2026 NFL Season Week 10 Thursday Night Football Review: Commanders Avenge Earlier Loss to Giants

    

Washington Commanders 24, NY Giants 21

Gotta say, that the meeting earlier between these two teams which resulted in a tie, and felt at the time more like half a win, now feels more like it was half a loss.

The Giants looked great on the field wearing those vintage away uniforms from the 1980's and 1990's. But that is pretty much the only way that they looked great in last night's game.

Big Blue's offense was fairly good statistically. Statistically, JJ McCarthy did not come across as awful. He completed 23 of 36 for 293 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Isiah Likely grabbed 9 of those for 127 yards and the touchdown that McCarthy threw. Cameron Skattebo ran 8 time and picked up 78 yards and a touchdown. 

Not bad.

However, they did not look good when it counted the most. Particularly in the fourth quarter, with the game hanging in the balance. Suddenly, the G-Men could not hang onto the ball and kill the clock when they had the lead. Then Washington's offense looked explosive and amazing, going down the field in no time and scoring what felt like an all too easy touchdown for the lead. When the Big Blue offense went out again, they had managed to turn the ball - and the game - over in no time, giving Washington the revenge win that they were looking for.  

So yeah, while the Giants offense looked decent at times, and statistically, they floundered and were lifeless when it counted the most.

Meanwhile, the Commanders played their very best when it mattered the most. That was particularly true with the end of both halves, when Washington scored touchdowns in their last meaningful drives. That included a first half touchdown with seconds left to take a 10-7 lead into the locker rooms. And it especially included the already mentioned touchdown drive that seemed to take just seconds, and left the G-Men too stunned to respond, apparently. Quarterback Jayden Daniels completed 23 of 33 for 249 yards and three touchdowns, although he also had two INT's. Stefon Diggs nabbed six catches for 83 yards, including that final touchdown at the end of the game which proved to be the dagger in the heart which killed Big Blue on this evening. 

That means that Big Blue also squandered an opportunity to effectively knock Washington out of the divisional race, and to stay comfortably ahead of the Cowboys, who are in second place. It make the NFC East look like a weaker division more generally. Nobody in the division can win with any measure of regularity.

With the win, Washington improves to 3-5-1 on the season. Meanwhile, the Giants fall to 5-3-1 on the year, and the NFC East no longer looks like it is systematically theirs for the taking.

My pick: Inaccurate

Some Pictures of New York City in the Rain

Yesterday, I went to New York City. It was a dreary, cold, rainy day. If I could have put it off for another, more accommodating day, likely I would have. But this would pretty much have to be the day, so I made the best of it. 

Since I do not often go to New York City when it rains - or got much at all anymore these days, admittedly - it seemed like a good opportunity to take some decent pictures of one of my favorite parts of New York: the Village.

For years, the idea of New York City in the rain brought yo mind the lyrics from a Five for Fighting tune, NYC Weather Report. There are the lyrics:

"Sit back New York City

You're not cute but you're oh so pretty

When the rain comes you fall up again... "

Of course, I have been to the city during the rain before. Probably a number of times, in fact. But I rarely have been there with the time and circumstances ripe for picture taking. But yesterday was one of those days. Technically, in fact, it was the first day of my last real stretch of vacation days for this calendar year. So in a sense, I really was kind of playing tourist.

Also, that Five for Fighting tune kept playing in my head throughout the day, particularly while I was in the city. It actually made me get in the mood to see the prettier parts of New York City, particularly Washington Square Park and the arch that is there. It was always one of the smaller landmarks of the city which I have enjoyed.

Yet admittedly, it was also a bit more difficult than perhaps it otherwise would be to get in the mood for such things. After all, this was not light rain. Despite hearing weather reports that the rains would get heavy late in the day, like late afternoon and evening, it really was pouring down heavily by the time I got there, which was right around lunch time. So it was cold and dreary and wet, and the rain was coming down in sheets. I was cold and even miserable, at times, with the water having seeped through my shoes, and my pants being soaked so thoroughly that they were sticking to my legs, because the rain seemed to be coming sideways and directly at me at times.