Washington.
The Redskins know that they can wipe away any thoughts of what happened to them last in Giants Stadium if they come up with a big win on Saturday in their own house. Then they could chalk that October 30 game, a 36-0 loss to the Giants, to be just a fluke. The Redskins beat the Eagles a week later, and then after losing three straight games, they have come back to win the next three. That included a 35-7 pounding of the Dallas Cowboys last week. The Redskins are motivated knowing they can make the playoffs by winning their two remaining games against the Giants and Eagles. That dream goes away if they let Tiki Barber rush for 206 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries, like they did last time.

Tiki Barber.
Last week, Tiki started slowly against Kansas City, gaining only 6 yards on 7 carries. It's kind of hard to turn that into a 7.6 yards per carry average by the end of the game, but he managed to do it. Tiki ended up with a total of 220 yards on 29 carries, and that was the most yardage in a game by any running back who ever played for the Giants. He also became the first running back in Giants history to record five straight 100-yard games, and in the process, he also scored 2 touchdowns.
By the end of the game, the chanting fans just wanted to see the ball in the hands of Tiki Barber, and they were apprehensive whenever Eli Manning dropped back to pass. Who would have thought that would be the attitude coming down to the last two games of 2005? Earlier on, fans were happy to see Eli let the ball fly in the direction of his wide receivers.

Eli Manning.
The truth is that Eli Manning made some key plays last week. He threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer early in the fourth quarter, the one where Toomer barely kept his knee up off the ground, and Manning also completed a crucial 3rd-down pass to Plaxico Burress that preceded Barber's clinching touchdown. Earlier, Manning had nailed Jeremy Shockey for an important 1st down catch.
So there was some good, but early in the 3rd quarter, Manning underthrew Plaxico Burress by five yards and was picked off at the Kansas City 2. Later in the same quarter, he missed Burress, while never seeing Amani Toomer wide open in the end zone waving his arm. Manning's inconsistencies are what make you nervous.

Barber to the rescue.
Eli Manning in his first full season as a starter, has great game awareness, but lacks great execution. Very little has changed overall if you go back to the very first game of the season, a 42-19 win over the Cards Eli wasn't stunning in that game. His stats were 10-of-23 for 172 yards with 2 interceptions and 2 touchdowns. A quote from Giants Vice President of Communications Pat Hanlon after the game was, "The most effective pass play was a little slip screen to Tiki."
How telling was that for the season as a whole? Yes, there have been really great pass plays, but the ball belongs in the hands of Tiki Barber as much as makes sense in the game. In that first game, Brandon Jacobs rushed for 39 yards on 6 attempts, and had 1 touchdown, and one other thought that hasn't panned out was that Jacobs and Derrick Ward would be able to spell Tiki and keep him fresh. That hasn't happened, with just one exception. Derrick Ward got his biggest playing time of the season in one game, and that was the last one against the Redskins, 13 carries for 42 yards.

Giants - Washington.
In their 35-7 victory over Dallas, Mark Brunell passed for four touchdowns. Clinton Portis rushed for 112 yards and the Redskins defense recorded 7 sacks. They intercepted Drew Bledsoe three times. This is the same Washington team that the Giants held to seven first downs in their first meeting. They intercepted Mark Brunell three times, and recorded five sacks against him. Brunell was just 11-of-28 for just 65 yards.
What Tiki Barber does for the Giants, Clinton Portis does for the Redskins. He got hurt early on in the first Giants game, and is back on a roll with three straight 100-yard games, and Portis will be much more of a factor this time. It did hurt the Redskins to lose guard Randy Thomas, their best offensive lineman, to a broken leg against Dallas last week, and Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan will work at keeping Mark Brunell off balance. Both head coaches have their teams on three game winning streaks and have been going more with the running game. If Manning plays smart and Tiki does his thing, crowd noise won't be enough to beat the Giants.

Tiki Barber has five straight 100-yard rushing games.

Five Giants earned Pro Bowl invitations - Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, Jeremy Shockey, Tiki Barber and David Tyree.

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