NFL preview: New York Giants visit Washington Redskins at FedEx Field

Another Thursday Night Football and another tough divisional battle for NFL fans to watch live on Sky Sports as the New York Giants make the short trip to Washington to face their NFC East rivals.

On a short week neither side will have much time to work on any particular plans for their opposition, but these two sides know each other only too well and there’s sure to be another spikey atmosphere at FedEx Field.

There’s usually no love lost in these divisional battles, as Washington and Philadelphia showed on Sunday with a bone-crunching encounter that also included a mass brawl and a couple of ejected players.

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Expect more of the same blood and thunder when they both stride out in America’s capital on Thursday night, and with such little time to recover and prepare from the last game it’s often the strongest that survive.

Form

Both teams go into the game at 1-2 and both know that a defeat will see them slip to the bottom of the NFC East on their own, which is not a great place to be in what is seen as one of the weaker divisions around the league.

The Giants lost to Detroit and Arizona before finally getting a win on the board against Houston on Sunday, while the Skins have lost to Houston, battered the Jags and then lost a wild one against the Eagles – although they did lead during that game and they can take some heart from that performance.

QB situation

Kirk Cousins is the main reason for optimism as he actually seems to be an upgrade from the ailing Robert Griffin III under centre, as showcased by his 427 yards and three TDs against the Eagles. He did throw a late pick in that game but more stat lines like that will give the team a real headache once Griffin is back in action.

Eli Manning looked a lot more like his old self again on Sunday, undoubtedly helped by his offensive line only allowing one sack against Houston’s powerful defensive front. Washington has a lead-leading ten sacks this season, but they all came in a rout of Jacksonville so Manning may again have time to work.  

Injuries

A major difference between the team teams comes on the injury report, with Washington counting the cost of that brutal encounter with the Eagles as cornerback DeAngelo Hall and safety Duke Ihenacho are both lost for the season while linebacker Jason Hatcher and Brian Orakpo are also struggling. All in all they have 17 players on their injury report.

By contrast, the Giants are much healthier although niggles and soreness will still be lingering when the suit up again so soon after a physical battle with Houston. On the plus side, coach Tom Coughlin and his staff have experience of short weeks with this group, while the trip is one of the shorter ones they’ll make this season.

Run game

While Manning and Cousins love to air it out, they’ve also now got a couple of prolific running backs to go to after Rashad Jennings galloped for a career-best 176 yards, which puts him third in the league with 286 rushing yards in total this season.

Just behind him though sits Alfred Morris who has gained 253 this season so, although Manning saw Victor Cruz break his 12-game TD duck on Sunday and Cousins has found Niles Paul and Pierre Garcon as favoured weapons, we could see a lot of the ground game first up.

What they said...

"Really the field work is very minimal. We want them to see everything but we don't want a lot of exertion. I want them to move around enough to help the soreness, work the soreness out," Giants coach Tom Coughlin on training plans.

"We're losing guys left and right. Football's a tough game. Look, if you've got kids and can't stand injuries, don't let 'em play football," Washington's Brian Orakpo.

"Obviously this is a week that I would rather not have a Thursday night game," Skins' first-year coach Jay Gruden not optimistic.