterbacks in the upcoming slate; Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Jared Goff, young Bo Nix. And, don’t forget old nemesis Russell Wilson, who beat the WFT here last year with Pittsburgh. There are others. But, this is a sterner test than that provided last year.
The old football coach said that it was best to forget last year. It’s irrelevant now. That is sound advice. Other than the two-games played all the teams are 0-0. Well, Philly is already a win up in the standings. A loss today for the Burgundy and Gold would make that official.
Big Blue
A problem with football predictions is that they are often based on past performance. The “G-Men” won all of 3-games last year. It is too tempting to think similar results are in the offing this year. But, the Quarterbacks responsible are no longer employed there. Washington won 8-games more in 2024 than the previous year. Could this version of the Giants do that? Probably not. But, winning 5 more games would not be unthinkable.
Head Coach Brian Daboll is on a rather warm seat. The NFL does not like it’s largest market to be without a relevant team. And, the Giants have been just the opposite for all of Daboll’s reign. His record is 18-wins and 32-losses; 36%-win rate. By way of comparison the Ron Rivera years here in Washington saw a record of 26-wins and 40-losses; 39%-win rate. The writing is on the wall for the afterguard: Win or else.
With that as backdrop the franchise signed not one but two grizzled veteran Quarterbacks AND traded up in the first-round of the Draft to grab Jaxson Dart. The Ole Miss prospect dazzled in pre-season. As a matter of fact the whole team dazzled in pre-season. It didn’t mean anything in the standings. But, it meant something to them. This is not a team coming in to Washington lacking confidence or determination. Anyone thinking they will simply roll over is delusional.
What they have on Offense are two excellent Wide Receivers. Malik Nabers and Wan’Dale Robinson combined for over 200-catches. They were thrown by as poor a Quarterback play as one is likely to see. Now old steady hand Russell Wilson will direct the attack…for a while. Wilson is the master of the rainbow deep ball. Pittsburgh’s fortunes waned last year when teams started setting deep Safeties taking away his best weapon. One would expect the WFT Defense to follow suit today.
By the time Washington travels up to the Meadowlands on December 14 the odds are that Wilson will be wearing a stocking cap while young Jaxson Dart learns the ropes.
Stern Tests
There are a number of tests for this new Washington team to pass. One of them is the aforementioned Wilson deep ball. Washington’s Secondary is reportedly better by leaps and bounds from last year. But, the pass rush is not improved, if at all. The 2025 version of Von Miller is not to be confused with the 2015 First Team All Pro edition. One of Wilson’s best traits is ball security. Last year the WFT Defense mustered only 7-interceptions all season. A single interception would boost the win probabilities considerably.
Most teams have an obvious strength and weakness. The Giants’ strength is their Defensive Line. Brian Burns had 8.5-sacks last year. Line mate Kayvon Thibodeaux had 5.5. Mr. Thibodeaux has been a particular thorn in the side of the WFT. He averages over one-sack per game against Washington. So, what did the Giants do? They drafted Abdul Carter at #3-overall to play the same position. Kayvon is now a rotational piece. And, he probably is available at the trade deadline. The investment in the Washinton Offensive Line is much chronicled. Today they get a real stiff tester. Rookie Josh Conerly will take on Burns. Expect to see protection slid his way early and often. This is one of the key matchups of the game.
All pre-season the reportage was that the Wide Receiver corps for Washington, sans Terry McLaurin was not good. He got paid. Now he has to deliver. With Noah Brown apparently still not healed all the way you have Terry and the Not Exactly Guys. Terry is getting bracketed all day. The others have to get open. If all Jayden Daniels can do is dink and dunk to Running Backs and Tight Ends that would play into the Giants’ hands. Watch for balls to Receivers downfield. If they are all at or behind the Line of Scrimmage then the worry beads all summer were real.
The Running Back room was struck by lightning. Brian Robinson, the battering ram runner, was traded for a sixth-round pick and had money sent with him. That’s a football organization that just wanted to be rid of the guy. It surprised the national punditry who saw Robinson as a valuable piece. But, watching him down the stretch last year with a critical eye it shouldn’t have been a shock. Adam Peters didn’t trade him during the Draft when he could have garnered a bigger return. The reason was he didn’t have a replacement on hand. Then in the 7th-round the team selected Jacory Croskey-Merritt aka “Bill.” His story is well chronicled; deemed ineligible by the NCAA last year he played only one game. But, he showed enough in Camp to give Peters the green light to jettison Robinson. The rest of the RB room has some age to it. Austin Ekeler is not running 30+ power rushes. “Bill” needs to deliver.
And, finally, how well does this team congeal into a cohesive unit? There are ten new players on the team. Dan Quinn quickly forged last year’s disparate assemblage into a solid squad. This year he has to do the same. Bet against him being successful if you wish. But, expect to lose.
A Welcomed Sign
If somewhere along the way through the desert trek that was the Dan Snyder era you completely abandoned hope, that’s understandable. After a while Alexander Pope’s bromide that, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast” becomes a bit trite and tired. Eternity is a long time. Despite being illogical, Dan Snyder’s time here seemed even longer. With Snyder exorcised the franchise has hit the Reset Button in a big way. A sure sign is a tidbit from Ben Standig’s annual anonymous Agent Survey. Some agent had this to say about which organization is best in the League: “Washington is the most stable organization from top to bottom.” Did you EVER think you’d read that?
“Washington is the most stable organization from top to bottom.”
Anonymous NFL Player Agent
Enough chatter. On to the game.
Game Information
If you had any doubt that WFT football is a hot TV commodity, put it to rest. Fox is sending their #1 Crew to Northwest Stadium.
- When: Sunday, September 7, 2025 at 1 p.m. ET
- Where: Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland
- Announcers: Kevin Burkhardt (play-by-play), Tom Brady (analyst)
- TV: FOX (51% of markets) Albany, Austin, Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Harrisburg, Hartford, Houston, Kansas City, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York City, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Richmond, San Antonio, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., West Palm Beach
Streaming: FOXsports.com and FOX Sports App
