The Giants ended a two-game skid after with a grueling come-from-behind 24–20 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars last Sunday. Currently tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for first place in the NFC East Division (the Eagles faced the Houston Texans on Thursday night), New York came out flat in last week's game and needed a fiery halftime speech by defensive end Justin Tuck to pull out the win.
The Redskins come into this game losing three of their last four games, but they are led by Giants arch nemesis Donovan McNabb—who has had great success against New York throughout his career—so New York can ill afford another slow start.
The good news for the Giants is the fact that McNabb has been prone to sacks this year playing behind an offensive line that has had a lot of problems in the interior. McNabb has been sacked 31 times—second most in the NFL.
The Giants second-ranked defense is also tied for fifth in the league with 31 sacks. New York’s defensive line should get plenty of pressure up the middle and on the edges where defensive ends Osi Umenyiora (8 sacks) and Justin Tuck (7.5 sacks) excel.
In addition to Umenyiora and Tuck, rookie defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (2 sacks) has also played well lately and has shown tremendous upside.
Coming into this season, the Redskins were regarded as one of the teams to watch in the NFC East. However, despite the big-name signings of McNabb and former Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, Washington's offense has struggled, ranked 21st in the league—26th in rushing (90.7 yards per game), 10th in passing (242 yards per game), 25th in scoring (19.5 points per game), and are ranked 32nd in the league in 3rd-down conversions (39-out-of-142 attempts).
Without their leading rusher, Clinton Portis (placed on injured reserve with an abdominal injury), Washington is hurting in the ground game. However, they still have one of the best receivers in the NFC in Santana Moss (778 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns) and the Giants must account for him whenever he is on the field.
When New York has the ball, their third-ranked offense will be facing a battered Redskins defense that is ranked 32nd in the NFL (allowing 400 yards per game)—26th in run defense (allowing 131.5 yards per game) and 29th in pass defense (allowing 269.4 yards per game).
Playing Smart
If there has been an Achilles' heel for New York's offense, it's been their turnovers. The G-Men have a minus six turnover ratio and quarterback Eli Manning has thrown 16 interceptions.
The Giants did well though in committing zero turnovers last week. They will need another good performance against divisional foe Washington on Sunday, especially when considering that Redskins corner DeAngelo Hall has six interceptions.
On www.giants.com, Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride spoke about Hall's defensive ability, saying, "You're certainly appreciative of his ability to intercept the ball and he's got very good ball skills, he's like a lot of those terrific corners."
Other areas of concern for the Giants include the offensive line and wide receivers—both of which have been impacted lately by a string of injuries to key players. But in the their absence, others have stepped up and played well so there hasn't been as bad a drop-off as was first anticipated.
If the Giants offense can play smart football—limiting the bad penalties and turnovers, they should give the defense a chance to stay off the field, remain fresh, and dominate this game.
Justin Tuck knows what is expected of his team. He said, "We shouldn't rely on speeches, whether it be at halftime, postgame, pregame, it doesn't matter whether it's from leaders, the team, or the coach. We're professional football players, and we should bring our A-game regardless of the situation."
Game time is set for 1 p.m.
