The Giants.com crew reacts to the team's 27-22 loss to the Commanders ahead of the trip to Germany:

John Schmeelk: The Giants' offense was not perfect on Sunday, but it did some key things well. One can argue that the strip-sack was a big reason the team lost, but it was the only glaring negative in a game where the offense moved the ball on the ground and through the air with fairly consistent success.

This was a low possession game, with the Giants having only seven true possessions (discounting their kneel-down to end the first half), but they scored on four of them. On five of those seven drives, they drove the ball 57 yards or more. In the first half, they ran the ball for 142 yards on 21 carries. In the second half, they threw for 174 yards on 16 completions.

The Giants scored on all three of their second-half possessions for 17 points. They would have had 21 points if an offensive pass interference penalty didn't take a Wan'Dale Robinson touchdown reception off the board.

The Giants had three plays of 28 yards or more. Two of those led to touchdowns, with the third coming on the same drive as the fumble. They also had nine plays of 16 yards or more. They had enough explosive plays to win the game.

The offensive line protected Daniel Jones, allowing only two sacks and a 28 percent pressure rate (seventh-best rate in Week 9 in the NFL, according to PFF). So many of the previous offensive issues that resulted in losses in past weeks finally improved against Commanders, but mistakes and poor play elsewhere still resulted in a loss.

Dan Salomone: For the first time this season, the Giants' vaunted pass rush was unable to generate a sack. In fact, it was the first time they didn't record at least four sacks since Week 4, one game after they had a season-high eight at Cleveland. And the week before that, they racked up five against the Commanders in Jayden Daniels' second NFL start. That was not the case in the rematch. The Giants still lead the NFL in sacks by four heading into Monday Night Football, but that obviously was no consolation for two of the defensive leaders in the postgame locker room.

"They had a lot of chippers," defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence said. "He catches the ball at seven (yards deep), sits back at 12 ,and they were chipping. He's gotten very comfortable real quick with the game. He did a good job evading the pressure."

"He's impressive," outside linebacker Brian Burns said. "The game has already slowed down for him to a certain extent. He seems very poised. He seems like he's in control. They did a good job of trying to slow down our line with the chips and the other stuff they did. They had a good game plan. They executed well."

Matt Citak: I spoke last week on "Big Blue Kickoff Live" about two key areas that would play a significant role in determining who would emerge with a victory on Sunday: explosive plays and red zone efficiency. Daniel Jones attempted only two passes of 20+ air yards on Sunday, one of which he completed for a 35-yard touchdown to Theo Johnson. The Giants attempted far more intermediate passes (10-19 yards) and finished with good numbers on those throws as Jones completed six of eight passes for 91 yards and a 112.0 passer rating. However, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels excelled with the deep ball in this matchup. The rookie quarterback attempted three passes of 20 or more air yards and completed all three of them for 91 yards and a touchdown, which earned him a perfect passer rating of 158.3 on those throws. On the ground, the Giants actually finished with more explosive runs than the Commanders as Tyrone Tracy Jr. (two), Jones (three), Devin Singletary (one) and Darius Slayton (one) all had at least one run of 10 or more yards, while the Commanders finished with a total of three such runs. However, the success in the run game didn't end up mattering much as the Giants were unable to apply pressure on Daniels, as Dan discussed, which allowed the No. 2 overall pick to thrive in the passing game. He finished with 209 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 128.8 passer rating and did not get sacked once.

In terms of red zone efficiency, the Giants scored touchdowns on two of three trips inside the 20-yard line. The one field goal came after the Giants went for it on fourth-and-one and completed a touchdown pass to Wan'Dale Robinson, only to have it nullified by an offensive pass interference call. Faced with a fourth-and-11 from the 13-yard line, the Giants then had to settle for the field goal. While touchdowns on two of three trips inside the red zone is an improvement from the first eight weeks, the Giants still rank 32nd in this area. On the other side of the ball, the Commanders got inside the 20 a total of six times on Sunday. When taking out their final drive in which they kneeled the ball three times inside the two-yard line, the Commanders scored touchdowns on three of five red zone trips. After allowing touchdowns on the first three occasions, the defense stepped up in the second half and forced Washington to kick field goals on back-to-back possessions. This provided the Giants an opportunity to get back into the game, as the offense responded to these field goals with touchdowns of their own. But the defense was unable to come up with a stop on the Commanders' final drive as they ran the clock out for the win. Even after this performance, the Giants' defense still ranks fifth in the NFL in red zone efficiency, allowing a touchdown on just 44.0 percent of opposing teams' trips inside the 20.