An inside look at Sunday’s Giants-Commanders NFL Week 11 matchup in Landover, Md.:
Marquee matchup
Commanders RT Andrew Wylie vs. Giants OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux
There is something about seeing the Washington uniform that brings out the best in Thibodeaux, who spent time this past week in concussion protocol before he was cleared for action.
Thibodeaux had 1.5 sacks in the first time these teams met this season — and also dropped an interception that should have been a pick-six.
His breakout game as a rookie came against Washington, with a sack-fumble that he turned into his first NFL touchdown.
Wylie has allowed six sacks and Pro Football Focus grades him as the 31st-best offensive tackle in the league.
Paul’s pick
Yes, the Commanders as a double-digit favorite is a bit extreme.
They are 4-6 and have not won a game this season by more than eight points.
Explain this point spread as a direct shot at the Giants’ feeble offense. Plus, the defense was not-so-hot last week, was it?
That’s a bad combination.
This rivalry usually favors the Giants, but they are fairly downtrodden at the moment.
Commanders 24, Giants 10
Four downs
Inside job: It is rare when a team trades away its sack leader and almost unprecedented when a team ships out its top two sack leaders.
That is what the Commanders did seven games into this season, sending Montez Sweat to the Bears and Chase Young to the 49ers.
Those two defensive ends combined for 11.5 sacks but were not in the plans moving forward.
On the interior, Washington still has two former first-round picks in Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen.
“Same guys are going to be lining up over me on the interior so my matchups are pretty much the same,’’ right guard Ben Bredeson told The Post.
Homeboy: When Tommy DeVito revealed he is living at home in Cedar Grove, N.J., with his parents, everyone got a kick out of it and his story gained national traction.
“I stay at home, clearly, as everybody knows now, right?’’ he said, laughing. “I mean I live in a small town, you won’t go somewhere without seeing somebody you know. It’s just all the support is unreal.’’
This will be DeVito’s second NFL start, and his positive approach, despite the losing, is not lost on his teammates.
“Especially when we are in, if you want to call it some kind of drought or whatever you want to call it, just not playing up to the standard that we want to at all times throughout the game,’’ DeVito said. “Just keep trying, just keep everybody upbeat and that’s for myself too.’’
Unraveling the situation: Yes, Saquon Barkley and coach Brian Daboll had an animated conversation on the sideline in Dallas after a missed fourth-down conversion.
Yes, Sterling Shepard looked as if he was going after Darius Slayton (when in fact he was trying to calm Slayton down after Slayton had words with receivers coach Mike Groh).
Are the Giants coming apart at the seams?
“Some of this stuff is just a reach,’’ Barkley said. “It’s not — if we were 8-2, none of that would be a problem. There’s been times, multiple times last year where I might have had a disagreement or I might have said out of frustration, something on the sideline that just wasn’t picked up or someone didn’t report about it.’’
Up, up and away: The Giants are averaging an NFL-low 11.8 points a game.
Touchdowns too often come with the frequency of a direct deposit paycheck — once a week.
Time to shake things up?
How about having offensive coordinator Mike Kafka come down out of the press box and call the plays on the field, where he can be in the center of the action and feel the pulse of the players?
“I like being up top, and really, it’s to the preference of the head coach where he wants me, and I fully support that,’’ Kafka said. “We both talked about it, we both agreed it’s probably the best thing to do just to get the space. Have some quietness down there when things are going crazy, so I think it’s fine and I like it up there.’’
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