Hot Topic
"Santana has been pretty phenomenal," Redskins
coach Joe Gibbs said. "I'm really thankful we got him. Last year, I was
so frustrated (because) we couldn't get big plays. For us to get some this
year changes the whole complexion of what we're doing."
Moss' 10 catches of at least 30 yards is one more than
the Redskins managed all last season.
"It's pretty cool to go back and be playing in the
game we're playing in on Sunday," said Moss, who called Giants Stadium
home for four years before the Jets traded him to the Redskins in March for
fellow receiver Laveranues Coles. "I know the stadium well. I know it has
some pretty fast turf. I'm hoping it's a good (weather) day so we can be able
to do the things that we do."
Moss' best game as a Jet came in his previous matchup
with the Giants when he caught 10 balls for 121 yards and three touchdowns in
a 31-28 loss in 2003 at Giants Stadium. Moss caught 74 passes for 1,105 yards
and 10 touchdowns that season, but those numbers pale with those on pace for
this year: 101 catches, 1,981 yards and 13 touchdowns. The yards would be an
NFL record, the touchdowns a Redskins mark.
"I always like to make the critics scratch their
heads," said Moss, who battled injuries in New York. "(The Redskins)
don't just make me stretch the (field) every time. They put me in a situation
where ... I'm just getting the ball in my hands and generate whatever I'm
going to get. When you've got a guy like myself and you're throwing deep every
play, teams pretty much pick that up."
Although Moss was absent for much of the off-season
program at Redskins Park while his agent negotiated a new contract, and
although Mark Brunell was a backup throughout training camp and preseason, the
receiver and his new quarterback didn't waste any time clicking.
"The whole Brunell-Moss thing is 80 percent Moss and
20 percent Brunell," said Brunell, who's leading the NFC with 98.3 passer
rating thanks largely to a 12-2 touchdown-interception ratio. "Santana is
that good. There's nothing he can't do. The only thing he doesn't have is he's
not 6-foot-4 or 6-5, but he can catch and run. He's smart. He's competitive.
And once he gets the ball, he can do something with it."
As long as the speedster doesn't outrun the ball.
"The hardest thing about throwing to Santana is that
it's easy to underthrow him," Brunell said. "You just have to throw
it out there, because when the ball is in the air he'll really go and get
it."
And to think the Redskins only went out and got Moss
because the unhappy Coles wanted to be traded back to the Jets.
SERIES HISTORY: 147th meeting. The Giants lead the series
82-60-4 including a split of their two postseason meetings. The most memorable
meeting was a meaningless regular season game in which the Redskins crushed
the Giants 72-41 in 1966. The more recent memorable game came on "Monday
Night Football" in 1985 when Giants LB Lawrence Taylor broke Joe
Theismann's leg and ended the longtime Redskins QB's career.
Quotes
and Notes
--Kicker John Hall, who missed the last five games with a
pulled quadriceps, could finally return to action on Sunday.
"I think I'm kicking this week," Hall said.
"I felt pretty good. It depends on what (special teams coach Danny Smith)
wants. I prepared last week like I was kicking, but it didn't happen. Of
course, I'm anxious. It's a pretty big game, but I just want to get out there
for any game. I don't care if we play Maryland."
Gibbs, who earlier said that Hall would reclaim his job
from rookie Nick Novak if he showed he could kick in practice for two straight
weeks, said today's more kick-intensive practice would likely be more telling
about the situation for Sunday.
Hall, who spent the first six years of his career kicking
in Giants Stadium for the Jets, has missed 14 of the last 17 games with a
series of leg injuries.
--Defensive tackles Cornelius Griffin (hip), Cedric Killings (ankle) and Aki Jones (hamstring) didn't practice on Wednesday.
Killings and Jones hadn't played against San Francisco while Griffin went out
in the third quarter.
With the inexperienced Ryan Boschetti as the only healthy
defensive tackle, Joe Salave'a has continued to tough it out despite a case of
plantar fascia, a painful arch/heel injury he suffered on Oct. 16 at Kansas
City.
"It's tender, but if I can tolerate the pain, I'll
be all right," said Salave'a, who didn't practice all last week but
started against the 49ers. "I've never had this problem before. I'm
trying to get as much treatment as I can and work through it."
BY THE NUMBERS: 692 -- Days since Redskins RT Jon Jansen
last battled Giants LDE Michael Strahan.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Antonio is a good friend, but he's
playing for the other guys on Sunday. We can hug and kiss after the game, but
for those three hours, it's all business." - Redskins SLB Marcus Washington about facing Giants MLB Antonio Pierce, whom he played next to all
last season.
Player
Notes
PLAYER/PERSONNEL NOTES
--QB Mark Brunell (calf) was limited in practice on
Wednesday but should start on Sunday against the Giants.
--FS Sean Taylor (ankle) didn't practice on Wednesday but
should start as usual on Sunday.
--CB Carlos Rogers (ankle) practiced Wednesday and is
expected to return to action on Sunday after being inactive against the 49ers.
--C Casey Rabach (ankle) practiced on Wednesday and
should start. Rabach didn't practice all last week.
--LB LaVar Arrington (hamstring) practiced on Wednesday
and should be available to play.
GAME PLAN: The Redskins will try to attack the Giants'
struggling pass defense with deep balls to WRs Santana Moss and David Patten
as well as underneath throws to H-backs Chris Cooley and Mike Sellers.
Defensively, the Redskins would like to repeat the
nightmares they gave Giants QB Eli Manning as a rookie last December. However,
Manning is maturing quickly and has more weapons with new WR Plaxico Burress
and healthy TE Jeremy Shockey. Washington will have to limit the big plays by
that trio as well as RB Tiki Barber after allowing four TDs on runs or screens
of at least 34 yards the last three weeks.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
Redskins RB Clinton Portis vs. Giants MLB Antonio Pierce.
Portis, who finally got off the TD schneid last week with three scores against
the lowly 49ers, will battle ex-teammate Pierce, who leads the Giants in
tackles and loves chasing down RBs.
Redskins WR Santana Moss vs. Giants CB Will Allen. Moss
has been the biggest playmaker that Washington has had at WR since Gary Clark,
Ricky Sanders and Art Monk in Gibbs' first tenure that ended in 1992. Allen
and the rest of the New York secondary, which was burned by Moss in 2003 when
he was a Jet, are not playing well. Only Denver has held Moss without a
30-yard catch.
Redskins DT Cornelius Griffin vs. Giants RG Chris Snee.
Griffin felt dissed by the Giants when they let him go to the Redskins as a
free agent without a fight last March. Griffin drove the point home with 12
tackles in his return to the Meadowlands last September. Snee, a tough kid who
also happens to be the son-in-law of Giants coach Tom Coughlin, wasn't
starting then, but he was in the lineup when Griffin made six tackles in the
December rematch.
INJURY IMPACT: With DT Joe Salave'a gimpy and the backup
DTs inexperienced and/or ailing, Griffin has to be himself to make the defense
work properly against a high-flying New York offense.
