The Giants.com crew members give their takeaways from Sunday's 27-27 tie with the Commanders.

John Schmeelk: Coming off the Giants' win over the Cardinals when they had a season-high blitz rate of 54 percent, we wondered whether that was specific to the matchup or a sign of things to come for the defense. Based on what happened against the Commanders on Sunday, it might be more of the latter.

According to Next Gen Stats, the Giants blitzed 62 percent of the time against the Commanders. When blitzed in the game, according to Next Gen Stats, Daniels was sacked four times. If you dig a bit deeper into the numbers, 14 of the 24 blitzes came in the fourth quarter and overtime when the team's blitz rate jumped to 74 percent. On 10 of Daniels' dropbacks during that same stretch (including the final three snaps of regulation), the Giants ran Cover 0 (no safeties positioned deep) and sacked Daniels three times.

Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson was more than willing to put his cornerbacks on islands against the Commanders at the end of the game. When under pressure on Sunday, Daniels completed just two of eight passed 23 yards. The strategy worked as the Commanders failed to score on their final three drives, with the final one being helped by poor time management at the end of the game.

According to PFF, the Giants now own the ninth-highest blitz rate in the NFL (39.2 percent), and if the last two games are any sign of what's to come, that number is only going to get higher.

Dan Salomone: Was it a win? No. Was it a loss? Not exactly. It was, however, a half-game added to the Giants' lead in the NFC East. They would have stayed atop the division regardless of whether Jayden Daniels got up to the line of scrimmage to spike the ball and set up a 42-yard, game-winning field goal for Drew Stevens.

Earlier in the day, the two-time defending NFC East champion Eagles lost a wild one of their own in London, where they had taken a one-point lead with eight seconds left only to see Jacksonville return the ensuing kickoff 53 yards and kick a 57-yard field goal for a 19-17 win. Philadelphia, along with Dallas on Thursday night, fell to 2-3 on the season. The Giants, on the other hand, improved to 3-1-1 while the Commanders dropped to 1-3-1.

Time will tell how important the half-win matters in the final standings as the Giants look to play meaningful football into November and December. In the meantime, the Giants will take whatever they can get. They're in a situation where "it's by any means necessary" after losing their promising young quarterback less than five quarters into the John Harbaugh era.

"The one thing that has become very evident is what is inside of our players," the head coach said. "Their heart, their grit, their mental toughness, their ability to overcome adversity is A plus, plus, plus. And that showed up today, so I'm very proud of that. And I'm also very excited for the fact that we can improve so much."

Matt Citak: It was a tale of two halves for Jameis Winston in Week 5. The veteran quarterback went into halftime having completed just seven of 16 passes for 72 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. As a team, the Giants had only 82 yards of total offense as they trailed the Commanders, 12-3. But those struggles went out the window in the second half as Winston seemed to flip a switch, which got the whole offense rolling.

The Giants had four drives in the second half prior to the final kneel down at the end of the fourth quarter. Those drives resulted in a total of 240 yards and 24 points as the Giants worked their way back from multiple double-digit deficits. And Winston was right in the center of it. He threw for 254 yards and all three of his touchdowns in the second half. It got even more impressive in the fourth quarter, as Winston completed 13 of 17 passes for 141 yards and two scores with no interceptions. What made it even more eye-opening was that he did this playing in wet conditions, with consistent rain and strong wind gusts throughout the game. Winston looked poised in the pocket as he helped the Giants storm their way back in this game, even when getting blitzed. According to Next Gen Stats, Winston completed 13 of 22 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns for a 109.1 passer rating when blitzed, which was a stark improvement from the previous three outings.

"I think when your back is against the wall, you have to depend on your playmakers, and I think we did a good job of doing that, getting the guys the football, and mixing up on them, and kind of just threw them off schedule," Winston said after the game about the team's second-half comeback.

Depending on his playmakers is exactly what Winston did in the second half. Malik Nabers set new season highs with 11 receptions for 121 yards on a whopping 20 targets, with the targets being a career high, as well. The third-year wideout also scored a touchdown for the second consecutive week. Meanwhile, Isaiah Likely matched Nabers with 11 receptions, which he took for 94 yards and two touchdowns on 13 targets. Likely became the first Giants tight end ever to have a game with at least nine receptions and multiple touchdown catches. Meanwhile, the pass-catching tandem became just the second wide receiver/tight end duo in NFL history to each have at least 11 receptions, 90 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown in the same game. Winston has leaned on his top two playmakers over the last two games, with the two combing for 52 targets, 393 yards and four touchdowns during that span. I don't think it's a coincidence that the offense has scored 57 points over that same stretch.