You can reach Rich Tandler by email at WarpathInsiders@comcast.net
Pregame
In pregame warmups, John Hall is nailing them from 40 yards,
but he’s having a bit of accuracy difficulty on anything longer than that.
It looks like it will be a late arriving crowd today. I got
here at the usual time of about 11:00 AM
and the parking lots, while far from empty, were not as crowded as they usually
are. Hopefully, it will be a late arriving crowd and not a non-arriving one.
There is a big-game feel here at FedEx Field, but not a
December game feel, that’s for sure. It’s sunny and the game-time temp is going
to be pushing 60 degrees.
The inactives are:
Carlos Rogers
Nehemiah Broughton
Matt Bowen
Robert McCune
Ryan Boschetti
Jimmy Farris
Aki Jones
And #3 QB Jason Campbell
That means that LaVar Arrington, who has been out the last
two games and James Thrash, who has missed the last four, will be on the field
for the Redskins today. They don’t designate starters, but it’s hard to imagine
that a LaVar Arrington who can run will not play substantially more than
Warrick Holdman. Thrash should also see a lot of playing time as Taylor Jacobs
can’t get it done as the second receiver.
Randy Thomas, who had surgery on his broken ankle, is on the
sidelines with a Santa hat covering the toes sticking out of the end of the
cast. He’s listed as one of the captains today, but obviously he won’t see any action
beyond the coin toss.
First Quarter
If the first series is any indication, the Giants will be
throwing on early downs to give Eli Manning some time to throw. It almost worked,
but Plaxico Burress dropped
his first-down bomb.
Somebody on the Redskins must have tipped the referees off about
defensive holding on their running plays. Dallas
got called for it twice last week and now there is another one in the early
going today against the Giants. I don’t recall it being called up until then.
Clinton Portis is going to pop one today. He’s come close a
couple of times already on the first offensive series. All he needs to do is
make one guy miss and he’ll be off to the races.
Slick and slippery. That’s what
Santana Moss was on that little bubble screen that he took to the house.
Derrick Dockery did a good job of getting downfield out in front of Moss and
the defensive back had absolutely zero chance of getting around him to try to
make the tackle.
As one person up here noted, a 7:08
drive with a lot of running is just what you want in Christmas Eve. It would be
great to be down in the victorious locker room by 4
PM.
New York does
seem to have the Washington defense
a bit off balance as they are throwing on first and 10 and running on second
and long. The strategy is keeping Manning in the pocket with time to throw and
giving Tiki Barber some running room. When they had
to pass on third and four, the ball got batted in the air by Phillip Daniels.
Still, the drive netted the Giants a field goal.
That was the worst pass Brunell has thrown all year, by far.
Perhaps he was out of synch with Thrash, the intended receiver, but it looked
like he just didn’t see Chase Blackburn, who got one of the easiest touchdowns
a defender will ever get.
It’s not hard to see why Antonio Brown isn’t getting any
time at receiver despite his speed. He has no moves at all. If he stops going
straight ahead or does any more than a full-speed veer, he’s dead.
I was going to type that the Redskins are setting up a
play-action bomb by running on every first down, but I
didn’t. I could go back in the chronicle here and do so, but it wouldn’t be right.
Good adjustment by Moss on Brunell’s underthrown ball. He’s showing that he’s the complete
package as a receiver, not just a speed demon.
Second Quarter
Portis was very, very close to breaking it on his first
carry of the second quarter. He was just off balance enough when a Giant
defender brushed him to get knocked out off bounds. It’s coming, I tell you.
Ade Jimoh
is an animal on special teams. As the gunner, he had a Giants trying to both
hold and clip him, but Jimoh wouldn’t have any of it.
He got to Chad Morton as soon as he caught the punt and made a textbook open
field tackle.
It is indeed the season for giving. Manning returned Brunell’s gift-wrapped interception favor with one to Lamar
Marshall that should have had a bow on it. Jeremy Shockey
has no idea where the ball was, apparently not believing
that Eli had thrown it right between the “9” and the “8” on Marshall’s
jersey. Happy Holidays, indeed!
The Giants don’t know what hit them on Portis’ TD toss to
Cooley. That’s the best spot on the field to try that one from; when they ran
it in St. Louis it was near
midfield and you don’t expect a running back to have the skills to complete
that one. This was just an easy toss to a wide-open Cooley. That’s going to set
the New York defenders back on their heels a bit on the toss sweep from here on
out.
It’s unusual to see the Redskins playing as soft as they are
on this two-minute drive by the Giants. They’re in field goal range thanks to a
questionable personal foul call on Ryan Clark and the rush really hasn’t come
close to Manning and the coverage has still been rather soft.
New York gets
a lucky break to get back into it. Burress should be
ashamed of himself for being able to do nothing more
than bat Manning’s pass into the air and Toomer
should be commended for great concentration in making the catch in the end
zone. It doesn’t look like there’s enough to overturn, although it’s very
close.
Still, you have to like a 21-17 lead at the half. The Giants
still don’t have an answer for the Redskins’ offense.
Third Quarter
That was not the series that the Redskins needed to respond
to the Giants’ score near halftime. An OK run, a dropped pass, and a sack, that’s
not the way to grab the momentum back. The Giants not only get the ball back, they
have decent field position at their own 34.
Clutch special teams play by the Redskins with the blocked
chip-shot field goal attempt. For the Giants to score on that drive would have
put momentum back on the Giants’ side.
Patrick Ramsey came into the game the last time the Redskins
played the Giants, too. The circumstances were quite different as New
York had the game well in hand at that point. We’ll
see how much Ramsey has learned in his 14 games on the bench.
Clinton Portis—or, more accurately, the offensive line—needs
to step it up if the Redskins are going to stay in control. A solid running
game is any quarterback’s best friend, especially a rusty one.
It really is too bad that Santana Moss is just a speedster
who really isn’t much of a receiver. After bailing out Brunell on an underthrow earlier, he made a great adjustment on Ramsey’s
pass and took it to the house again.
A very smooth, cool Manning going to Shockey to convert a third and nine. There were
Redskins jumping all around and he calmly found lane to throw to for a big first down.
This already has been a higher-scoring game than many
thought at 28-20 and it’s not even the end of the third quarter yet. Manning is
hanging tough.
Fourth Quarter
I told you that Portis was going to break one. Although 19
yards isn’t exactly coast to coast, he could have gone for 80. Besides, as it gives
them a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter, it may have been the most important
19 yards of the season for Portis and the Redskins.
I doubt that the Giants will be abandoning the run at this
point. They have little hope of Manning drops back on every play. They need two
touchdowns and Barber is their best offensive weapon and their best chance of
getting the scores.
That may have been a little early to go for it on fourth
down, especially with six yards to go and over ten minutes to play. A field goal
would avoid the necessity for a two-point conversion.
After getting played to a standoff for most of three
quarters, the Washington
offensive line is now beginning to dominate the players in front of them.
They’re blowing them back off the line and Betts and Portis are running hard
into the holes.
One holding call and one possible PI that wasn’t called may
have wrapped this one up for the Redskins. The hold brought back a New York TD
and the non-call let stand a fourth-down incompletion. I certainly don’t want
to imply that interference should have been called on Shawn
Springs, just that I’ve seen it
called on similar plays.
Who is the best team in the NFC now? You could make a case
that the Redskins are playing better than anyone now and they have improved
more than anyone over the past month. They hung 35 on the Giants, a team that
shut them out less than two months ago. That’s all you need for a yardstick to
tell how well this group is playing right now.
Hail to the Redskins
Postscript
It’s quite a challenge to get a Redskin to actually
acknowledge that he accomplished something out on the field. In the interview
room I tried to get Santana Moss to say something about being a big-time player
making big plays in a big time game. He talked about hard work and credited
Clinton Portis for making the safeties cheat to help with the run. Renaldo Wynn’s
block wasn’t a great individual effort, according to Wynn, it was a great
scheme that Danny Smith called at the right time.
Clinton Portis did boast—about his passing ability. His
success on the ground was due to Moss keeping the defense back on its heels,
the offensive line, and great play calling.
As long as that attitude prevails, nobody is going to want
to play this team in the playoffs should they get there.
