Giants visit Commanders for a matchup of 0-1 NFC East rivals

N.Y. Giants (0-1) at Washington (0-1)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, Fox

BetMGM NFL Odds: Commanders by 1 1/2

Against the spread: New York 0-1; Washington 0-1

Series record: Giants lead 108-71-5.

Last meeting: Giants beat Commanders 31-19 on Nov. 19, 2023, at Washington.

Last week: Giants lost to Vikings 28-6; Commanders lost to Buccaneers 37-20.

Giants offense: overall (26), rush (27), pass (17), scoring (32)

Giants defense: overall (19), rush (15), pass (21), scoring (t-9)

Commanders offense: overall (17), rush (19), pass (19), scoring (t-21)

Commanders defense: overall (26), rush (16), pass (29), scoring (31)

Turnover differential: Giants even; Commanders even

LB Kayvon Thibodeaux has 5 1/2 sacks, seven tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery for a touchdown in four games against Washington. He aims for his fifth consecutive game against Washington with a sack. He also should be motivated after getting one quarterback hurry and making no tackles in the opener.

CB Benjamin St-Juste got lit up by Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans last week. Although St-Juste was not solely to blame — a lack of a pass rush did not help — he could be tested again by Daniel Jones throwing over and over to Darius Slayton or first-round pick Malik Nabers.

Giants defense vs. the Commanders offensive line. Brian Burns and Thibodeaux were hardly difference-makers against Minnesota, and Washington is motivated to keep rookie QB Jayden Daniels upright and healthy. Daniels is expected to run less and stay in the pocket more, so there will be extra opportunities for New York to force the issue and more time for the offensive line to block.

Giants returner Gunner Olszewski (groin), CB Nick McCloud (knee) and rookie LB Darius Muasau (knee) were ruled out. ... Slayton is a game-time decision after going through concussion protocol. ... Nabers was limited in practice Thursday because of a knee injury before being full go Friday. ... PK Graham Gano (groin) was added to the list Saturday but he is expected to play. ... Commanders CB Emmanuel Forbes is out after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. ... DE Clelin Ferrell (knee), S Quan Martin (hamstring) and rookie DT Johnny Newton (foot) are questionable. Newton could make his NFL debut after missing Week 1 following offseason surgery.

The Giants have won the past three and are unbeaten in four, including a 20-20 tie on Dec. 4, 2022. The last Washington win was 22-7 on Jan. 9, 2021, the final game for then-New York GM Dave Gettleman and coach Joe Judge. The Giants had so little offense, Judge elected to have quarterback Jake Fromm run sneaks on second and third down inside his 5 in the second quarter. ... This is Dan Quinn's first game against the Giants as a head coach since Oct. 22, 2018, with Atlanta. He coached against them six times over the previous three seasons as Dallas' defensive coordinator.

Giants QB Daniel Jones is 5-1-1 in seven starts against Washington. He has thrown 10 TDs and run for one with three interceptions. Coming off ACL surgery, he struggled in the opener, completing 22 of 42 passes for 186 yards and two interceptions, including a pick-6. … RB Devin Singletary was limited to 37 yards rushing against Minnesota as the Giants fell behind and threw more. … Nabers had five catches for 66 yards in NFL debut, including two 25-yard receptions. … WR Wan’Dale Robinson had team-high six catches for 44 yards. ... DT Dexter Lawrence had New York’s only sack last week, the 22nd of his career. … LB Bobby Okereke had a fumble recovery last week. He had 14 tackles and two forced fumbles in these teams' last meeting. … Muasau had six tackles and his first interception against Minnesota. ... Daniels was 17 of 24 for 184 yards and ran 16 times for 88 yards and two TDs in his NFL debut. ... RBs Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler combined to catch seven passes for 101 yards against the Buccaneers. ... WR Terry McLaurin was targeted just four times and made two catches for 17 yards in the season opener. ... Zach Ertz is 38 yards away from becoming the 12th tight end in league history to reach 7,500 yards receiving. ... DT Jonathan Allen is one sack from tying Brian Orakpo for sixth in Washington's franchise history, since sacks became an official stat in 1982. ... LB Bobby Wagner led the team with 10 tackles, including three for loss, in the opener. ... Washington has a new kicker in Austin Seibert after cutting Cade York earlier in the week. York missed his two field goal attempts wide right last week.

Nabers could be Jones' primary target, and the Commanders' secondary is at best a work in progress and at worst has no answers in the passing game. Jones' success against Washington in his career also should give pause to anyone thinking about picking up the Commanders defense.

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

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) is stopped by Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker K.J. Britt after a short gain during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn paces the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll answers questions during a press conference after an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll stands on the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll stands on the sideline as wide receiver Malik Nabers (1) and quarterback Daniel Jones (8) walk off the field during the second half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Major League Baseball announced Tuesday it will produce and distribute local broadcasts for the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins next year. All three teams had contracts with Diamond Sports Group that expired at the end of the regular season.

The Texas Rangers, whose deal also expired last month, also announced they will no longer be partnering with Diamond. They are assessing their options for next season.

The addition of the Guardians, Brewers and Twins means MLB will be handling the production and distribution of at least six teams going into 2025.

MLB took over broadcasts of the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2023 season and the Colorado Rockies this year.

Rick Schlesinger, the president of business operations for the Brewers, said he expects more teams could be partnering with MLB by the opening of next season.

“This has been a long process. It’s a very deliberative process," he said. "We’ve done this through a lot of work, a lot of analysis. I think this is going to be a huge game changer for us, for our content.”

By taking over the broadcasts, MLB expects to increase the market reach of its teams by at least 2 million households in each market. The Diamondbacks went from being available in 930,000 households on a regional sports network to 5.6 million homes through a combination of being on local cable systems, satellite and direct-to-consumer streaming.

“With the media landscape continuing to evolve, Major League Baseball is committed to serving our fans by ensuring they can see their favorite clubs, removing blackouts where we can, and ultimately growing the reach of our games,” Noah Garden, MLB deputy commissioner for business and media, said in a statement.

The Twins took a public relations hit in Minnesota for cutting their 2024 player payroll coming off a division title and their first postseason series win in 22 years, in light of the reduced rights fee coming from Diamond. They will lose the rights fee altogether with this MLB-produced model, but team president Dave St. Peter said this announcement would not have an effect on player spending for the upcoming season.

“We’ve spent a tremendous amount of time with Major League Baseball trying to better understand this marketplace, trying to better understand what a model like this will ultimately provide to the team. We also have studied closely what’s happened in San Diego, in Arizona and in Colorado. We’ve gotten comfortable in those economics. They are where they are," St. Peter said.

"We do expect that there will be a reduction in local revenue coming to the Twins in 2025. I think that’s a fact. That said, over the long haul we have tremendous confidence in our content and believe, while maybe we’ll take a dip for ’25, that over time the viewership and those economics related to that viewership will increase.”

Cleveland games were available on approximately 1.45 million households on its regional sports network. That reach is expected to increase 235% to 4.86 million households. Minnesota's will go up 307% from 1.08 million homes to 4.4 million.

Schlesinger said the Brewers had 800,000 households that could receive games this past season, but he also expects to see significant growth with the new model.

“From a fan perspective, it’s great because you’re going to have total access and no blackouts," he said. “There’s a lot of staffing, a lot of infrastructure, a lot of decisions have to be made, a lot of people to be hired, a lot of sponsors to contact. This is the right time to do this. It’s a good jumping point, platform to make sure when the calendar turns to 2025, we’re already fully immersed in this and that we know when the first game starts, that we’re ready to go and the product’s going to be outstanding.”

MLB could be taking over more teams as Diamond Sports Group continues to go through bankruptcy proceedings. The nation's largest owner of regional sports networks could be down to doing only Atlanta Braves games in 2025.

The operator of the Bally Sports regional networks presented its reorganization plan in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston last week. As part of the reorganization, Diamond plans to void the contracts of the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays and to attempt to rework the deals of the five franchises that are partial owners of their regional sports networks — the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals.

St. Peter said he expects more teams to sign onto the model in the future.

“Starting to build that direct-to-consumer foundation, which clearly is the future of the way our games will be distributed — it’s time to get on with that and we’re excited about that,” St. Peters said. “Our ownership understands the consequences of that, but I think over time there’s way more upside than short-term downside.”

A final hearing on Diamond's reorganization plan is scheduled for Nov. 14. Diamond also has the rights to 13 NBA and eight NHL teams.

Diamond Sports Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group bought the regional sports networks from The Walt Disney Co. for nearly $10 billion in 2019. Disney was required by the Department of Justice to sell the networks for its acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets to be approved.

AP sports writers Dave Campbell in Minneapolis and Steve Megargee in Milwaukee contributed to this story.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

FILE - A fan takes photos during the seventh inning of a baseball game between the Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Royals Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

The Cleveland Guardians hold a baseball workout in Cleveland, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in preparation for the American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Bally reporter, Hanna Yates, broadcasts her pregame with fans standing behind her waiting for autographs before the start of a baseball game between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

MLB will air local games for Guardians, Brewers and Twins beginning next season

MLB will air local games for Guardians, Brewers and Twins beginning next season