Washington Redskins (4-2) at New York Giants (4-2)
GAME SNAPSHOT
KICKOFF: Sunday, 1:00 ET
GAMEDATE: 10/30/05
SURFACE: FieldTurf
TV: FOX, Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa
SERIES: 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.
2005 RANKINGS: Redskins: offense 2nd (4th rush, 8th pass);
defense 4th (15th rush, 4th pass). Giants: offense 15th (17th rush, 13th pass);
defense 31st (21st rush, 31st pass)
PREDICTION: Redskins 20-16
KEYS TO THE GAME: Something has to give, with the Redskins
entering the game allowing just 14 first downs per game while the Giants enter
with the league's top scoring defense at 28.8 points per game. While Washington
has been somewhat beat up in the secondary, the key for the Giants is to find a
good run-pass balance in order to control the clock because their own defense is
struggling mightily. If New York is unable to contain Redskins RB Clinton Portis, the Giants' much-maligned secondary will have little chance against the
speed of WRs Santana Moss (four 100-yard receiving games in the past five weeks)
and David Patten. Also essential is a strong pass rush to prevent QB Mark Brunell from setting his feet and looking downfield.
FAST FACTS: Redskins: Portis needs 42 rushing yards to
reach 5,000 in his 51st career game, which would pass Baltimore's Jamal Lewis
for fifth-fastest all-time. Giants: Barber needs four rushing touchdowns to tie
Rodney Hampton's (49) franchise record. ... WR Amani Toomer needs one touchdown
reception to become the fourth player in franchise history with 40.
PERSONNEL NEWS:
Redskins:
--LG Derrick Dockery missed practice after spraining a
mild ankle during Wednesday's workout. Dockery is expected to start Sunday
against the Giants.
--DT Cornelius Griffin didn't practice for a second
straight day because of a strained hip flexor. Griffin is expected to start on
Sunday.
--FS Sean Taylor didn't practice for a second straight
day because of an ailing ankle. Taylor is expected to start against the
Giants.
--K John Hall did the heavy kicking workload for the
second straight Thursday. If Hall's right leg feels fine on Friday, he'll
likely finally return to action on Sunday for the first time in seven weeks
and undrafted rookie Nick Novak will be released.
--DT Joe Salave'a practiced for a second straight day
despite painful plantar fascia and is expected to start on Sunday.
Giants:
--WLB Barrett Green, signed last season as a free agent
from the Detroit Lions, has been placed on injured reserve and thus is gone
for the season. Last year he managed to play in only 10 games before landing
on IR, and this season he saw limited action in only one game, the fourth of
the schedule. He had been inactive the other games. His injuries involve both
a knee and an ankle, and last week he shared with media the news that he might
have to undergo yet another surgical procedure.
--SLB Carlos Emmons, who suffered a shoulder injury last
Sunday against Denver, went through an MRI exam Wednesday and was shown to
have a partial tear of the right pectoral muscle. He is listed as questionable
for Sunday. In his absence the Giants will start second-year player Reggie Torbor.
--PK Jay Feely is one of only three placekickers in the
NFL with perfect field goal scores so far. He has made 11 of 11. Arizona's
Neil Rackers is 20 for 20 and Atlanta's Todd Peterson is 10 for 10. Feely was
replaced by Peterson in Atlanta this season, and Peterson is a former Giants
draft choice.
--LG Rich Seubert, who missed a season and a half with a
horrific leg fracture in October of 2003, is now on the roster but hasn't yet
played. Is he anxious to play? "No, not really," he said,
"because that would mean somebody got hurt, and all these guys are my
friends. The O-line is special, we are a very tightly-knit group whether we
play or not."
--SS Shaun Williams, who doesn't even start, has as many
interceptions this season as all the Redskins put together - two. Washington
has only a pick from FS Sean Taylor and SLB Marcus Washington. The Giants have
nine.
INSIDE THE CAMPS:
Redskins:
After nearly two years since their last battle,
Washington right tackle Jon Jansen is pumped for Sunday's renewal of his
rivalry with New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan.
"It's one of those things I missed last year,"
said Jansen, sidelined for all of 2004 with a torn Achilles' tendon.
"It's a matchup I look forward to because he's a (six-time) Pro Bowl guy
and if I want to get to the Pro Bowl and have people talk about me the way I
hope they would, you have to beat guys like that."
Jansen and Strahan, who missed the final eight games of
2004 with a torn pectoral muscle, battled twice a year from 1999-2003. Jansen
stoned Strahan as a rookie in 1999 and again in 2000, but Strahan racked up 7
1/2 sacks against the Redskins from 2001-03.
Not only does Strahan rank fourth in the NFC with 5 1/2
sacks through six games, but Jansen will be at a disadvantage because of the
cast on the right thumb he broke in the Sept. 11 season opener.
"If anything, Mike's probably a little bit better
now because it looks like he's dropped some weight and is in tremendous
shape," Jansen said. "I think he really tried to prove everybody
wrong who said he can't come back from his injury, or he's not going to be the
same player or he's getting old (33). He's still the same explosive player.
He's still great at getting sacks and disrupting offenses."
Despite playing with one or two broken thumbs (the cast
on the left one he broke on Sept. 5 came off two games ago), Jansen has also
returned to the reliable, near-Pro Bowl form he maintained while never even
missing a practice during his first six seasons.
Giants:
The mass, viewing and funeral of Giants patriarch
Wellington T. Mara, who died Tuesday, occupied most of the team's thoughts and
accounted for most of its plans Thursday.
Mara will be buried from the historic St. Patrick's
Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Friday morning, after which nothing
will resume as normal. But the team will be able to begin focusing on Sunday's
game at home against the Washington Redskins.
"Mr. Mara seemed to have a tremendous capacity for
saying and doing the right thing at the right time," coach Tom Coughlin
said. "When I was first hired (Jan. 7, 2003), he would literally come by
my office every day, and if he missed a day he would come by to tell me,
'Coach, I haven't forgotten you. I was busy for a day or two and I didn't get
down here.' He would come by on his walk and just see how I was doing and how
we were doing and if there was anything more he could do.
"But we have to find a way to focus on the job at
hand," Coughlin said, "knowing full well that is what he would want;
this is what he would want us to do."
The Giants players will wear patches on their left
shoulders for the remainder of the season, a white oval patch with a black
border and the initials "W.T.M." in black.
The flags at Giants Stadium have been flying at
half-staff since Mara's death at the age of 89, and will continue to do so
through Sunday's game.
