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Special Report

Sent: 12-29-16

E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of only three sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls. Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

MC ADOO PLANS ON STARTING REGULARS BUT WON'T SAY FOR HOW LONG;
PLAYERS WANT TO KEEP REDSKINS FROM PLAYOFFS

By Dave Klein
All right, let's file some things under facts we know for sure ...

First of all, we know that Giants' head coach Ben McAdoo is going to play his regulars Sunday in Washington, regardless of the fact that his team is cemented in the No. 5 seed (first wild card) and the result of the game won't make any difference.

What we don't know is how long he'll play them - will it depend on the score, on the tenor of the game, on the ferocity which with it's being played? He knows that his regulars are going to be even more important the next week, the first round of the playoffs.

Another fact that no one will confirm but is real nevertheless is that the Redskins need this game to earn the final NFC playoff spot and the Giants - from the top of the team's management on down - would love to prevent them from playing a 17th game.

You can talk about the Giants-Cowboys, the Giants-Eagles, the Giants-anybody else, but this Giants-Redskins rivalry is one of the hottest and most toxic.

Josh Norman, meet Odell Beckham Jr. Does the phrase "helmet to helmet collision" strike a familiar note?

John Mara, meet Daniel Snyder. The two owners have a very real feud going - or Snyder does - over some real or imagined rumor that Mara reported a Redskins' violation over salary-stacking to the NFL and the team was fined money and draft choices. In 2013, at a game played in nearby FedEx Field in Landover, Md., which the Giants won, Snyder was overheard in the Redskins' locker room, when asked about Mara, saying: "I hate that [expletive deleted]."

Giants' quarterback Eli Manning, who is about as neutral as beige-on-beige, says all the right things and avoids anything even slightly controversial. He'll check and double-check and triple-check before he tells you what time it is or the first name of his older brother who used to play a little quarterback himself. But he does say, "this is a division game and you want to win all of them. Beating any division team gives you more confidence, especially in the final game of the season heading into the playoffs."

So you should expect to see the starting lineups on the field for at least the first half, depending on the score, and after that the team may do a little scoreboard-watching in order to find out where its first playoff game will be. The choices are Green Bay, Seattle, Atlanta and Detroit, with an absolutely remote possibility of Tampa Bay.

McAdoo is being his usual noncommittal self these days. When asked if he planned to approach this game by potentially resting guys, he said: "We have 53 on the roster, we're going to activate 46. We have to go down [there] and win the game."

A similar question: "Are they going to be your normal 46?" The answer: "We're going to play to win the game."

Finally, this: "When you were in Green Bay [as an assistant coach], Mike McCarthy [the head coach] rested guys when you were locked into a [playoff] spot. So what makes you change that?" His answer: "We're going to play our players and go win the game. That's what we're focused on."

Manning came in for some coach-speak, too. "Will Eli play the entire game?" Answer: "He's going to play."

"Would you say he's going to play the entire game?" The response: "He's going to play in the game."

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Now for a few unknown, or at least not known by many, but nevertheless true facts:

In 1990, when Bill Parcells suddenly decided to quit as the team's head coach, the popular notion was that Bill Belichick, then the team's defensive coordinator, would be the successor.

But the late George Young, then general manager, vetoed that. "He isn't ready," he said. "There are too many media responsibilities and he's just not prepared for that yet."

So Belichick went on to become head coach in Cleveland, through 1995, then had assistant stops in New England (under Parcells) and the Jets before becoming the head coach of the Patriots in 2000.

Yeah, George, he just wasn't ready.

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Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (core muscle) was the only Giants not practicing Thursday. ... Those labeled "limited" were safety Nat Berhe, linebacker B.J. Goodson, cornerback Janoris Jenkins and tight end Jerrell Adams. ... The Redskins are 7½-point favorites on Sunday, based on home field, need to win and the fact that the Giants won't hurt themselves by losing. ... This will be the 170th meeting between the teams.

Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here.
- Team Giants

NOW - Send a request to davesklein@aol.com for a free week's worth of news!

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