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Giants (4-8) vs Redskins (6-6)
The Washington Redskins played their game in Philadelphia on Monday night. It
was a costly 28-13 loss as their quarterback, Colt McCoy, was injured during the
game. It was only the second game McCoy started as a replacement for Alex Smith,
who was the original season starter for the Redskins.
A day earlier than that
on Sunday, the Giants came up with a surprise win over the Chicago Bears. A last
second trick play by the Bears tied the game and forced an overtime period. The
Giants scored first with a field goal, and when their defense held up, the Giants
had a 30-27 win.
Giants
- Bears Wrap-Up Washington
Redskins
A lot has changed since the Giants
last faced off with the Redskins. Washington has gone through two quarterback
changes, all while some Giants fans have thoughts of cutting Eli Manning's reign
short. In Washington's case, it hasn't been an actionable choice. Alex Smith was
acquired in a trade, and he suffered a devastating leg injury against the Texans.
Mark Sanchez was signed right after Smith went down to backup Colt McCoy, who
fractured his leg in Monday's loss to the Eagles.
Sanchez came into the game,
and did his best under the circumstances, taking to the field for the first time
since he appeared in two games for the Cowboys in 2016. Sanchez hasn't had much
time to understand all the workings of the Redskins offense for this game with
the Giants. With McCoy suffering a broken fibula he will likely finish out the
season. Sanchez will get an opportunity to show that he could be a viable backup
quarterback for some team, if not the Redskins. Washington
Redskins Offense
The
Redskins are in an obvious bind considering their quarterback situation. They
felt that Mark Sanchez had a similar skill set to Colt McCoy when they signed
him, but didn't expect to see him pressed into service anytime soon. The passing
attack hasn't been clicking and should be limited for this game. Even with Alex
Smith, in the last five games the Redskins have played since the one with the
Giants, the quarterbacks have taken 17 sacks and a combined 5 touchdowns and 7
interceptions.
If you want to look at the ground game, it has improved over
last year. Giants fans will remember running back Adrian Peterson's 64-yard touchdown
run in that first game, and on Monday Peterson scored another, a 90-yard run against
the Eagles. In that game they held him to less than one yard per carry, except
for that one big breakthrough. Can the Giants do that? I mean the low yardage
thing, not the other. Washington
Redskins Defense
The
last time the Redskins played the Giants, their defense rocked them. Eli Manning
threw two interceptions and was sacked 7 times, losing 50 yards in the process.
It didn't help that Chad Wheeler was hurt on one of those sack plays, and Brian
Mihalik had to come in to replace him. Mihalik was playing in only his first game
for the Giants. Working behind that offensive line, Saquon Barkley ran for only
38 yards on 13 carries.
That's not to take away anything from the Redskins
defense doing their own job then. They were coming off a Cowboys game where they
had held Ezekiel Elliott to just 33 rushing yards. Since those games, the Redskins
have slipped a bit with their run defense, so Barkley will be more of a challenge.
Free safety D.J. Swearinger intercepted two passes from Eli Manning in the last
game, and the Redskins are in the top area in the NFL with 22 takeaways. Linebacker
Ryan Kerrigan, with 8 sacks on the season, will be the biggest problem for the
Giants offensive line. Giants
Offense
The Giants were lucky to get an
early lead two plays into the last game from their own defensive unit after Alec
Ogletree intercepted a pass and ran it in for an 8 yard touchdown. By the end
of the half though, the Bears were up 14 to 7, as the Giants punted on five drives
and threw an interception on another. The offense had scored zero points, and
in the middle of another failed drive, were willing to let time run out on the
half. Chicago called a timeout, and that backfired. On the next play, Saquon Barkley
ran the ball for 22 yards, and Eli Manning threw a 9 yard pass. It allowed Aldrick
Rosas to kick a 57 yard field goal.
That spurred the offense, and they started
off the second half by scoring touchdowns on their first two drives. They had
enough confidence to try a play with Odell Beckham Jr. throwing a pass, and that
resulted in one of those touchdowns. The Giants were looking like the kind of
offense they envisioned when the season started. Tight end Evan Engram is expected
to play on Sunday after missing two games. They could have used him in that game
they lost to the Eagles. For this game, the Giants will be missing Beckham, as
he was a late injury related scratch. Giants
Defense
Since the teams last played, the
Redskins have lost offensive linemen Brandon Scherff, Arie Kouandjio, and Shawn
Lauvao. That hasn't helped their pass protection or run blocking.
Rookie defensive tackle B.J. Hill last week sacked Bears quarterback Chase Daniel
three times, and Hill could have another big game here. Head coach Pat Shurmur
was the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles when Mark Sanchez was
there, so that gives the defense some added input. In any case, the
Giants know that the Redskins will try to keep things simple for Sanchez,
starting in his first game. What can be simpler
than tossing short passes to productive tight end Jordan Reed and Vernon Davis?
The Giants will be expecting to see a lot of that.
The second leading receiver
for this team is Josh Doctson, who is listed as questionable. Last week
Sanchez's longest completion was a 20-yarder
to him. Adrian Peterson hasn't been getting some of the blocking he could use,
with the injuries to his offensive line, but as everyone has seen, you can't let
him break through. Aside from Peterson, the Giants can't sleep on running
back Chris Thompson. He was out with injuries since the last Giants game, returning
just last week, Thompson has real good hands, catches almost every pass, and would
be another easy outlet for Mark Sanchez. Unfortunately, Landon Collins was placed
on injured reserve this week, needing surgery for his injured left shoulder. Overall
There's
not much chance that a 4-8 team will go on to win their last four games to come
away with a division title. There's even less of a chance if that team is also
0-4 in their division games. If you are a dreamer, a fanatical fan, say someone
who in the past has seen the Giants overcome all odds and make it happen, let
your head hit the pillow and dream of them getting their first division win with
a victory over the Redskins on Sunday.
If that happens, it would give the
Giants a 5-8 record, and the Redskins would be at 6-7. If the Eagles went on to
beat the Cowboys, both those teams would be 7-6. If things continue to play out
right (real big 'ifs'), and the Giants win their next three games, they would
be 8-8, and the others 7-9. NFC
East Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Giants (4-8
) at Redskins (6-6 ).
Sunday at 4:25pm Eagles (6-6 ) at Cowboys (7-5 ).
The Giants and Cowboys are the NFC East teams favored to win in these games.
Check out.
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Notes.
Giants
B.J. Hill leads all rookie defensive linemen in sacks so far this season with
5. Giants Saquon Barkley, with a season
rushing total to 954 yards, holds the franchise rookie record. Giants
Odell Beckham Jr. is the only player with 1,000 receiving yards and multiple passes
in one season. Giants Aldrick Rosas was
named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after the Chicago victory.
Next Games
Dec 16 Tennessee at Giants.
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