Commanders Foe Giants Not Planning to Bench Struggling Starters

The New York Giants will be sticking with two of their starters against the Washington Commanders despite both having questionable play recently.

Sep 8, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants cornerback Deonte Banks (3) enters the field before a game against the Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images / John Jones-Imagn Images

The Washington Commanders are coming off a heroic ending to their last game as they walked off with a Hail Mary completion from Jayden Daniels to Noah Brown to pull off the 18-15 win against Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears last week to maintain their control over the NFC East with a 6-2 overall record.

The Commanders will now turn their attention to NFC East rival the New York Giants for their second contest with one another this season. In the first matchup, the Commanders and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels picked up their first win of the year behind kicker Austin Seibert's seven field goals.

Things are a bit different than they were back in Week 2 with the Commanders' offense flying high and their defense starting to find a way while the Giants are trying to stay above the metaphorical water as they own a 2-6 record and struggled mightily.

A pair of Giants' players in particular have struggled more so than the rest of the team and that is starting quarterback Daniel Jones and outside corner Deonte Banks.

Jones was benched during the Giants' matchup with the Eagles but once again started against the Steelers last week. However, that "spark" that head coach Brian Daboll wanted didn't happen as Daniels failed to move protection allowing for T.J. Watt to come away with a strip sack late in the fourth quarter before throwing the game-sealing interception.

Per Daboll, "I think that [Jones] did some good things throughout the game. Made some good decisions, made some good checks. I thought he pushed the ball down the field and gave our guys some opportunities to make. That was a great throw to [Darius Slayton], a couple of good throws to Malik [Nabers]. He's been working hard on that. And I think that showed."

As of now it appears that Jones still has the starting gig over Drew Locke and Tommy DeVito, but if things don't improve moving forward we could see the franchise decide to make a change.

On the defensive side of the ball for the Giants, starting outside corner Deonte Banks was pulled from their game against the Steelers for lack of effort and performance - something that carried over from his lackluster showing against the Eagles a week prior.

When speaking with the media, Daboll reiterated that the former first-round draft pick would be the starter and that they are focused on getting him right.

"I'd say I'm focused on moving forward here with [Banks], and I think he'll approach this week with the right mindset," Daboll said. "We'll do everything we can do to help him."

The Commanders will be on the road for this one after back-to-back home tilts and will likely want to come out strong as this would give them two wins over the Giants on the season to not only bring their record to 7-2 but also to maintain their slim lead in the division over the Philadelphia Eagles with the playoffs on their minds.

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