With their backs against the wall and playoff hopes on the line, the New York Giants (8–6) annihilated the Washington Redskins (4–10) on Monday Night Football, 45–12 at FedEx Field.
After the game, head coach Tom Coughlin commented on the “team first” mentality that enabled them to dig deep and pull out the win.
He said, “We do spend an awful lot of time talking about the team concept and about the fact that you can take the name off the back of the jersey and the team is the most important aspect of it.
“No individual is more important than the team.”
This was a game that New York had to win after the Dallas Cowboys (9–5) pulled off a major upset to down the previously unbeaten New Orleans Saints (13–1) last Saturday.
With Big Blue’s dominating win against Washington, they not only kept pace with the ‘Boys but put the pressure back on Big D. Due to the fact that New York owns the tiebreaker with Dallas, the Cowboys need to match or better the Giants results in the final two regular season games.
As things stand, the Saints, Minnesota Vikings (11–3), Philadelphia Eagles (10–4), and Arizona Cardinals (9–5) own the top four seeds in the NFC playoff picture respectively.
The Green Bay Packers (9–5), and the Cowboys currently hold the fifth and sixth seeds respectively. Note that the Giants don’t own the tiebreaker against the Packers. They have a worse conference record (6–4) than the Green Bay Packers (7–3) do.
Their first step towards that plan was to take out the boisterous home crowd. Taking a 24–0 first half lead did just that.
On the opening drive, the Giants marched down the field with a methodical 16-play, 80-yard drive that lasted eight minutes, ate up most of the first quarter, and set the tone for the entire game. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw capped off the drive with a 3-yard run.
Getting the ball back minutes later, the Giants went on another clock eating scoring drive that extended well into the second quarter.
Gaining 63 yards on 11 plays, the Giants again fed the ball to Bradshaw who ran in for the second score of the game after a quick 4-yard dash, putting New York up 14–0.
After a 38-yard Lawrence Tynes field goal midway through the quarter, Eli Manning took the Giants downfield on a four play, 56-yard scoring drive that included a 45-yard catch by rookie wide receiver Hakeem Nicks and a 6-yard touchdown reception by Steve Smith.
With the G-Men up by double digits and having all the momentum, the Redskins became so desperate that they tried consecutive fake field goals with seconds remaining in the half. The latter, which resulted in an interception had to be one of the stupidest plays of the season.
Starting the second half, the mauling continued.
Just as Eli and the offense dominated, the defense did its part as well.
Coming into this game, defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan had been under fire for overseeing a defense that had been beaten like a drum by the Philadelphia Eagles a week ago.
Whatever head coach Tom Coughlin or coach Sheridan said to the defense this week, it must have been inspiring because they completely shut down the Redskins offense and put plenty of pressure on quarterback Jason Campbell.
The Giants sacked Skins quarterback Jason Campbell five times and intercepted him three times, one of which was returned 14-yards for a touchdown at the close of the third quarter by cornerback Terrell Thomas.
In contrast to the Redskins, Eli Manning looked like an All-Pro, completing 19 of 26 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns. He registered his second best QB rating of the season at 144.4.
Despite the huge win on Monday night, coach Coughlin realizes his team can’t let up the momentum. He said, “We try to do the best we can with our circumstance and then we'll have to see what happens.”
After the game, head coach Tom Coughlin commented on the “team first” mentality that enabled them to dig deep and pull out the win.
He said, “We do spend an awful lot of time talking about the team concept and about the fact that you can take the name off the back of the jersey and the team is the most important aspect of it.
“No individual is more important than the team.”
This was a game that New York had to win after the Dallas Cowboys (9–5) pulled off a major upset to down the previously unbeaten New Orleans Saints (13–1) last Saturday.
With Big Blue’s dominating win against Washington, they not only kept pace with the ‘Boys but put the pressure back on Big D. Due to the fact that New York owns the tiebreaker with Dallas, the Cowboys need to match or better the Giants results in the final two regular season games.
As things stand, the Saints, Minnesota Vikings (11–3), Philadelphia Eagles (10–4), and Arizona Cardinals (9–5) own the top four seeds in the NFC playoff picture respectively.
The Green Bay Packers (9–5), and the Cowboys currently hold the fifth and sixth seeds respectively. Note that the Giants don’t own the tiebreaker against the Packers. They have a worse conference record (6–4) than the Green Bay Packers (7–3) do.
Dominating Effort
The Giants knew coming into this game that they not only had to win the game, but win it convincingly.Their first step towards that plan was to take out the boisterous home crowd. Taking a 24–0 first half lead did just that.
On the opening drive, the Giants marched down the field with a methodical 16-play, 80-yard drive that lasted eight minutes, ate up most of the first quarter, and set the tone for the entire game. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw capped off the drive with a 3-yard run.
Getting the ball back minutes later, the Giants went on another clock eating scoring drive that extended well into the second quarter.
Gaining 63 yards on 11 plays, the Giants again fed the ball to Bradshaw who ran in for the second score of the game after a quick 4-yard dash, putting New York up 14–0.
After a 38-yard Lawrence Tynes field goal midway through the quarter, Eli Manning took the Giants downfield on a four play, 56-yard scoring drive that included a 45-yard catch by rookie wide receiver Hakeem Nicks and a 6-yard touchdown reception by Steve Smith.
With the G-Men up by double digits and having all the momentum, the Redskins became so desperate that they tried consecutive fake field goals with seconds remaining in the half. The latter, which resulted in an interception had to be one of the stupidest plays of the season.
Starting the second half, the mauling continued.
Just as Eli and the offense dominated, the defense did its part as well.
Coming into this game, defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan had been under fire for overseeing a defense that had been beaten like a drum by the Philadelphia Eagles a week ago.
Whatever head coach Tom Coughlin or coach Sheridan said to the defense this week, it must have been inspiring because they completely shut down the Redskins offense and put plenty of pressure on quarterback Jason Campbell.
The Giants sacked Skins quarterback Jason Campbell five times and intercepted him three times, one of which was returned 14-yards for a touchdown at the close of the third quarter by cornerback Terrell Thomas.
In contrast to the Redskins, Eli Manning looked like an All-Pro, completing 19 of 26 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns. He registered his second best QB rating of the season at 144.4.
Despite the huge win on Monday night, coach Coughlin realizes his team can’t let up the momentum. He said, “We try to do the best we can with our circumstance and then we'll have to see what happens.”
