|
Giants (7-6) vs Redskins (4-9)
It took Tom Brady tossing for 357 yards and 3 touchdowns
to edge out a 34-27 win over the Redskins who came close to tying the game when
they took the ball down to the Patriots 5 yard line. Santana Moss caught the ball
at the goal line, but was hit with a pass interference call. That was soon followed
by an interception off his hands with 29 seconds left.
The Giants were trailing
by 12 points with just under six minutes remaining and they managed to turn that
into an exciting 37-34 comeback victory over the Cowboys last Sunday night. Jason
Pierre-Paul blocked Cowboys' kicker Dan Bailey's 47-yard field goal attempt that
would have tied the game and forced overtime. The Giants ended up in a tie for
first place with the Cowboys holding an important edge in head to head matchups. Washington
Redskins.
Once again the Redskins
will finish up under .500. That was confirmed last week when they lost their game
to the Patriots. The season started so well for them on opening day when they
beat the Giants by two touchdowns and followed that up with a win over the Cardinals.
A close loss to the Cowboys after that was followed by a win over the Rams. Since
then they have been able to add only one more win in the last nine games and now
have a 4-9 record. Their next three games are against the Giants, Vikings and
Eagles. They need to win all three to finish with a better record than last year's
6-10. They have an outside shot at not finishing in the bottom of the division
for the fourth season in a row if the Eagles crumble. They face off with the Eagles
in Philadelphia for the final game. Redskins
offense.
Last week this unit got
to play against a defense that's ranked last in the league in yards allowed. They
accumulated a season-high 463 yards and 27 points, even playing without tight
end Fred Davis and left tackle Trent Williams, who were both suspended last week.
The unit was also without right tackle Jammal Brown who suffered a groin injury
in pregame warm-ups and won't be playing this game as well. Davis and Williams
are lost for the rest of the season for violating
the NFL's drugs policy.
Rex Grossman last week completed 19 of his 32 passes
and had 2 touchdowns. His one interception came with just seconds left on a tipped
ball near the Patriots endzone. Grossman has a win over the Giants and has been
the starter in the four total wins that they have. Backup quarterback, John Beck,
lost all three that he started in. Wide receiver Santana Moss is the go-to target
and Jabar Gaffney is dependable for first-down catches.
As
a team the Redskins are ranked 31st in rushing, just one notch above the Giants,
averaging 93.8 yards a game. Rookie running
back Roy Helu is trying to change that and has taken the last three games above
that mark. Helu was the starter in one other game and guess what? He also took
that one over 100 yards. Helu is averaging 4.7 average per carry and leads all
rookie running backs with his 44 receptions. Redskins
defense.
Former Giant Barry Cofield certainly
helped the Redskins in their first opening game of the season against his old
team. Cofield has 2.5 sacks and has knocked down nine passes. Ryan Kerrigan leads
the team with 6.5 sacks and he's the one who intercepted a pass from Eli Manning
in that same game, returning it nine yards for a touchdown. Despite their losing
record, the Redskins are ranked 10th in the NFL in yards allowed. They don't go
down easy and this unit keeps them close in their games. Until last week when
Tom Brady threw for 357 yards, the Redskins had not allowed a 300-yard passer
all season. Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski certainly helped that along, catching
six passes for his personal career-high of 160 yards last week. They will have
to watch out for what Eli Manning is capable of. Giants
offense.
Eli Manning continues to stay
hot and he is closing in on 5,000 passing yards. Manning has the Giants ranked
4th in the NFL in passing yards per game, averaging 304.1. His lowest quarterback
rating (70.8) came in the first game of the season against these Redskins. That
was a while back and now Manning and his receivers are on track and the offensive
line has settled in. Hakeem Nicks alone had 154 yards on 7 catches against the
Cowboys last week. We know that Manning can do his job, and he's delivered five
come-from-behind wins, but a passing game can't always be the answer for the offense.
Soon the winter weather will creep into these games and that's when being able
to run the ball becomes even more important.
The Giants are ranked dead last
in that area, just below the Redskins, but like them there has been a recent upturn.
The Giants average just 85.8 yards per game, but against
the Packers, they ran for 100 yards on 20 carries for 5.0 yards a carry and last
week they had 110 yards on 31 carries for 3.5 yards each carry. Brandon Jacobs
upped his average from 3.1 yards to 5.9 yards per carry in those last two games
and Jacobs ran for over 100 against the Cowboys. Ahmad Bradshaw's injury and his
playing on a painful broken left foot is likely taking a toll on his game. We'll
have to see. Giants defense.
Rex Grossman was sacked four times in the
opener, twice by Jason Pierre-Paul who seems
to get better with each game he plays. Trent Williams was suspended so Pierre-Paul
will be up against rookie Willie Smith making only his second career start. That
could be a big break because last week Justin
Tuck admitted he was playing through pain mainly because he was the best the Giants
had going as others were also hurting. Dave
Tollefson had a bad knee and Michael Boley had a hamstring injury.
Defensive
coordinator Perry Fewell said about last week's blown coverage on an easy touchdown
pass that beat his coverage. "They got confused on the look ... we didn't
execute the call, so nobody was in the right spot.". Sure it all makes sense,
but excuses can't continue to fly as the Giants have given up 34 plus points in
their last three games. Don't forget Rex Grossman
hit the Giants defense for six completions of 20 yards or more in that first game. Overall.
To win the division the Giants need to win
one of the next two games along with the final game at home against Dallas. The
Giants will already know the results of the Cowboys game played the night before
at Tampa Bay. Aside from that, the Giants know that they control their own destiny
just by winning from here on out. NFC
East.
The Cowboys (7-6) are scheduled
to play their game on Saturday at 8:20pm in Tampa Bay against the Bucs. The Giants
play the following day at 1:00pm, and the Eagles (5-8) play at home against the
Jets (8-5) at 4:00pm. The Jets have never beaten the Eagles. The Giants, Cowboys
and Eagles are favored to win their games.
Check
out.
The
Team Giants Store, and
see some of the really unique items we put together.
There are some items
you certainly haven't seen elsewhere, and each sale helps out our site.
Giants DVDs and
Posters. 
TeamGiants on Twitter.
Notes.
Giants Eli Manning failed to throw a touchdown
pass against Washington in their last game.
Giants Brandon Jacobs scored his 56th rushing touchdown last week, breaking Tiki
Barber's record. Giants gained 510 total
yards last week, their highest this season.
It was the fifth-highest passing
yardage total in Giants history and the highest since Oct. 13, 1985. Redskins
Roy Helu last week became the first Redskins rookie to run for 100 yards in three
straight games. Redskins have held opponents
to an NFL-low 19.9 yard average on kickoff returns. Redskins
have turned the ball over in 27 straight games, the longest active streak in the
NFL. Redskins have the NFL's worst turnover
ratio (minus-14).
Next Games
Dec 24 - Giants at Jets.
Giants Tickets
- Buy
or Sell
Jan 1 - Cowboys at
Giants.
Giants Tickets - Buy
or Sell
| 
