Commanders visit the Giants late in an injury-ravaged lost season for the NFC East rivals

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — With four games left in a lost season for the New York Giants, Jaxson Dart has one word for what he would like to accomplish.

“Win,” the rookie quarterback said.

There has not been a lot of winning for Dart and Co. or their next opponent, NFC East-rival Washington, over the past few months. The Giants have lost seven in a row to fall to 2-11, while the Commanders are on an even longer skid at eight to drop to 3-10 coming off their improbable run to the NFC championship game.

These teams have changed a lot — and not for the better — since their Week 1 meeting, ravaged by injuries and with changes to each coaching staff. Washington’s reigning AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, Jayden Daniels, is out after aggravating his left elbow injury, leaving veteran backup Marcus Mariota to start against Dart on Sunday in a matchup of teams eliminated from playoff contention and jockeying for draft positioning.

“At the end of the day, we’re not where we want to be,” Mariota said. “It is tough, right? You expect to be playing in meaningful football games in December, but at the same time, there is a young core of players here that (the) entirety of this year will help them learn and build.”

Injuries have played a major role in things going off the rails. According to Sports Info Solutions, which measures each player’s value by “points per game,” the Commanders rank as the fourth-most-affected by injuries in the NFL, with the Giants seventh.

Beyond Daniels, Washington has gone long stretches without receivers Terry McLaurin and Noah Brown and lost tight end Zach Ertz and cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore and Trey Amos to season-ending injuries. New York has been without top wideout Malik Nabers since late September and rookie running back Cam Skattebo — who along with Dart brought an infusion of energy to the franchise — since late October.

The Commanders have lost five games by 21 or more points, including a 31-0 drubbing at Minnesota last weekend. The Giants haven’t won since upsetting defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia in prime time on Oct. 9, with coach Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator Shane Bowen getting fired in the process.

“It’s definitely new to a lot of us, kind of just the season that we’ve kind of had up to this point,” said Dart, who won 29 of 39 games in college at Mississippi before getting drafted in the first round. “It’s definitely not fun, and you just try to not be discouraged.”

Washington’s second season with general manager Adam Peters and coach Dan Quinn in charge has been perhaps even more discouraging given the expectations involved. Quinn took over defensive play-calling duties from Joe Whitt Jr. last month with the unit showing little ability to stop anyone, and the injuries have exposed a lack of organizational depth.

Ben Sinnott gets his chance for the Commanders

With Ertz done for the season after tearing the ACL in his right knee last week, second-year tight end Ben Sinnott figures to get more playing time and more targets in the offense.

The 2024 second-round draft pick out of Kansas State has only been thrown the ball nine times in the league. He caught all nine targets, including four receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown this season.

Sinnott credited Ertz with helping him during these two seasons as teammates. Asked how much he expects his role to change now, Sinnott said: “Definitely a good amount. … Just looking forward to seeing where that takes me.”

Giants are coming off their late bye week

The Giants have not played since losing 33-15 at New England on Dec. 1, though their late bye week gave Dart a chance to reset and interim coach Mike Kafka an opportunity to evaluate a team he took over abruptly on Nov. 10.

“We used it and maximized as much time as we could with the coaches,” Kafka said. “They’ve done a great job of communicating with the players, done a great job of detailing out the things that we got to get better at. … Just really good collaboration, good communication from everybody.”

How the Giants fare down the stretch, especially against similarly struggling Washington, Minnesota and Las Vegas, could help ownership decide on GM Joe Schoen’s future.

Committing turnovers and not forcing them has been a problem

One of the Commanders’ biggest issues all season has been turnovers, on either side of the ball: They can neither hold onto the football themselves, nor pry it away from opponents. In the loss to Minnesota, Washington’s turnover differential was minus-3, thanks to an interception each from Daniels and Mariota, along with a fumble.

That brought the team’s overall turnover differential to minus-11; only the Vikings and New York Jets have been worse in that department. Washington and the Giants each have just seven turnovers, tied for second-worst in the league and better only than the Jets’ two.

“It’s something that we’ll continue to work at, for sure,” Quinn said. “I’m not pleased with that part of our football at all.”

___

AP National Writer Howard Fendrich in Ashburn, Virginia, contributed to this report.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL