Giants Fall to Redskins 28-14: The New York Giants fell 28-14 to the Washington Redskins early today at FedEx Field in Maryland. The game was tied 14-14 at halftime, but the Redskins pulled away with second half defensive and offensive touchdowns.
The Giants scored first early in the first quarter after QB Eli Manning completed a 68-yard pass to WR Hakeem Nicks. Manning scored on the very next play on a quarterback rollout.
After a missed 39-yard field goal by the Redskins and a punt by the Giants, Washington tied the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter by driving 66 yards. The Redskins completed a 23-yard pass on 2nd-and-20 and a 10-yard pass on 4th-and-5 on the drive. HB Tim Hightower later scored from one yard out.
After both teams exchanged punts, the Giants drove 85 yards in eight plays to regain the lead 14-7 when HB Ahmad Bradshaw scored on a 6-yard touchdown run with just under three minutes before halftime. But the defense could not hold and Washington drove 80 yards in five plays right before halftime. At the half, it was 14-14.
Disaster struck the Giants on the first series of the second half. Manning’s short pass intended for Nicks was tipped into the air, intercepted, and returned for a touchdown by LB Ryan Kerrigan. The Redskins took their first lead of the game on the play, 21-14.
The Giants’ offense never seemed to recover as the team did not score a single point in the second half of the game. Short yardage was problem as Bradshaw was stuffed for no gain on a 4th-and-1 play at the Redskins’ 31-yard line on the Giants’ second series of the third quarter. The drive was started by a very nice 41-yard deep pass from Manning to TE Jake Ballard.
On the fourth series, after DE Jason Pierre-Paul sacked QB Rex Grossman and forced a fumble that was recovered by LB Michael Boley at the Redskins’ 27-yard line, Bradshaw lost two yards on 3rd-and-1. On the very next play, PK Lawrence Tynes’ 38-yard field goal was blocked with about 11 minutes left in the game.
The Redskins then salted the game away when they marched 70 yards to go up 28-14. The devastating play on the drive was an unnecessary roughness penalty on S Antrel Rolle when Rolle tackled the Redskins’ tight end two yards short of the first down on 3rd-and-9. The drive was kept alive and three plays later on 3rd-and-8, Grossman found the tight end for 22 yards. On 3rd-and-goal, WR Jabar Gaffney beat CB Corey Webster for the touchdown with about five minutes left in the game.
The Giants finished the game 1-for-10 on third down conversions, and 0-for-1 on 4th down conversions. Manning finished the game 18-of-32 for 268 yards, 0 touchdowns passing, 1 touchdown running, and 1 interception. Halfbacks Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs only combined for 73 yards on 19 carries. Nicks did catch 7 passes for 122 yards.
Defensively, the Giants held the Redskins to 74 yards rushing, but allowed QB Rex Grossman to pass for over 300 yards. DE Jason Pierre-Paul had two sacks and a forced fumble.
Highlights/lowlights of the game are available at NFL.com.
Post-game video reaction from Head Coach Tom Coughlin and QB Eli Manning is available at Giants.com.
Post-Game Notes: Inactive for the Giants were DE Justin Tuck (neck), DE Osi Umenyiora (knee), CB Prince Amukamara (foot), WR Jerrel Jernigan, H-Back Travis Beckum (hamstring), OG Mitch Petrus, and OT James Brewer.