WASHINGTON — The New York Giants visit the Washington Football Team in an NFC East Thursday Night Football showdown between two teams coming off losses to open their seasons.
The Giants fell to the Broncos at home 27-13 while the Washington Football Team also dropped their home opener to the Los Angeles Chargers 20-16 while losing starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to injury.
Who faces more pressure to get in the win column on Thursday night? Locked On Giants host Patricia Traina joined the Locked On Today podcast to talk about expectations for New York and we also hear from Locked On WFT host Chris Russell.
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What do the Giants need to change to get their first win?
"First off, they've got to get off the field when they're on defense," Traina said on Locked On Today. "The Giants surprisingly mixed in a lot of zone coverage, we thought we'd see more man coverage. There were huge gaps in the middle of the field and the Broncos just kept burning them."
The Giants put up just 13 points on Denver, what went wrong offensively?
"The offense just lacked imagination, there were some mistakes and overall it looked like a preseason game which is what Joe Judge actually warned us it might look like, but you don't want to believe that when the regular season starts," Traina said.
What does QB Daniel Judge need to fix?
"They have got to drill it into Daniel Jones that it's OK to live to see another down," Traina said. "I don't know why he doesn't get this through his head...There's a difference I think between being tough and being smart and right now he's not doing the latter. Don't sit there and try to be a hero and try to cash in all your chips on second down."
What are the big questions for the Washington Football Team?
Washington dropped their opening game to the Los Angeles Chargers and in the process lost starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Now, Taylor Heinicke takes over to try to get them their first win.
"Can Taylor Heinicke replace Ryan Fitzpatrick? I think most Washington Football fans strongly believe he can with his mobility and a little bit of a Houdini act now and then," Locked On WFT host Chris Russell said. "They love Heinicke, he gave them a jolt of electricity on Sunday when their offense was among the dead."
Other than Heinicke, what are the concerns for Washington?
"Can this defense be good? Nevermind can be it be very good or dominant, like many expected it to be in the offseason, during training camp...I didn't think they were that good last year, they played nobody and they got run on and they gave up a lot of explosive plays. This defense had a lot of improving to do. And if Sunday's any indication, we're in for a big time disappointment," Russell said.
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