5 New York Giants to Watch in Week 4 vs. Washington

The numbers don’t lie, at least not in this case.

The 1-2 New York Giants need to come up with a win on Thursday night against division rival Washington, also 1-2.

Anything short of a win would spell catastrophe for New York, as the loser of this game stands to fall 2.5 games out of first place in the division, which right now is firmly controlled by the 3-0 Philadelphia Eagles.

The good news is the Giants are riding a wave of confidence after finally getting back on track last week in their game against the Houston Texans.

In Washington, they will face a tough test. Quarterback Kirk Cousins, who took over for the injured Robert Griffin III in Week 2, has led his team to 75 points and, as Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News points out, 960 yards, which is three yards more than the Giants have in three games this season.  

The Giants are going to need another full-team effort to avoid landing in the NFC East cellar.

Here is a look at five players whose contributions will be key in making sure that happens.

Safety Quintin Demps

Uncredited/Associated Press

The Giants wouldn’t confirm anything, but it appears that a change is about to be made at free safety.

Stevie Brown, who is in his first season back from ACL surgery, has struggled thus far to regain his ball-hawking ways that led to him leading the Giants defense in interceptions in 2012 with eight.

After Brown blew a coverage on Houston Texans receiver Damaris Johnson’s 44-yard touchdown catch in last week’s 30-17 win, the coaching staff had seen enough, yanking Brown and inserting rookie Nat Berhe for the rest of the game.

“It was an internal Giants decision, and I am going to leave it at that,” defensive coordinator Perry Fewell told reporters when asked about the decision to pull Brown from the game.

While neither Fewell nor head coach Tom Coughlin would confirm that a switch at free safety is indeed in the plans, both Quintin Demps and Berhe confirmed for reporters that each had worked with the starting unit, with the rookie taking reps during Monday’s walk-through and the veteran taking the actual practice reps in Tuesday’s practice.

Neither, however, claimed to know if he was going to start.

"It's the NFL. I'm day-to-day. It's a week-to-week mindset," Demps told reporters. "It's an opportunity for me to take advantage of it, to do the best for this team that I can be. And just go from there."

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Berhe said, shrugging.

All signs, however, are pointing to Demps, who, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), has played in just one defensive snap for the Giants this season so far, getting the nod.

What can we expect if it is Demps, who last started a regular-season game in Week 17 of last year when he was with the Kansas City Chiefs?

Based on his 2013 performance, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he allowed 15 of 27 passes thrown at him to be completed for 92 yards and one touchdown, good enough for a 35.3 NFL rating.

Last year, Demps started six regular-season games for the Chiefs, finishing with 35 tackles, nine pass defenses and four interceptions.  

Demps, who of course is also the Giants’ kickoff returner, has the speed and the range desired in a free safety. He just needs to show that he can be in consistent form play-to-play. 

With the Giants facing a pair of legitimate deep-threat receivers in DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon, Demps and the rest of his defensive backfield mates can ill-afford to have one good play followed by one bad play.

Cornerback Prince Amukamara

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

The New York Giants haven’t really seen much of Washington receiver Pierre Garcon, the Washington franchise single-season record holder with 113 receptions, a record set last season.

In four regular-season games, Garcon has 24 receptions for 234 yards and one touchdown, per Pro-Football-Reference.com.  

Last year, however, in his first season with Washington, Garcon failed to post more than 61 yards in either of the games played against the Giants. 

That doesn’t mean that Garcon won’t be a challenge.

Enter cornerback Prince Amukamara, who will have to step up if he should find Garcon lined up across from him. 

So far this season, Amukamara has allowed 50 percent of the passes thrown at him to be completed for 114 yards, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

That also includes no touchdowns surrendered to date and three pass breakups for a very healthy 48.6 NFL rating.  

Garcon and DeSean Jackson, another receiver whom Amukamara might have to defend, have combined for 425 yards on 36 receptions and two touchdowns. 

With the Giants' defensive secondary looking to reduce the number of big-pass plays of 20 or more yards surrendered—Amukamara gave up one of New York’s 12 big-pass plays to date last week—don’t be surprised if the corners end up playing a little bit more man coverage in order to disrupt the timing of the Washington receivers.

Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is the other half of the Giants' cornerback duo that will have the challenge of minimizing the impact of receivers Garcon and Jackson.

After a tough start in Week 1, where, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he allowed 66.7 percent of the passes thrown against him to be completed for 126 yards and one touchdown, Rodgers-Cromartie has clamped down on opposing receivers.

In his last two games, he has allowed just six receptions (out of 15 targets for 44 yards, two passes defensed and no touchdowns.

Last week he came up with his first interception of the year in the fourth quarter, picking off Houston Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick with 9:25 left in the game and returning the pick 10 yards to set up a Giants’ scoring drive capped by a 31-yard field goal by Josh Brown to make the score 30-10.

The chance to defend Jackson is extra-special for Rodgers-Cromartie, as the two used to be teammates on the Eagles and have remained friendly.

When asked by reporters about the days when they used to practice against each other and who got the better of whom, Rodgers-Cromartie smiled and said, “It goes both ways. I had my days, and he had his days.”

“Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is fast,” Jackson told reporters via a conference call. “He is one of the ones that can (run with him).

“At the end of the day, he still has to be able to guard me, regardless of how fast you are. You still have to be able to know what route is coming, and you’ve got to be ready for it.”

Rodgers-Cromartie was asked if Jackson, who in 11 games against New York (all as a member of the Eagles), has 50 receptions for 831 yards and four touchdowns, per Pro-Football-Reference.com, poses a unique challenge. 

“Yes, especially if (quarterback Kirk) Cousins can break down in the pocket and buy extra time. Now you have to turn around and try to find [Jackson], and he is already gone,” he said.

“He is definitely a guy you have to watch for the deep ball, he can take a screen to the house and he can do it all. He is definitely someone to watch on the field.”

Running Back Rashad Jennings

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

Last week running back Rashad Jennings produced career highs in both rushing attempts (34) and rushing yardage (176).

“You appreciate a back who gets stronger as the game goes on, and it’s certainly a testament to his toughness and the way he takes care of himself, and the way he prepares each and every day showed up on Sunday,” offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo told reporters.

Although Jennings is a highly conditioned athlete, it is unrealistic to expect him to continue to carry such a heavy weekly workload, especially on such a short workweek, of which head coach Tom Coughlin is fully aware when he was asked if they would monitor and maybe adjust Jennings’ workload this week.

“We have been. We talked about his normal routine and how that changes a little bit this week. He appears to be doing well. I think he’s moving right along, on pace to be good to go on Thursday.”

So what is a good number of carries for Jennings? According to his 2013 game stats at Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Jennings averaged at least four yards per carry if he was given anywhere from 20-25 carries in a game. 

For as highly conditioned as Jennings is, he is still yet to make it through a 16-game season. Being that he is emerging as the bell cow for the Giants, they would be wise to limit his snaps to that 20-25 carries per-game range, where historically he has shown he can be just as productive in moving the chains.

Quarterback Eli Manning

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

In case you haven’t noticed, quarterback Eli Manning is starting to look at home in this new Giants offense.

Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Manning’s completion percentage has increased each week, from 54.5 percent in Week 1 to 75.0 percent last week.

Overall, he is at 65.0 percent, just a stone’s throw from the 70 percent goal that quarterbacks coach Danny Langsdorf told reporters during training camp the team had set for Manning.

“Anytime you get over 70 percent, that is a pretty special number,” offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo told reporters.

“Eli Manning has goals—he sets goals. We all see 70 percent as being a special number.”

Manning, who has always insisted he is not much into statistics, was asked if given how his comfort level in this offense is coming along, is that 70 percent mark for completions a realistic number.

“You just kind of take it one game at a time,” he said. “You try to find completions; that’s what we talk about—what plays versus the defense are we going to find completions.  

“I don’t think you go into a game saying, ‘I have to worry about hitting 70 percent.’ You worry about each play, going through your reads, your progression, throwing the ball accurately and hopefully moving the ball and doing your job well enough to win the game.”

Still, he admits that because of his growing comfort level in this offense, it has been easier for him to find completions that eluded him during the summer and the first week of the season.

“Yeah, I think just getting used to the timing of the offense, how quickly guys are going to pop open. Get my feet to kind of work with my eyes so I’m ready to throw and going through my progressions quickly enough and moving everything in the right way to be able to throw the ball accurately and on time.

“I think it’s getting there. There are some things that I’m doing better and some things that I need to still improve on.”

Patricia Traina is the senior editor for Inside Football. All quotes and information obtained firsthand, unless otherwise noted. Follow me on Twitter, @Patricia_Traina.