New York Giants 30 – Washington Redskins 10
Overview: The Giants won their most important football game since 1993 by using the same strategy that they have all season: play good defense; run a solid, fundamental offense; and force the other team to make mistakes, while limiting your own. That’s exactly what the Giants did on Saturday as the Redskins committed six turnovers (seven if you count the snafu on the attempted punt) and the Giants scored 20 of their 30 points off those turnovers. It’s hard to get a good read on this Giants’ team right now. They certainly did not dominate the Redskins — it was more a case of the Redskins shooting themselves in the foot time after time. But give this team credit. Most “experts” had them dead after their loss to Tampa Bay. After two very impressive victories over arch-rivals Philadelphia and Washington, the New York Giants have been crowned NFC East Division Champions, an unbelievable accomplishment for a team with a new coaching staff, drastically different offensive and defensive systems, a new quarterback, a second-year left tackle starting for the first time, a changing of the guard at halfback, and a plague of critical injuries (Ike Hilliard, Brian Williams, Chad Bratzke, Cedric Jones, Rodney Hampton, Thomas Lewis, Ryan Phillips, Pete Monty). All a team really wants is a chance to compete in the post-season playoff dance and the Giants now have that opportunity. If they can find a way to increase the productivity of their passing game, this team may still have a few surprises left in it.
Quarterback: QB Danny Kanell (13-25-125 yards, two interceptions, and one touchdown) started off hot and played some outstanding football in the first half of the game. Danny was good because he was making quick decisions and getting rid of the ball quickly — and most of the time, his decisions were the correct ones. On the Giants’ first drive, Kanell threw a nice pass to a well-covered Chris Calloway in the end zone — a ball that only Calloway had a chance at (although he dropped it). On the Giants’ third drive of the game, Kanell led the Giants on an impressive 13-play, 76-yard march that culminated on a wonderfully-thrown slant pass to Calloway for a touchdown. Moreover, Kanell kept that drive alive by hitting TE Howard Cross for 22 yards on 3rd-and-3 and Calloway for 10 yards on 3rd-and-10. Both passes were quick, crisp strikes that kept the chains moving. Danny continued his fine work near the end of the first half as he threw a great pass to Cross in the end zone, but Howard could not hold on. He did make a couple of poor throws in the second quarter — throwing behind Amani Toomer on a third down as well as missing a wide open Tiki Barber on a play that might have gone the distance, but for the most part, he was very sharp.
However, things changed markedly in the second half as Kanell made some very poor decisions and was lucky not to allow the Redskins back into the game. Both his interceptions were terrible — the first was way off the mark and the second was severely underthrown. But because the defense was playing well and the Redskins kept turning the ball over themselves, these turnovers did not harm the Giants — this time. Kanell is learning and improving. He’s making quicker and better decisions and he’s starting to use the tight end more. But if the Giants are going to go far in the playoffs, he has to stop making so many mistakes.
Wide Receivers: Once again, a very quiet game for the receivers as the Redskins did a good job on this unit. Chris Calloway (2 catches for 17 yards) almost made a great circus catch for a touchdown early in the game, but did come back and demonstrated great concentration on his touchdown slant pass. On this scoring drive, Calloway made an excellent play by gaining a few yards after the catch on a crossing route that just barely picked up the first down. Fellow starter David Patten (1 catch for 9 yards) was practically shut out. Amani Toomer made a superb catch on 3rd-and-5 for 14 yards on a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. He made the catch despite being mauled by the defender and this play helped to set up the Giants’ last field goal.
Tight Ends: Hooray!!! The Giants actually used the tight end as an important element of their game plan and this strategy paid off handsomely. Howard Cross (5 catches for 52 yards) was a major factor in the game. His 22 yard catch-and-run set up the Giants’ for their second touchdown — a huge play. He also looked like Mark Bavaro on another catch-and-run in the third quarter where he broke a number of tackles. His one faux pas was not making what would have been a good catch for a touchdown at the end of the first half. The Giants also got Aaron Pierce (1 catch for 9 yards) involved. Pierce was also open on a deep sideline pattern on Danny’s second interception, but Danny underthrew him. Also, even though Howard Cross often receives a lot of credit for his blocking, the blocking of Pierce on Saturday was masterful. On one run to the left, he not only handled the defensive end on his side, but also came off the block to nail a linebacker. On another play, he completely handled the strongside defensive end all by himself.
Running Backs: There is something very reassuring about seeing HB Rodney Hampton back in the line-up. It took a little time for Rodney (11 carries for 43 yards) to warm up, but once he did, he looked like the Rodney Hampton of old. His very presence certainly helped to spark his teammates and the crowd. His best run was a 22-yard gallop mid-way through the 4th quarter that helped to kill time off the clock. HB Tike Barber (13 carries for 32 yards, 1 catch for 7 yards) didn’t generate much offense. Often times, he didn’t have room to run and still seems to be limited by his hamstring. He did a nice job picking up the blitz on a few occasions however. FB Charles Way (11 carries for 49 yards, 2 catches for 17 yards) set the tone for the day with his bruising 15 yard touchdown run right up the middle of the Skins’ defense. Once again, as always, his run blocking was also excellent.
Offensive Line: Certainly not a bad game, but not a good one either. Every lineman had his rough moments during the game. For example, RT Scott Gragg had problems with Marc Boutte on one rush, RG Ron Stone let his man fly into the backfield too quickly on one play, OC Lance Scott gave up a sack to Chris Mims, LG Greg Bishop whiffed on his man after coming back into the game from his ankle injury, and LT Roman Oben gave up another sack to Ken Harvey. The Redskins played the run tough and the Giants’ offensive line did not do a great job of creating movement or sustaining blocks. However, they did do just enough to help make plays when they needed to be made. OG Rob Zatechka didn’t look bad at all when called upon to play for the injured Bishop on a few plays.
Defensive Line: This group did not dominate the Skins’ offensive line like they did a few weeks ago, but they played very well and helped to limit the Redskins to 45 yards rushing as well as getting a decent pass rush throughout the game. The guy who really stood out was DT Keith Hamilton. Though not credited with a sack, he was a terror on the pass rush all day and DT Robert Harris’ sack is directly attributable to Hamilton’s rush. DE Michael Strahan bull-rushed the always tough Ed Simmons for a sack and DE Robert Holsey also picked up one as well. The Giants had a little difficulty with the run early on, but settled down and took that aspect of the game away from the Skins. The interior linemen did a great job on the 4th-and-1 stand in the 4th quarter.
Linebackers: Kind of a quiet day for this group, though MLB Corey Widmer may have saved the day with his fantastic interception of a pass intended for TE Jeremy Asher. Indeed, the linebackers did a good job on the Redskin tight ends and backs until late in the game. OLB Jessie Armstead had 9 tackles, but didn’t make the game-turning plays we have become accustomed to (I guess we’re a little spoiled — grin). Nickel backer Scott Galyon was strong in coverage all day. He also stopped the scrambling Jeff Hostetler just short of a first down on their second drive of the game — the next play was the bungled punt attempt by Matt Turk.
Defensive Backs: CB Jason Sehorn (2 interceptions) had as good a game as he has had all year. In fact, this may have been his best. He completely shut down the dangerous Michael Westbrook. Westbrook had NO catches on the day — an incredible statistic — and it was Sehorn who followed him all around the field all day. His 35-yard interception return for a touchdown was icing on the cake for a superb effort. CB Phillippi Sparks was also having a strong game before he was sidelined with a knee injury. His replacement, Thomas Randolph, did not have a good day. Hostetler and the Skins threw at Randolph for most of the game with success. We’re not sure what the problem is with Thomas. He always seems to supply tight coverage, but he also always seems to be on the other end of giving up a successful completion. And against the Skins, the receivers who were victimizing him were rookies. If Sparks is out for any significant period of time, Randolph needs to step it up. Nickel cornerback Conrad Hamilton gave up yet another costly pass interference penalty on 3rd down, but aside from that play, had a strong game. He supplied tight coverage on whoever he had and also came up with an interception off of a deflection, which he returned for 18 yards. Safeties Tito Wooten and Sam Garnes gave up a big play on Hostetler’s 41-yard scoring pass to Connell early in the third quarter, but generally played well. Garnes was strong in run support. Tito Wooten did commit a pass interference penalty, but it was an aggressive play on a good read — those things sometimes happen.
Special Teams: PK Brad Daluiso came up big by perfectly nailing his three field goal attempts, including a 41-yarder to start the scoring. P Brad Maynard had a rough start, but his 55-yard punt to PK Brian Mitchell, which he muffed, was a beauty. The Giants do need to do a better job of protecting him as opposing teams have come darn close to blocking his punts in recent weeks. Coverage on kicks and punts was strong. Kudos must be given to Scott Galyon here too. The Giants kept the dangerous Mitchell under wraps all day. Amani Toomer had one decent punt return — not because of the yardage, but because for once he ran up the field with the ball. Erric Pegram and his blockers came up with a nice looking 50 yard kick return, but Erric really hurt the Giants with his two muffed kick return attempts. That’s got to stop right now.