Washington Commanders Preparing for ‘Special’ New York Giants RB Saquon Barkley

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley drew praise from Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera ahead of Sunday's matchup.

The Washington Commanders' run defense is fresh off a strong showing in Sunday's 24-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons, holding a potent rushing attack to just 106 yards and just 3.7 yards per carry.

But the challenge remains tough, as the New York Giants and star running back Saquon Barkley will host the Commanders this Sunday inside MetLife Stadium.

When discussing New York's offense, Commanders coach Ron Rivera immediately praised Barkley - and will be hoping to see his team's run defense carry over from last week into this NFC East battle.

"They're going to come in, they have Saquon and we know how special he is as a running back," Rivera said. "We’ve got to be able to contain him. We got to be able to contain the quarterback (Daniel Jones). A lot of those things that we did on Sunday are things that are going to be reflected in what we're going to need to do this coming Sunday as well."

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley prompts a challenge for the Washington Commanders / USA Today Sports

Barkley's faced the Commanders seven times during his career, taking 109 carries for 634 yards and five touchdowns. In two matchups against Washington last season, the former No. 2 overall pick rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns on 18 attempts.

This year hasn't gone according to plan for the Giants, who sit at 1-5 and have lost four straight games. Their most recent game came Sunday night, a 14-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills during which Barkley took 24 carries for 93 yards.

New York started Tyrod Taylor under center against Buffalo as Jones continues to rehab from a neck injury suffered in Week 5. The Giants are optimistic Jones can return against Washington, but the fifth-year signal caller remains questionable to play.

Nonetheless, New York is poised to have Barkley - and Washington is ready for a heavy dose of the "special" runner while seeking to build off last week's admirable performance.

The Commanders and Barkley-led Giants are set to kickoff at 1 p.m. EST Sunday.