There has been a lot of talk of late about the Redskins heading into their bye week at 3-0, almost taking the Giants game for granted. So in an effort to get some perspective, here are some reasons to fear to the Giants:
- The Giants can score points. They have got beaten pretty badly in two games already this year, but they’ve put up 12 more points than the Redskins through 2 games this year.
- The Redskins don’t score much. If this game becomes a shootout, can the Skins keep up with the Giants? The defense has been good, but the offense has only scored 36 through 2 games, granted they haven’t faced a defense as weak as the Giants, but it’s still a concern.
- The Giants have run wild over Washington recently. Even when the Redskins had a good defense, Tiki Barber seemed to be able to get his yards. Last year, he completely torched the Redskins to the tune of 357 yards in two games. Barber’s gone and his replacements aren’t nearly as good, but any idiot could run through the holes Barber had last year.
- The Redskins can’t seem to get many turnovers. One of Eli Manning’s flaws is that he turns the ball over quite a bit, but not against the Redskins.
- It’s still a NFC East divisional game. No matter how bad one team is in this division, they always seem to be able to stay close in a couple of division games a year.
- The desperation factor. The Giants have looked terrible in two games this year. Another beat down would pretty much leave them down and out for the 2007 season. Players have pride, and they won’t want to be embarrassed again.
Ah… who am I kidding? The Giants suck this year, the Redskins should win this one going away.
I actually would be VERY scared of this game if not for the fact that Washington is still getting no respect in most major media outlets; this week’s victory over Philly is being attributed to a bad game by McNabb, last week’s victory over the Dolphins to a missed pass by Green, etc. At this point, no one is saying Washington WON those games, they are saying the Dolphins and the Eagles LOST them. That leaves a pretty big chip on many players shoulders, which willhelp to keep them focused.
But New York is, theoretically, focused, too. They need this game desperately; if they lose to the Redskins here, they lose:
A precious Division Game.
TWO different Tie Breakers (Division and Head-to-Head).
They fall 3 1/2 games behind the division leader.
In Theory, the Giants STILL control their own destiny against every team accept Dallas in the NFC East (Dallas MUST lose a game to a team other than the Giants for the Giants to win the NFC East). If they lose to the Redskins, and Dallas wins this week as well, they would need BOTH the Redskins and Dallas to lose not once, but TWICE in games with other teams (and granted, Washington and Dallas play each other two times). The Giants need merely look at what a loss to Washington means to them down the road to be motivated.
And that discounts the fact (often glossed over in more recent years) that the historical #1 rival of the New York Giants is… the Washington Redskins (and, even after all the storied Dallas-Washington games, that would be true in reverse, as well, if you look at franchise records; no other two teams have played each other so many times). The Giants truly are a bananna peel game for the Redskins… IF they lose focuse.
I have to agree with Lee, though, in that I don’t think the Redskins WILL lose focus; the Redskins are hungrier, even with the Giants starving, with only two playoff appearances in the last 15 years. With last seasons devastation still fresh. With being roundly picked to finish last. To be constantly joked about getting yet another top ten draft pick coming up for the secondary, ala the Lions (uh, aren’t we playing them in three weeks? That might be one to look out for, too!). The Redskins have even MORE riding on this game than the Giants.
But starting at 4:15 EDT Sunday, we’ll see it unfold. And we’ll have a good idea of how our season is going to go.
Redskins play way to conservatively on offense.They use no trick plays and are so predictable.Hand off 1st down,hand off second down,hand off or a rare pass on 3rd down.Their offensive cordinator is a real genius.And if they do win a game it always by 3 points or less.I have been a Redskins fan all my life and I love their defense.But AL Saunders has to go.