3 winners and 2 losers from the Giants upset win over the Commanders

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.

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.

Loser: Joe Schoen

Joe Schoen extended Daniel Jones this offseason, handing him a four-year, $160 million contract. New York can get out of the contract after next season, but they wish they could get out of it now. Jones completed just 108 out of his 169 pass attempts for two touchdowns and six picks this season.

Tommy DeVito, an undrafted rookie who still lives with his parents, has six touchdowns and three interceptions on 49 pass attempts. On Sunday, DeVito threw for three passing touchdowns in his second-ever start, something Jones has not done since.....2019, his rookie season.

Daboll and Mike Kafka have schemed up plays for both DeVito and Jones this season, but only one of them, the former, took the downfield shots that led to scores. It is concerning that the Giants' "franchise quarterback" posted fewer total passing touchdowns in seven games this season than Big Blue's third-string quarterback did in one. Even more concerning, Sunday's win might have increased the chances Jones continues to be New York's future.

Entering Sunday at 2-8, the Giants were second in the NFL Draft order. ESPN Analytics gave them the second-best chance to earn the No. 1 pick, just narrowly behind Chicago (via Carolina). After today's win, Big Blue is now fifth in the draft order.

Many consider quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Drake Maye as generational prospects, and they likely will go No. 1-2 in the 2024 draft. If that draft were today, the Giants would miss the chance to get either.

Winner: Brian Daboll

It should be a shock to nobody, but the 2022 NFL Coach of the Year is a good football coach. The problem with the Giants may not be their coach but their quarterback. It is no coincidence the Giants two best offensive games (outside of the second half against Arizona) were quarterbacked by Tyrod Taylor and DeVito.

Daboll has been forced to use an undrafted rookie as a quarterback and schemed up three touchdown plays today. With the help of Kafka, Daboll returned to the Giants 2022 ways, exploiting mismatches.

He used Saquon as a wide receiver because he is a mismatch for any linebacker or safety. DeVito played clean football, but also pushed the ball down the field, something we have only seen Taylor do in Daboll's New York offense. Sunday proved he is still a dang good coach, and one who can lead the Giants to the promise land.

Loser: Giants Fans

Giants fans want to win and win a lot. The fastest way to do that is with an elite quarterback, and their favorite team may have lost a significant opportunity to find a franchise quarterback in April's draft on Sunday. Not only did the Giants potentially lose a chance to draft a quarterback, but maybe a generational wide receiver, like Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr.

Giants fans want to watch a winning team, and the long-term future of the New York Giants is a lot more important than winning a "meaningless" football game against a fellow lousy team. The Giants still have plenty of chances to lose games to improve their draft position and could always trade up for a big-time player. But make no mistake, Sunday was a crucial setback in that regard.

A quick look on social media shows that plenty of Big Blue supporters are actually pretty upset that New York won this game. This all feels like a lose-lose for the NY faithful. If the Giants keep winning, their draft stock will plummet. With the Patriots next up on the schedule, another winnable game is on the schedule. We want NY to win of course, but some fans are hoping a loss will be on the way.

Winner: Tommy DeVito

No player on the Giants roster has more to gain or lose with their play the rest of the season. If DeVito continues to play like he did on Sunday, he could earn himself a long and profitable career, but if he struggles, he could be out of the league before you know it.

DeVito, trying to show the Giants he could be their long-term backup, carved up Washington on Sunday. Despite being sacked nine times, the undrafted rookie completed 18 of his 26 pass attempts for 246 yards and three touchdowns. The New Jersey native also did not turn the ball over once. The ex-Illinois star's first quarter touchdown pass to Saquon Barkley was simply gorgeous.

The young quarterback still has a ways to go in the development process, but nobody could have seen Sunday's performance coming. Many of the sacks DeVito took were his fault, as he took a long time to process the field and opted not to throw to the check-down. Even with those faults, he still carved up Washington.

DeVito has arguably outplayed Bryce Young, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 Draft his season, and already has more multi-passing touchdown games in his career (two) than 2022 first-rounder Kenny Pickett. DeVito produced the most touchdown passes by a Giants quarterback since Pat Shurmur was the head coach (before the Global pandemic). The famous Italian deserves an A+ for his play.