The New York Football Giants absolutely own the Washington Commanders franchise. Big Blue defeated the Commanders in the nation's capital (or at least close to it) on Sunday afternoon, 31-19, to improve their all-time record in the NFL's most-played rivalry to 108-71-5.
In their last 22 meetings (dating back to 2013), New York is 15-6-1 against Washington. It doesn't matter what Washington changes their team name to or how bad the Giants are; the team from D.C. will always lose and be little brother to the Giants in the NFC East.
The Giants offense, defense, and special teams balled out on Sunday afternoon, but not everyone in or surrounding New York's organization left Sunday's game feeling like winners. Here are three winners and two losers from Big Blue's third victory of the 2023 season:
Winner: Wink Martindale
Earlier this week, a report that the Giants would likely part ways with Wink Martindale after the season surfaced. This had me pondering potential defensive coordinator replacements if Brian Daboll decided to make that change. After Sunday's dominating defensive performance, are we sure Daboll wants to replace the veteran coordinator?
At the very least, Wink raised his stock on Sunday. The Giants defense forced five takeaways on Sunday afternoon (the special teams forced another), and New York scored 24 points off of those defensive takeaways.
New York's defense brought heavy pressure, which forced Sam Howell to make quick decisions. To put it nicely, most of Howell's decisions Sunday were awful. The Giants defense intercepted Howell three times; Darnay Holmes, Nick McCloud, and Isaiah Simmons each had one pick. Howell was also sacked four times. Howell actually threw a fourth pick, an errant throw caught by Jason Pinnock, but it was negated by a Tre Hawkins illegal contact penalty.
Washington, down five with less than a minute to go, had a chance to win it with a touchdown, but Wink sent the house, and Howell tried to get rid of it, but threw a duck that was taken back the other way by Simmons.
Isaiah Simmons seals the deal!
— New York Giants (@Giants) November 19, 2023
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/u69nooxYjK
A Washington fan threw a beer can at Simmons when he reached the end zone, but just like many of their quarterback's throws, the fan missed their target. Wink's defense also forced two fumbles on Sunday. It was a dominating performance by Big Blue's D, just one week after one of the worst defensive performances in franchise history.