Here is what you need to know on this Tuesday, December 27, five days before the Washington Redskins host the New York Giants.

Timeline

—Today's schedule: No availability

—Days until: Giants @ Redskins, New Year’s Day 5; Wild card playoff round starts 11; Division playoff round start 18

Injuries of note:

S Whitner (quad), C Long (ankle), CB Dunbar (concussion), TE Reed (shoulder), WR Jackson (jaw), RB Kelley (knee), LB Cravens (upper arm)

Gruden Monday injury report

Ramping up for Redskins vs Giants

—Since 1999 the Redskins have had five games where a win would put them in the playoffs in Week 16 or Week 17. They are 5-0 in those games. After the Lions loss last night, the Redskins will get a chance for a sixth-straight win to get in.

—I’ll go into a little more depth about the Giants tomorrow but a couple of things jump out. They are minus-five in turnovers; no other team with a winning record is worse than minus-one. On the season the Giants have committed 27 turnovers, eight in their last three games. A Redskins team that just picked off five passes is going to be looking for errant passes from Eli Manning, who has the third worst interception percentage among qualifying quarterbacks who haven’t been benched.

—The Giants haven’t been able to get much traction in the rushing game, ranking 29th in yards, 30th in average per attempt, and dead last in rushing touchdowns. Eli to wide receivers Odell Beckham and Sterling Shepard accounts for just under 40 percent of New York’s offense.

—For a long while this year it looked like no Redskin would go over 1000 yards receiving for the season. Now, two receivers have a very good chance. DeSean Jackson has 971 yards so he is just one Kirk Cousins rifle shot deep down the middle from going over 1000. Pierre Garçon has 945 yards; he has not had fewer than 55 yards in any of his last four games. The Redskins have not had two receivers go over 1000 in the same season since Albert Connell and Michael Westbrook did it in 1999.

—You probably already know this but here are some numbers to back it up. The Redskins are the worst team in the NFL on third and long. On third and 10 yards or more the league converts at a 21.2 percent clip. The Redskins’ opponents have converted at a 35.2 percent rate. The only surprising thing about these stats, via the indispensable Pro Football Reference, is that the Redskins actually do stop teams on third and long nearly 65 percent of the time.

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