Redskins at giants

Posted: December 18
Updated: Today at 3:30 AM

A win over New York would make the Giants run at postseason more difficult.

TOM CANAVAN AP Sports Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — After grabbing first place in the NFC East from the Dallas Cowboys with yet another fourth-quarter comeback, the New York Giants head into the final three weeks of the season in control of their playoff fate.

All they have to do is finish, which has been Tom Coughlin’s rallying cry from Day 1 of training camp after late-season collapses cost New York trips to the postseason the past two years.

The playoff scenario for the Giants (7-6) is simple.

Win three games and they are in. Win two of three, and make sure one of the victories is Dallas (7-6) on the final weekend, and that also leads to the postseason.

It all starts today with Washington (4-9), a team that has nothing to play for but the usual non-contender laments of a job next season, pride and just the desire to win.

However, this also is the same team that made the Giants and Eli Manning look miserable in a season-opening 28-14 victory.

Rex Grossman threw for 305 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions and Washington’s defense held New York to one third-down conversion in 10 tries.

“We are not overlooking the Redskins,” said safety Antrel Rolle, who recently said the Giants would beat the Redskins 99 out of 100 times.

“We have respect for each NFL opponent that we face but at the end of the day, I know what we bring to the table and how good we are. I know what the outcome of the game should be come Sunday. It is up to us to go out there and put it on film and make sure the outcome is what we plan.”

Former Giants and current Redskins defensive tackle Barry Cofield expects more from New York this time around.

“I think they may have been confident going into the first game, but I know we shook that confidence by beating them the way we beat them,” Cofield said. “And I think they’ve got a lot of respect for us now, especially the way we’ve been playing the last couple of weeks.”

While they have lost 8 of 9 games, the Redskins have played hard during most of that span.

Last week was no different in a 34-27 loss to the New England Patriots. Washington posted a season-high 463 yards despite playing without tight end Fred Davis and left tackle Trent Williams. Both were out because of season-ending suspensions for violating the NFL’s drugs policy.

An apparent late game-tying touchdown was called back because of an offensive pass interference call against Redskins receiver Santana Moss.

Grossman isn’t interested in playing the role of a spoiler.

“I play this game to win,” he said. “You put so much energy and effort into each week that winning the game and feeling good after the game each Sunday and being proud of what you accomplished, that is plenty of motivation. You are playing for pride and going out there and trying to win and that’s really all the motivation you need as far as I am concerned. If we are spoilers in the process, it doesn’t give you any gratification. It is good to go win.”

In facing the Giants, Grossman will be going against a defense that has given up 121 points and 1,498 yards in its past three games against New Orleans, Green Bay and Dallas.

Grossman downplayed the big numbers.

“They didn’t play as well as they normally do, but those offenses present problems to everybody,” Grossman said. “We have to go out and execute our offense and be the best that we can be and focus on our execution. I really don’t worry about how well or how good the defense is. I just worry about how I can execute our plays the best that I can.”

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Guess who just threw his hat in the ring for the NFL’s
single-season passing mark? Those who selected New York Giants quarterback Eli
Manning should give themselves a pat on the back.

Many weren’t convinced when Manning said he deserved consideration as one of
the top quarterbacks in the league this past offseason. Several skeptics
argued his bold claim after Manning threw 25 interceptions and failed to lead
the Giants to the postseason last year. What a 180-degree turnaround it has
been for the gunslinger, however, who’s not only aiming to break Dan Marino’s
single-season passing record but is also trying to will New York to the
playoffs.

Manning and the Giants’ quests continue Sunday against the NFC East-rival
Washington Redskins at the MetLife Stadium. The Giants control their own
destiny for division supremacy, but only winning out would avoid any headaches
within the playoff scenarios. Though they may be able to afford losing one of
their final three games, the team still has the Dallas Cowboys chasing its
coattails for NFC East bragging rights with the two rivals currently tied in
the standings.

The Giants just defeated Dallas on the road this past Sunday night behind
another strong performance from their offensive MVP. Manning threw for exactly
400 yards on 27-of-47 passing with two touchdowns and an interception, marking
the third straight game in which he surpassed the 300-yard mark and third
time this season he hit 400 yards. He is 979 yards shy of matching Marino’s
passing record of 5,084 yards set during the 1984 campaign, but is also one of
four quarterbacks aiming for the former Miami star’s mark, along with Drew
Brees, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.

Manning is more focused on keeping the Giants on course for the playoffs and
said the win over the Cowboys would matter little if the team fails to take
care of business the rest of the way.

“It won’t mean anything if we don’t finish the season strong and win these
next games,” Manning said after the win. “That’s the mindset. We can’t relax
now. We can’t start feeling great about ourselves. We have three big games.
[This] week, Washington is coming to New York and we have to win that game and
go from there.”

The Redskins, New York Jets and Cowboys remain on the upcoming schedule for the
Giants, who were able to stop a four-game losing streak and avoid dropping five
in a row for the first time since the 2004 campaign. New York now has to put
the brakes on a two-game home losing streak this week in order to keep hope
alive. The last time the Giants lost three in a row as the host was a four-game
slide at the Meadowlands in 2007, a year in which they went on to win the
franchise’s third Super Bowl title.

Washington will finish the season with a record at .500 or below for a fourth
straight campaign, and the losing ways continued with last Sunday’s hard-fought
34-27 loss to the New England Patriots at FedEx Field.

The Redskins took Brady and the Patriots to the limit, but like many of their
games this season, the ultimate result was not achieved. Quarterback Rex
Grossman, who stated during the shortened offseason that the Redskins had a
chance to win the NFC East, played fairly well with 252 yards passing, two
touchdowns and an interception. The offense mustered just one touchdown in the
second half, however, clearing a path for the Patriots and opening the door to
possible changes under head coach Mike Shanahan.

“It’s not just one person, it’s everybody playing together,” Shanahan said
this week. “There aren’t many quarterbacks who can be the quarterback without
their supporting cast. You can’t put all the pressure on one guy. Part of it
is having that cohesive offensive line…running backs, wide receivers, tight
ends.

“It gives the quarterback a chance to be pretty good. Sometimes, when those
pieces aren’t there, you go from looking at least pretty good to looking
average.”

Washington has been below average in losing two straight and eight of nine
games since storming out of the gates with a 3-1 record. The Redskins headed
into their bye week on Oct. 9 looking pretty good in keeping Grossman’s
prediction true, but a mixture of blowout losses and close defeats has the team
peering down a 4-9 hole with the Giants, Minnesota and Philadelphia remaining.

The Redskins defeated New York in Week 1 by a 28-14 score thanks to 305 passing
yards and two touchdowns from Grossman. Running back Tim Hightower was healthy
back then and posted 72 yards and a score on 25 carries.

Grossman is still the quarterback after the Redskins had a brief experiment
with John Beck at midseason, but now it’s rookie running back Roy Helu’s show
now with Hightower done for the season with a torn ACL suffered in October.

SERIES HISTORY

The Giants have a 91-62-4 advantage in the all-time regular-season series with
Washington and had won six straight meetings in the set prior to the Redskins’
previously-noted victory in the 2011 opener. New York had recorded home-and-
home sweeps of Washington in each of the previous three years, and the
Redskins are 1-6 in their last seven games against the Giants as the visiting
team, with the only positive result over that span a 22-10 decision behind
then-backup quarterback Todd Collins during Week 15 of the 2007 campaign.
Washington, which hasn’t bested New York twice in the same season since 1999,
was dealt a 31-7 defeat at MetLife Stadium in December of 2010.

These storied rivals have also split two postseason matchups, with the Giants’
17-0 triumph in the 1986 NFC Championship countering a 28-0 Washington win in
a 1943 NFC Division Playoff.

Giants head coach Tom Coughlin is 12-6 against the Redskins all-time,
including a 1-2 mark while with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 1995-2002.
Shanahan is 2-4 versus New York over his head coaching career, having gone 1-2
while in charge of Washington and 1-2 during his 14-year run with the Denver
Broncos from 1995-2008.

Shanahan and Coughlin have a significant shared history, with their respective
teams opposing one another five times between 1995 and 1999 when Coughlin’s
Jaguars and Shanahan’s Broncos were regularly near the top of the AFC.
Shanahan was 3-2 against Coughlin in those games, including a loss to
Jacksonville in the 1996 AFC Playoffs and a win in the 1997 postseason.
Coughlin has gone 3-1 in head-to-head bouts with Shanahan since, with the
Giants following up a 24-23 verdict over Denver in 2005 with last season’s
series sweep of the Redskins and the above-mentioned Week 1 loss.

WHEN THE REDSKINS HAVE THE BALL

Grossman (2,426 passing yards, 12 TD, 16 INT) hasn’t enjoyed a rating of 100 or
better since the Week 1 victory over the Giants (110.5), but has gotten close,
having amassed a rating of 90 or higher in three of the past four weeks. The
New York win was the only time this season Grossman did not throw an
interception, as he has been picked off in every game he’s played in since for
a total of 16. He has thrown four interceptions in the past three games and has
been sacked twice in each of the last two contests as well. Grossman also lost
a fumble in the end zone last Sunday that New England recovered for a
touchdown, while recovering another fumble in the recent setback. He hopes to
get some solid protection this week. Sean Locklear and Willie Smith will battle
for the starting left tackle spot much like they did before the New England
game, with Locklear earning the starting nod before giving way to Smith. Tyler
Polumbus started for Jammal Brown at right tackle last week and will get the
nod again if Brown can’t shake a groin injury. Helu (582 rushing yards, 2 TD)
has rushed for more than 100 yards in each of the past three weeks and had
a career-best 126 yards on 27 carries versus New England.

Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (61 tackles, 13 sacks) is most likely
headed to the Pro Bowl and has been a force along the interior line. He was the
defensive hero in last Sunday’s win at Dallas, as the athletic pass rusher led
the Giants with eight tackles (six solo) and had two sacks, one of which
resulted in a safety. Pierre-Paul also forced a fumble and secured the victory
by blocking Dan Bailey’s 47-yard field goal attempt with one second left. He
has the most sacks by a Giants player since injured end Osi Umenyiora had 13 in
2007, and registered two of the team’s four sacks against the Redskins in Week
1. Tackle Chris Canty (38 tackles) has two sacks this season, with one coming
against the Redskins and the other generated last week in Dallas. New York’s
stop unit isn’t that stout statistically, as evidenced by its 22nd-rated run
defense, No. 27 ranking in points allowed and 29th-rated pass defense. The
Giants are also 30th in total yards allowed (391.6 ypg). Washington hasn’t been
that tough running the football, but is 12th in passing (237.9 ypg). Dallas’
Tony Romo threw four touchdown passes against New York in Week 14, and that
could pose as a problem with Washington in town this week.

WHEN THE GIANTS HAVE THE BALL

New York amassed 315 yards of offense in the first matchup with the Redskins
and Manning (4,105 passing yards, 25 TD, 12 INT) was held in check. The ground
game suffered as well, as evidenced by the 75 yards on the ground the team had
in that loss. Leading rusher Ahmad Bradshaw (490 rushing yards, 5 TD) was
healthy then but had just 44 yards and a score on 13 carries. While Bradshaw
has dealt with injuries, Brandon Jacobs (480 rushing yards, 7 TD) picked up the
slack in his absence, though he totaled just 29 yards on six touches against
the Redskins in the opener. Jacobs has enjoyed success throughout his career
against Washington, however, compiling 667 yards and five touchdowns on 150
carries — his most against any single team. He powered his way to 101 yards
and two scores on 19 touches last week in Dallas, and had the game-winning
touchdown on a one-yard run with 46 seconds remaining. Manning helped the G-men
record 510 yards of offense — the team’s most in a game since 2009 — and was
not sacked for the third time this season. He has been sacked a total of two
times in the last three weeks, and the Giants have won their last six games in
which they did not give up a sack dating back to last season. Manning has also
thrown 14 fourth-quarter touchdown passes this season, tying the NFL record set
by Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas in 1959 and tied by his brother, Peyton, in
2002.

In order for the Redskins to play spoiler, the defense will have to keep
Manning under control much like it did back in Week 1. The Giants’ quarterback
was held to 268 yards passing with no touchdown throws and an interception
returned for a score by rookie outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan (57 tackles, 7
sacks). Washington also kept the pressure on Manning, who was sacked four times
in that one. The Redskins’ defense has played much more poorly since then, but
is decent against the pass (13th overall) and stands 10th in total yards
allowed. Linemen Barry Cofield (23 tackles, 3 sacks) — a former member of the
Giants — and Stephen Bowen (33 tackles, 5 sacks) combined for one sack of
Brady last week, while cornerback Josh Wilson (52 tackles) posted the team’s
lone interception. The team’s core players of Kerrigan, linebackers Brian
Orakpo and London Fletcher and cornerback DeAngelo Hall were all kept silent by
New England, though Fletcher (134 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 INT) led the way with 10
stops. Hall can expect a lot of work this Sunday against Manning and the
Giants’ passing attack, and he and Fletcher are both tied for the team lead in
interceptions with two apiece. Safety Oshiomogho Atogwe (45 tackles, 1 INT) had
his playing time cut short Sunday in favor of rookie DeJon Gomes (24 tackles).

KEYS TO THE GAME

The Redskins will have a pulse in this matchup if they can get Helu to run
wild against a New York defense that is 22nd against the rush. Cowboys running
back Felix Jones took over for an injured DeMarco Murray last Sunday and
collected 106 yards on 16 carries.

New York must tighten up in the secondary and is 29th in pass defense, allowing
263.7 yards per game. It doesn’t help that safety Kenny Phillips is bothered by
a knee injury. He had started 28 straight games and was replaced in the lineup
by Deon Grant last week. Washington still has Santana Moss as a deep threat and
Grossman had a good game when these teams met one another in September.

Manning can move closer to Marino’s single-season passing mark this week with
another 400-yard performance. That sounds too much to ask for, but it would
help Manning’s cause as well of that of his team. He has passed for a career-
high 4,105 yards, eclipsing Kerry Collins’ team mark of 4,073 yards set in
2002. Those numbers have allowed wide receivers Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz to
both reach 1,000 yards on the season — the first time the Giants had a pair of
1,000-yard receivers in the team’s history. The Redskins will need to slow
those three down to have their best chance of winning.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

The Giants are on a mission right now and look to gather the same steam that
led them to a Super Bowl title back in 2007. Things haven’t gone as planned at
home recently for them, however, and now’s the time to start playing well with
all of their last three games scheduled at MetLife Stadium (though they’ll be
the visitor against the Jets). New York will have some trouble defensively
against a Redskins team that has nothing to play for, but in the end Big Blue
will send Washington back home with another loss.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Giants 20, Redskins 13

©2011 Sports Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The Green Bay Packers (11-0) hit the road and take on the New York Giants (6-5) at MetLife Stadium on December 4th, 2011. The last time these two teams met was on December 26th, 2010 in Green Bay. The Packers won that game 45-17 as quarterback Aaron Rodgers(notes) passed for 404 yards and four touchdowns. That victory for the Packers came one week after Green Bay lost to the New England Patriots, and it was the first win in the Packers’ current 17 game winning streak.

At the beginning of the season, this game stood out on the schedule as a very difficult road game and a possible defeat. Now I have much more confidence that this is a winnable game for Green Bay, as the Packers are surging and the Giants are in a three game skid. In recent years, the Giants have faded in the latter stages of the season, so this matchup may be happening at exactly the right time for Green Bay to remain undefeated.

The Giants played the New Orleans Saints on November 28th and were beaten handily 49-24. New Orleans, like Green Bay, has a pass oriented offense, and the Saints’ Drew Brees(notes) torched New York for 363 passing yards and four touchdowns. The Giants defense could not mount an effective pass rush and registered no sacks. With left tackle Chad Clifton(notes) and right guard Josh Sitton(notes) out with injuries, the Packer’s offensive line will be out two starters. However, Green Bay has had an uncanny ability to field capable replacements for injured players the last two years, and the Giants still may not be able to pressure Rodgers. The Packer quarterback is having an MVP type of season, averaging 316 passing yards per game with 33 touchdown passes and only four interceptions. The Giants’ secondary will have its hands full for the second week in a row.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning(notes) has almost as many passing yards as Rodgers and is averaging 305 yards per game. He has 20 touchdown passes, but also has ten interceptions. He’s facing a Green Bay defense that leads the NFL in interceptions with 22. The Packers have allowed a lot of yards, but they have also made a lot of big plays on defense that have stopped opponents’ drives. In order of New York to win, Manning and his receivers will have to play a near error free game, score frequently, and bear most of the burden on offense. The Giants can’t expect much help from their running game; they ‘re last in the NFL in rushing with an average of just 82.3 yards per game, and the Packers’ run defense hasn’t been bad, allowing 105.5 yards per game.

Green Bay leads the NFL in scoring and has too much offense for New York to overcome. The Giants late season struggles will continue for their fourth loss in a row.

A Featured Contributor in Sports for the Yahoo! Contributor Network, Mark Hudziak has been a fan of the Green Bay Packers since the Vince Lombardi era.

Sources:

Yahoo! Sports NFL Green Bay Packers

Yahoo! Sports NFL New York Giants

More from this contributor:

History of the New York Giants vs. Green Bay Packers NFL Playoff Games

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