A Tight Loss and a Tighter RaceBy SAM BORDEN
Doug Mills/The New York Times
Quarterback Robert Griffin III ran for 72 yards and passed for 163 in the Redskins’ victory.LANDOVER, Md. — It seemed like the Giants were past this. Their second-half slump, a veritable staple under Coach Tom Coughlin in recent years, appeared to hit its nadir a few weeks back with a disaster in Cincinnati, and the Giants had rebounded from that thrashing by delivering an utter demolition of Green Bay two Sundays ago.
So yes, it all seemed behind them. In the days after that victory, the Giants had even talked about how they had come together. Had snapped out of it. Had found their focus — a critical development that would allow them to begin the upswing that marked last season’s Super Bowl run even earlier this time around.
But instead they slipped back. Faced with an opportunity to put a stranglehold on their division lead and solidify their playoff standing, the Giants melted down, blowing a fourth-quarter lead Monday night and losing to the Washington Redskins, 17-16, before a frenzied crowd at FedEx Field.
A victory would have given the Giants a two-game lead over the Dallas Cowboys in the N.F.C. East with four games remaining; with a loss, the Giants’ advantage dropped to a single game over both the Cowboys and the Redskins, who have won three games in a row behind the wunderkind quarterback Robert Griffin III.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” defensive end Osi Umenyiora said. “We have to find a way to close this thing out.”
His colleague on the defensive line, Jason Pierre-Paul, was blunter: “It’s a game we should have won,” he said.
Pierre-Paul was far from alone in that thinking. While this defeat was not nearly as ugly as the one to the Bengals (or, for that matter, the Giants’ two losses to the Redskins last season), Coughlin and his players will rue the result because of what might have been.
The Giants dominated possession, running more than twice as many plays as Washington through three quarters (55-26) and holding the ball for nearly seven minutes more. They were 9 for 15 on third-down conversions and did not punt the ball in the first half. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw — leading a running game that can often be an offensive bellwether — finished with 103 yards.
In short, the Giants looked to be doing all the things that would have — or should have — built them a sizable lead. Instead, they limped to a 13-10 halftime lead and scored just 3 points in the final 30 minutes, undone by penalties (an uncharacteristic nine for 73 yards for the game), mental mistakes and maddening inconsistency.
“This isn’t real complicated,” Coughlin said. “I don’t know what happened in the second half. We certainly didn’t come out to play.”
The most frustrating sequence for the Giants was also the game’s turning point. It came in the third quarter when Washington, which trailed by 3 points at the time, seemed poised to take the lead as Griffin sprinted 46 yards around left end on a dazzling option play to the Giants’ 15. On the next play, however, the rookie running back Alfred Morris fumbled and — after a heated scrum which included defensive tackle Linval Joseph getting kicked in the groin and barely restraining himself from stomping on an opposing player — the Giants survived a replay review and took possession. If they could score a touchdown it would give them a 10-point lead.
But they could not convert. Eli Manning drove the team to the Washington 17-yard line but watched his pass on third down bounce off Victor Cruz’s hands, forcing the Giants to settle for a field goal. That left their lead vulnerable and Griffin took advantage, leading a 12-play, 86-yard touchdown drive that he finished with an 8-yard scoring pass to Pierre Garcon.
“We didn’t do anything with our opportunities,” Coughlin said. “We aren’t going to beat anybody with 16 points.”
Manning finished the game with respectable numbers, completing 20 of 33 passes for 280 yards, but he could not lead the Giants to another late comeback. At one point during the fourth quarter, as the Giants tried to rally, Manning was sacked for a 7-yard loss and got up shaking his head in frustration as he headed to the sideline.
His counterpart, Griffin, was more buoyant, bouncing around the field in his usual style. For all the attention Manning receives in New York, even his scrutiny cannot compare to the phenomenon that Griffin has become in Washington. Griffin jerseys were ubiquitous in the crowd Monday night — as always — and fans chanted Griffin’s nickname, RG3, before the game even began.
In the first game between the teams Griffin was everywhere, rushing for 89 yards, passing for 258 yards and scrambling for 19 yards on a forgettable (at least for the Giants) fourth-and-10 that kept the Redskins’ hopes alive. In the days leading up to this second meeting, the Giants had the backup quarterback David Carr — who jokingly called himself “RG Minus 5” — and speedy receiver Jerrel Jernigan simulate Griffin’s shiftiness in practice.
As hard as Jernigan and Carr worked, though, it was impossible to truly prepare. Griffin ran for 72 yards and threw for 163 yards on Monday, operating the option offense so effectively that defensive end Justin Tuck said the Giants “were just guessing” most of the time when they tried to figure out which Redskins player actually had the ball.
Griffin even fumbled well, losing the ball after a 12-yard scamper in the first quarter but having it pop up into the hands of a teammate, Josh Morgan, who then ran into the end zone for a touchdown.
“It was totally by design,” Griffin said through a smile. He added: “We made plays in crucial situations.”
The Giants, mostly, did not. Manning helped the Giants bounce back after the fluky fumble touchdown early, throwing a touchdown pass to tight end Martellus Bennett. But late in the game, after the Redskins took their final lead, Manning and the offense went nowhere.
On the Giants’ first drive after falling behind, they ran three plays for a loss of a yard. On their second drive, they ran five plays for 12 yards and punted with just under four minutes remaining. They did not touch the ball again.
And so now, with four games left in the regular season, they are only barely ahead in a division race that suddenly feels far closer than the Giants would have liked.
“Four more games to go to determine our future,” tackle Will Beatty said. “It’s still in our hands, but we just made it a lot harder for ourselves.”
EXTRA POINTS Offensive lineman Sean Locklear was carted off the field in the fourth quarter after sustaining a knee injury. The Giants did not announce the severity of the injury but several Giants players in the locker room said they were told it was significant.
N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
Reuters
Robert Sabo/New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The post comparing Sheli's v. RG III's stats this year was surprising. However, to some of those guys, if an opposing QB doesn't throw for 400yds and 4 TD's against them, he's no good. If he does those things, then he's just lucky. Again, they're New Yorkers -- worse than Cowboys fans in so many ways. I'm even surprised I wrote that, but it really seems to be the case.