Thursday Night Football: New York Giants @ Washington Redksins

Alfred Morris will hope to lead the Washington Redskins to victory over the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football

Week four of the NFL season kicks off with an NFC East battle between two struggling teams, the Washington Redskins and the visiting New York Giants. Coming off a defeat against the Eagles in Philadelphia the Redskins will be desperate to return to .500 with a win, with the play of back-up QB Kirk Cousins last week offering encouragement to the Washington faithful. New York meanwhile won comfortably at home against Houston on Sunday and will be hopeful of extending their winning streak to two games, as they themselves also sit at 1-2.

When New York has the ball...
Giants signal caller Eli Manning rebounded from a poor start to the season in week three, tossing two touchdowns without turning the ball over after four picks in the first two weeks. If Manning can maintain that level of play against a Washington secondary missing the injured DeAngelo Hall, who's done for the year with a torn achilles, New York might be able to put up points on a porous Redskins defense. The 'skins do possess a fearsome pass rush led by Ryan Kerrigan and were stout against the run last week in Philly, however, so Manning and co will have their work cut our for them after they picked apart a weak Texans defense. Edge: Redskins

When Washington has the ball...
Even with Robert Griffin III out of action, the Washington offense functioned efficiently against Philadelphia last week with Kirk Cousins at the controls. Alfred Morris has yet to hit his stride in 2014 which will concern coach Jay Gruden, although if Morris can come good he'll have an explosive offense on his hands with DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon excellent options on the outside. New York's D did a good job on Houston last week but looked leaky in the prior two games, so if Cousins is anywhere near as good as he was on Sunday he'll fancy his chances of being successful.
Edge: Redksins

Special Teams
Giants kick-off returner Quinton Demps had a costly fumble last week, while kicker Josh Brown has been perfect in the season's early weeks. Washington kicker Kai Forbath missed an easy field goal against Philadelphia last week which essentially cost his team the game.

Injury Report
Washington are without Hall (achilles) tight end Jordan Reed and RG III, while New York middle linebacker Jon Beason is expected to play although wide receiver Odell Beckham is not.

Prediction
Giants 20, Redskins 26