Gamegirl was very disappointed with the game to say the least.
"Game? What game? You call that a football game?
It was over before it started. I couldn't believe it."

As we said, she was very disappointed.
"It looked like the defense decided to take a week off because they worked so hard last week. Yes, for the opening home game of the season, it was very hard to take.
The fans in the area around me tried to cheer and rally when the score was 30 something to 14 and we thought we had a chance, but after awhile, it got pretty quiet, and I was almost alone, and it was like - What's the use."

Was there anything good to report?
"Well, they gave out these calendars to commemorate the Giants 75th year. It's pretty neat. They put pictures of former Giants players next to ones from the present team.
They have Mark Bravaro next to Howard Cross, Alex Webster next to Gary Brown, Sam Huff next to Corey Widmer, Michael Strahan with Andy Robustelli, Jessie Armstead with Lawrence Taylor, Phil McConkey and Amani Toomer, Pat Sommerall and Brad Daluiso, Brad Maynard and Dave Jennings.
I like this calendar alot!"

Are you picking a "Team Giants" player of the week?
"There really is no one. Toomer and Hilliard made some good catches, You'd almost have to name someone from the Redskins, but I don't know if that's allowed."

Was there a most memorable play of the game?
"That I remember clearly. It was the play we made from the stands to the exit, after the score was 43-17."

Mikefan, what's your take on this one?
"Well, I was very surprised, and it teaches me a lesson. The Defensive players were making a lot of noise this week about waiting to see how Redskins QB Brad Johnson would do when they started putting the pressure on him. They were talking big to the press with a lot of stuff along those lines, and I should have known better."

We know what you're getting to.
"I bet you do! The last time the Giants started praising themselves was after week 2 of preseason. Things were going great, and they were talking Superbowl and all, and they ran right up against the Jets.
Parcells did some great play calling, and the Jets marched right through the Giants Defensive squad like they didn't exist.

In my preview of this game, I joked that the Redskins head coach, Norv Turner, was going to have trouble getting his players to take the Giants seriously and might have to go to the preseason tapes.
Well, it looks like he studied that Giants - Jets game loss and memorized the best clips."

There were a bunch of penalties in this game.
"Yes, 8 for 106 yards, and I was very surprised when Strahan picked up that 15-yard roughing-the-passer call. He wanted to put some fear into Brad Johnson, but he should know better. That Washington drive ended with up Stephen Davis getting his third TD run of the game.
In fact, if Gamegirl is still around, she's right. The Team Giants player of the week should be Stephen Davis of the Redskins. He had 23 carries for 126 yards, and 3 TDs before they pulled him out."

What's the problem with the Giants?.
"It's obvious. As Gamegirl mentioned earlier, it's the 75th year of the Giants, and they are trying to give the fans a thrill by breaking all the old records.
Last week, it was:
- The last time the Giants had less than 107 yards of total offense in a victory, as they did last week against Tampa Bay, was on Dec. 11, 1960.
This week, it was:
- 50 is the most points given up by the Giants in any game since a 72-41 loss at Washington in 1966.

Seriously, the Redskins proved that Jeremy Lincoln is not any kind of solution for the Giants at CB. They went to his side early on and played it for all it was worth. In the end, the Giants had to put in rookie Weathers to replace him. Sehorn will probably make his big comeback next week against New England.

The other thing is the penalties. That has to stop."

What else have you got?
"I was shocked in the very beginning of the game when the Giants had the ball for the first time. Kent Graham threw a pass, and then Madden announces that Kent Graham told him that the first three plays of the game would be pass plays, and they were.
If this is something that was told in confidence, why is Madden telling the world about it. I guess he figures that they don't have a TV on the Redskins players bench.

On the plus side for Madden, he said that the offense did do some things, but it was at the wrong time, and he was right about that.
They needed to do it early on when the defense needed their help the most.

In the 1966 Washington game, there were 3 seconds left and George Allen called a timeout so they could kick one more FG, to make the final score 72 - 41.
Yesterday, winning 50 - 21, Norv Turner had mercy on the Giants, and just ran the ball on a 4th and 6 to kill some clock.

When Kerry Collins came in, he was really showing off his arm, throwing blazing passes. He completed some, but then two hard ones bounced off receivers, so facing a 3rd down, he did what the coaches wanted, and threw to 3rd down specialist Tiki Barber. Kerry knew what he was doing, he threw it soft, but Tiki dropped it anyway."

Any bright spots for the week Mikefan?
"The way the Giants are playing, they could easily be 0-2 instead of 1-1, and Gamegirl likes her free Giants calendar."

Notes
Giants had 8 penalties for 106 yards
- Passing:
Kent Graham 20-31 for 268 yards, 1 INT, 1 TD.
Kerry Collins 3-7 for 44 yards, 1 INT, 0 TD.
- Receiving:
Ike Hilliard 8-114, Amani Toomer 5-105, Joe Jurevicius 3-36, Pete Mitchell 2-28, Sean Bennet 2-14, Leshon Johnson 1-8, Tiki Barber 1-4, David Patten 1-3.
- Rushing:
Sean Bennet 4-45, Leshon Johnson 8-18, Charles Way 3-15, Kent Graham 2-5.
- Defense
19 missed tackles, no sacks.

Next week
The Giants are at New England for an 8:30 PM game.
The Redskins play the Jets at the Meadowlands at 1 PM.

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