Did Giants rest stars vs Eagles with Commanders rematch in mind?

Sunday night’s matchup against the New York Giants is the biggest regular season matchup in how long for the Washington Commanders?

Maybe the Week 17 finale against the Eagles in 2020 to clinch the NFC East? A loss would’ve seen the Giants win the division, but the game wasn’t exactly authentic, as Doug Pederson benched Jalen Hurts (seemingly) with the intention of tanking for a better draft pick; his last hoorah as Philly’s head coach.

Regardless, the importance of Sunday’s game cannot be overstated. After jumping two spots in the standings in Week 14 despite not playing — thanks, Carolina and Philly — Washington currently owns the sixth seed. A win over New York would tighten the Commanders’ grip on a Wild Card berth.

Fresh off getting pummeled by the Eagles, the Giants can easily brush off that defeat and get focused for Sunday night. Losing is never ideal, but there’s no shame in getting steamrolled by the de facto best team in the NFL.

Not only that, but two of the Giants’ most important players will seemingly be all systems go for the primetime matchup.

Those players are Saquon Barkley and Leonard Williams, the latter of whom was held out of Week 14 … perhaps with an eye on Washington?

Did Giants rest Leonard Williams, Saquon Barkley in Week 14 with eye on Commanders rematch?

Williams and Barkley both showed up on the injury report last week with neck injuries. The former was listed as doubtful after not practicing on Friday, while Barkley was questionable before playing a limited role in the 48-22 loss.

After dominating the backfield all season, four other Giants took carries from Barkley, including Matt Bredia, Gary Brightwell, Daniel Jones, and Tyrod Taylor. When the dust settled, Barkley totaled 11 touches (nine carries, two receptions).

Let’s put it this way: Barkley hadn’t logged fewer than 15 touches in a game all season. In 13 fixtures, the 25-year-old averaged over 20 carries per game, including six games with over 20 carries, and two games with more than 30.

In Week 13 against the Commanders, Barkley was fed 18 times on the ground and caught five passes. Despite the uncharacteristic limited role, the star running back left no doubt that he’ll be on the field Sunday night in Landover.

Surprise, surprise.

Anyone else get the feeling the G-Men managed Barkley’s workload and held Williams out to avoid a potential setback/aggravation of their injuries?

We’ll likely never know the true intent behind these decisions, but we wouldn’t put it past Brian Daboll — or any head coach in the same position, for that matter — to make sure he/she has two of their best players for what is the unquestioned biggest game of the year for both teams.

If nothing else, the speculation adds a little extra juice to Sunday night.