The Giants-Redskins game was a tale of two halves - two halves that were complete opposites of each other in nearly every way. It was the Giants who remembered how to make big plays in their 24-17 victory over the Redskins who, fittingly, were wearing throwback uniforms since they became the 2006 version of themselves.First half: The Redskins went into halftime with a 17-3 lead. The Redskins out-gained the Giants 179 to 109 and had possession of the ball 3:22 longer; The Redskins gained 10 first downs to the Giants' five; New York turned the ball over twice to the Skins zero. The Giants were 2-for-7 on third downs.
Second half: The Giants dominated by scoring all 21 points in the half. The Giants out-gained the Redskins 206 to 81 and had the ball 9:18 longer; New York gained 14 first downs to the Redskins' four. The Giants were 7-for-9 in 3rd downs.
The main reason for the switch was the Giants defense and Plaxico Burress. The Giants were able to apply pressure on Jason Campbell and didn't allow the Redskins any lanes to run the football [just 17 yards on the ground in the 2nd half]. Also, Plaxico Burress ... who wasn't sure if he'd be able to play today ... caught all of his 5 receptions in the 2nd half for 86 yards and a TD.
And finally, the 2006 Redskins showed up. Very inept and did leave plays out there on the field. Dropped passes, fumbled snaps, missed hand-offs, and two HUGE penalties by center Casey Rabach. One was a holding call that negated a 25-yd pass play; the other took a 4th-and-3 to a 4th-and-8. Washington spent two plays trying to spike the football. Yet, despite all of that, Washington had a first down on the Giants' 1 yard line with about a minute left in the game. After spiking the ball on 1st down ... Washington failed to utilize either of its offensive stars: Clinton Portis or Santana Moss. The Skins ran the ball with the final two plays: neither involved Portis [Ladell Betts ran the ball as Portis watched from the sideline].
This is a huge win for the Giants who may have saved their season. Eli Manning played pretty well ... but the running game and defense finally showed up. From here, the Giants play only one true road game in the next 7 weeks. They get the Eagles, Jets, Niners and Cowboys at home, travel to 0-3 Atlanta, have their bye week plus a game against the 0-3 Dolphins in London.
Washington, on the other hand, much chew on this loss for two weeks as they take their bye in Week 4 before heading out into a brutal two months on the schedule. They will host the 2-1 Lions, go to 3-0 Green Bay, host Arizona, then head to 3-0 New England.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-24-2007 @ 9:14AM
dcso77 said...
Great goal line stand - but no one mentioned Aaron Ross on the final play, got down blew up the blocker and clogged up that play.
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9-24-2007 @ 10:21AM
fanfor55years said...
A good showing by Eli (coming back from a tough first half, although the interception was a tipped ball so shouldn't be considered so terrible) and Ward and the offensive and defensive lines. Let's not get too high on the team because the Skins shot themselves in the foot (horrible play calls at the end of the game, bad penalties, bad decisions by the quarterback all game...and by the way, while the papers are busy giving the defense credit for a great goal-line stand the first two plays were a spike and a very poor pass by a young QB who had a very bad game). It was a good win (all division wins, especially those on the road, are good) but the holes are still quite visible. Here are a few random observations. There will be plenty of people noting that Ross was out of position on the big pass down to the one-yard-line at the end of the game and that "he's a bum". My response would be that, first of all, he came up big on the last play by forcing Betts wide, and more importantly, if you're going to get a rookie into the lineup on a regular basis so he can learn the NFL game you have to put up with mistakes. He probably learned from that play that being a few feet out of position in this league means you get burned. At Texas, he could always make up the distance with his athleticism because the QB's aren't as strong-armed and precise. Welcome to the NFL. But he looks to me like he's coming along nicely and I hope he gets a lot of playing time. Wilson had a very good game and showed me, again, that he's a piece around which they can build. Kiwanuka looks like he's starting to play instead of think. And the coaches finally let him be a pass rusher, which resulted in two sacks. Tuck is a keeper and should get more and more snaps. They need to get more playing time for the young linebackers. Did Pierce have more than two tackles yesterday? If he did I didn't see them. He's a good guy and a natural leader, but he seems shot to me. Take a look at Selena Roberts' column in the NY Times today. In my opinion she just doesn't get it. Maybe the ownership is clueless, and maybe Coughlin is a mismatch for the team, but Reese is not some stooge. If you want to see how to build a team take a look at the Cowboys. They hit bottom and then built through the draft with an emphasis on a young, aggressive, defense; a solid QB; an offensive line; and good special teams. It's the right formula in a salary cap league. The 49ers are following the same path. Going after a lot of free agents this past off-season would have been stupid. By 2009 Eli Manning will be one of the league's elite QBs. That's when the Giants could be Super Bowl contenders and that's when the team should start to peak. JR has two drafts to build a team. Over the next two years a few good free agent pickups could also help so they have a few proven veterans to mix in with the youth. One win doesn't cure all. Even if the weak schedule over the next 4-5 weeks allows for Fool's Gold, let's not start dreaming of a Super Bowl. This defense isn't nearly good enough to get there this season. But over the next 14 weeks we may see whether we've got something in Wilson, Ross and Johnson in the defensive backfield; and in Wilkinson, DeOssie, and Kiwanuka at linebacker. It should be interesting.
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9-25-2007 @ 6:01PM
john said...
Once again Fan for 55 yrs hits the nails on the head...Remember fan we are NYers...we are impatient...but you are right about playing the kids, especially on defense...I'm not too sure that Coughlin will give them the playing time you would so we will have to wait and see. You know that you are also right on the free agent frenzy, but I still swear that we could've made def back a priority....just one or 2 d-back veterans would at least made us all a little more comfortable this yr. There wasn't alot available, but it still bothers me that Reese bought into those same guys..lets go 2008 draft? do we want to be able to draft in the top 5 worst teams?...(morale???) caught between winning 6-8 games or 4-5...which ones would you chose 55?..
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