Taking another view from NFC East’s bottom

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New coaches, roster changes and even the deletion of a team nickname haven’t changed things on the field for the New York Giants and Washington Football Club five games into theNFLseason.

The longtime rivals are again bringing up the rear in a mediocre NFC East, a division that is wide open with Dallas (2-3) and Philadelphia (1-3-1) struggling.

Washington (1-4) and the Giants (0-5) will meet for the 177th time in a series that dates to 1932 when they play Sunday at MetLife Stadium. New York is looking for its first win under 38-year-old Joe Judge. Washington has lost four straight and changed quarterbacks

since givingRon Rivera a win in the season opener.

With 11 games left in the regular season, River a and Judge realize a few wins will get their teams back in the hunt. However, they also know their teams have to stop making mistakes and start playing complete games to win.

“When youwatch the things thatwe do, you see it’ll be first-and-10, second-and-3, and thenwe’ll do something and end up at third-and-8,” Rivera said. “That’s the frustration: We don’t sustain a positive thing.

“On the defensive side, same thing. We get a team into third-and-long and we’ll allowa first down. ... The consistency is not where it needs to be.”

Judge says he has been brutally honest with his young team. After every loss, the videotapes are reviewed and the good and bad discussed as well as what must improve.

“It’s a production business,” Judge said. “We’ re all very conscious and aware of that. It’s my job to make sure they understand whatwe need todobetter, whatwe need to clean up.

“But then it’s also my job to highlight and show them where they’ve made improvements and where we’ve made progress as a team, so they understand whatwe have really to build with.”

If there is a good piece of news for the Giants, it’s they have played well against Washington, winning the last three games.

Banged up backers: In the last two games, the Giants have lost young starting outside linebackers Oshane Ximines (shoulder, placed on injured reserve) and Lorenzo Carter (Achilles tendon).

Kyler Fackrell, who was signed as a free agent in the offseason, andMarkus Golden are expected to replace them.

Allen starts again: Kyle Allen— not Alex Smith or Dwayne Haskins — is Washington’s starting quarterback for a second consecutive game.

Rivera benched Haskins after three consecutive losses, and Allen started 9 of 13 for 74 yards passing and scored a rushing touchdown against the Rams before injuring his left (non-throwing) arm in the second quarter. Smith took over and played for the first time since severely breaking a leg in two spots in 2018.

Safety dance: Washington’s defense has allowed 30 or more points in all four losses. It struggled again in a loss to theRamseven after No .2 pick Chase Young returned from a groin injury and continued to wreak havoc fromthe edge.

Strong safety Landon Collins missed an angle on a 56- yard touch down pass, but the biggest problem might be free safety, where it’s either inexperienced Troy Apke or special teamer Deshazor Everett.