The Washington Redskins drop to 2-3 — 0-2 in the brutal NFC East — with a 19-3 pasting at the hands of the New York Giants. There were no signs of the team that put up 36 points in an overtime victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars last week. Luckily, with the Tennessee Titans on the horizon, the Redskins should be able to recover.
Passing
It is hard to grade something that was virtually non-existent, but there were a few bright spots. Chris Cooley finally got a few looks in this game, and he looked more like Captain Chaos than in any other game this season. Cooley can be brutal on the defensive backs that are trying to stop him, and that toughness is a necessary part of this offense.
The wide receiving corps was held to six catches on the day, one less than Plaxico Burress had, and Brandon Lloyd never even saw a viable pass come his way. The pass protection 3 sacks to a defense that only had two coming into the game, and Mark Brunell followed one of his best games as a Redskin with a 12-for-22 day. At least there were no interceptions.
1 Quarter
Rushing
Part of the reason the passing game was so dormant, was the job the Giants did on the running game. Antonio Pierce always has a strong outing against the team that gave him his break in the NFL, and yesterday was no different. In the early going, the Giants seemed to be able to sniff out the run quickly, and their defensive signal caller played a big part in that.
The offensive line actually opened holes on a regular basis, there just always seemed to be a linebacker or safety to plug that hole. One would think it was the offensive playbook that LaVar gave them.
1 Quarter
Defense
The defense made stops when they had to for most of the afternoon, but when the time of possession is as lop-sided as it was, the defense is going to get tired. For the entire game, the Redskins always seemed to be a step or two out of place until the Giants made it into the red zone. Did LaVar give them his playbook? Only the Giants know, but it looked like they knew exactly where everyone was going to be, at least between the twenties.
The defense held tough though, and coming into this game, one would think holding the Giants to 19 points would equal a win.
2 Quarters
Special Teams
The Special Teams had been on of the bright spots throughout the first quarter of the season, but they looked ordinary against the Giants. The Punt return unit only saw the field twice, one of which bounced into the end zone, and one of which flew out of bounds. The kick return team had plenty of opportunities, but never really had a return to rival the returns they put up last week.
John Hall missed a field goal that just looked awkward in its wide-left trajectory. Luckily for Hall, it would not have mattered much when all was said and done. Derrick Frost looked more like the punter that fans groaned about last year, rather than the punter that played the first four games of this season, although the offense did not exactly make things easy on him.
1 Quarter
The score was much closer than it should have been, thanks to good red zone defense by the Redskins, but in what looked to be a good game coming in, the Redskins just did not hold up their end of the bargain. Hopefully, home field advantage will continue to hold serve in the NFC East, and the Redskins will get a chance for revenge come December 30.
-Scott Hurrey
Edit: This blog was archived in May of 2016 from our original articles database.It was originally posted by Scott Hurrey