The 2023 New York Giants season has been a roller coaster. The team started the season with a disappointing 2-8 record after making the playoffs last season. Now, they have won their last three games and are one game out of a playoff spot.
If they go on to make the playoffs, it may be one of the most remarkable late-season rallies in NFL history. Or it could emphasize just how bad the NFC is this year, considering two of the teams that hold playoff spots are currently under .500.
However, the New York Giants’ current situation is somewhat of a familiar one. That is because it happened to a division rival back in 2020. Let’s take a closer look at that comparison.
2020 Washington Football Team
The 2020 NFL season was certainly a unique one. Back then, Washington did not even have a proper team name. On top of this, the league was trying to navigate the devastating COVID-19 virus.
Protocols attempting to navigate that virus certainly caused some controversy. For Washington, that centered around QB Dwayne Haskins. During the 2020 NFL season, he was caught violating COVID-19 protocols.
Despite being a first-round draft pick for Washington in 2019, he was not given much leeway from the organization. He only started six games for Washington in 2020. Due to poor play and violating COVID-19 protocols, Washington decided to release Haskins one week before the end of the regular season.
Kyle Allen also started four games for Washington. However, his season was cut short due to a leg injury. All of this led to the Washington Football Team getting off to a measly 2-7 start. However, they finished the 2020 with a 5-2 run to somehow win the NFC East. Their fate was left up to one surprising quarterback.
That quarterback was Alex Smith. At the time, he was playing on a football field for the first time since late in the 2018 season. Back then, he suffered a life-threatening leg injury that was thought to almost certainly end his NFL career.
However, he came back in 2020 and had an outstanding performance. Smith ended up winning the 2020 NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Unfortunately, he got hurt in the final game of the regular season.
As a result, Taylor Heinicke came out of nowhere and started the NFC wild card game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite a valiant effort, Washington came up short in that game. Tampa Bay went on to win the Super Bowl led by veteran QB Tom Brady.
2023 New York Giants
So, how do the Giants stack up to the 2020 Washington Football Team? Well, there are about three similarities.
The first is the slow start. The Giants got off to an even worse start than Washington with a 2-8 record. With a three-game winning streak, they have clawed their way back into the NFC playoff race.
The second similarity is inconsistency at the quarterback position. The New York Giants have had three different quarterbacks this season. They have had a disappointing one in Daniel Jones, the veteran backup who got hurt due to a horrific injury in Tyrod Taylor, and the quarterback who came out of nowhere.
That leads us to the third similarity. Like Washington, the Giants are getting good quarterback play late in the season. That comes from rookie QB Tommy DeVito.
DeVito has 855 passing yards, eight touchdown passes, and three interceptions. Plus, he has a 3-1 record as the starting quarterback this season. Right now, there is a good chance that he can be the starting quarterback the rest of the way. If so, DeVito could follow in the footsteps of Alex Smith and Taylor Heinicke.
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