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Giants (2-8) vs Redskins (4-6)
Last Sunday the Washington Redskins played in New Orleans against the Saints.
They had a 15 point lead late in the fourth quarter, but ended up with a 34-31
overtime loss.
The Giants surprised everyone, maybe even themselves, with
a 12-9 overtime upset win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Giants
- Kansas City Wrap-Up Washington
Redskins
The Redskins have already lost
two games to the division leading Philadelphia Eagles who have a 9-1 record. Their
chance to get a shot at the playoffs as a wildcard took a big hit last week with
the loss to the Saints in New Orleans. Teams prepare ahead of time for the quick
turnaround games that are played on a Thursday. However, the Redskins took a number
of injuries on Sunday, which will require some shuffling around.
Also, the
Giants defense seems to suddenly have come alive in their surprise win over Kansas
City, so they will need some second looks. The Redskins killed their playoff hopes
last year playing at home in the final game of the season, taking a loss to the
Giants. Losing to the Giants on Thursday would give them a 4-7 record, and even
if the Redskins managed to win their last five games that likely wouldn't be enough. Washington
Redskins Offense
Despite
the loss last week, Kirk Cousins did his part in the quarterback role. He completed
22 of 32 passes for 322 yards and threw 3 touchdowns with no interceptions. Cousins
was engineering a nice drive with about a minute left in regulation time when
he was hit with a controversial intentional grounding call. That moved the team
back from field goal range, and also included a time penalty. It was a bad break
and basically killed their chance to win the game without having overtime.
Injuries have hurt this offense. Chris Thompson had led the team in running and
receiving yards, and they lost him in the third quarter of that game with a broken
right leg. Along with him, they placed Spencer
Long, who started the season at center, on injured reserve. Backup center Chase
Roullier is also out this week. Left guard Shawn Lauvao, who has started nine
of Washington's 10 games, is gone for the season, and tight end Jordan Reed is
still out and will miss this game. Wide receiver Jamison Crowder has been targeted
more by Cousins, and he caught 7 out of 8 passes last week. Washington
Redskins Defense
They
really let down last game. The Redskins had a 15 point lead
with just over six minutes left. The defense had intercepted Drew Brees on the
Saints opening possession, and held him to no touchdown passes for the entire
game. Then after allowing Brees his first touchdown, and yes with their offense
going three-and-out, the Saints had only two minutes left to score another and
make a two point conversion to tie the game and force overtime. That's what happened
and the Saints went on to win.
It's been an up and down season against some
tough scoring opponents, but one thing they can always count on is linebacker
Ryan Kerrigan, and he leads the team with 7 sacks. Tackle Matt Ioannidis missed
two games, and he was back playing with a club over his left hand. Rookie safety
Montae Nicholson has played well, but he suffered a concussion Sunday. DeAngelo
Hall came in for him, but he still struggles with his own health issues. Safety
D.J. Swearinger has three interceptions on the year, and cornerback Josh Norman
is always a problem for receivers to deal with. Giants
Offense
The good news for the Giants is
that they are up against a defense ranked 31st in points allowed, and 24th in
yards allowed. The question is, can they take advantage of that? Last week they
put up only 12 points, and they were hobbled by not having their most experienced
receiver, Sterling Shepard, on the field. That made it easy for the Chiefs to
shut down tight end Evan Engram, and they held him to one catch on six passes.
Eli Manning had to be careful throwing to the less experienced receivers, and
his completion percentage and yards per catch were the second and third lowest
on the year. Though Manning threw no interceptions, he also threw no touchdown
passes. The same thing might happen this game as Shepard has continued to miss
practice with a migraine issue. Guard DJ Fluker
is out, and that's not good news for a running game that's helped compliment Manning's
passing. Giants Defense
The Redskins gave rookie running back Samaje
Perine a chance to start last week giving him 23 carries, and they weren't disappointed
in his 117 rushing yards and touchdown. The running game balance helped Kirk Cousins
have his second best completion ratio (68.8), and yards per pass (10.06) over
the season. The Redskins have also scored 30 and 31 points in the last two games.
That's what the Giants defense is up against. They played well against Kansas
City last week, and Landon Collins was named the NFC's top defensive player of
the week. They did the job against a team that entered the game in fifth place
in the league in points per game and total offensive yardage.
They brought inside pressure to quarterback Alex Smith, and he wasn't working
with a third string center like the Redskins will be forced to field on Thursday.
Overall
The
Giants were given no chance to win last week against Kansas City, and yet they
did. They will be catching Washington at the right time. While both teams have
to deal with a short week to be prepared, Washington is at a disadvantage. They
had an early bye week, and this will be their seventh game since. Along the stretch
they've had many injured players, including more just last week. The Giants defense
kept the Kansas City Chiefs out of the end zone, and if the offense can manage
to score an average amount of points, they can take this game. NFC
East Games
Thursday at 4:30pm Chargers
(4-6) at Cowboys (5-5).
Thursday at 8:30pm Giants (2-8) at Redskins (4-6).
Sunday
at 1:00pm Bears (3-7) at Eagles (9-1).
The Cowboys, Redskins and Eagles are
the NFC East teams favored to win in these games.
Check out.
Giants
On The Air. Listen to the Radio Broadcasts.
Giants
DVDs and Posters. 
TeamGiants on Twitter.
Notes.
Giants
Landon Collins has been named the Defensive Player of the Week 3 times in the
last two seasons.
Redskins
won't play a team that currently has a winning record for the rest of the season.
Next Games
Dec 3 Giants at Oakland.
Giants Tickets - Buy
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Dec 10 Cowboys at Giants.
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