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After their continuing woes of losses on the road, the Washington Redskins wanted to serve up some home cooking this weekend as they hosted the New York Giants at FedEx Field. The Burgundy and Gold have a 4-1 record at home this season and were looking get to their first five-game, single-season winning home streak since 1991 in a showdown for first place in the NFC East.
Head Coach Jay Gruden must have challenged his guys to redeem themselves from their lackluster performance against the Carolina Panthers because Washington’s defense, led by defensive coordinator Joe Barry set the tone of the match up with aggressive play and a nasty attitude.
The Redskins won the coin toss for the third time this season and deferred to the second half. The defense came out of the gates putting pressure on New York quarterback Eli Manning, delivering hard-hitting blows and consistently clogging up the middle. They slowed down the Giants run game and held them to converting only two of five third downs in the 15 minutes. The guys in the secondary played tight coverage and laid down some punishing hits resulting in two first quarter turnovers. The Redskins offense however didn’t come out with the same level of intensity, going three-and-out in their early series and coming away with zero points on the two turnovers.
The Burgundy and Gold defense came out on the Giants’ third series and got the ball back for the offense. At that point, the Redskins would need to come out and put together a solid drive to give their defense a rest and get some points on the board.
It worked to a certain degree.
Washington put together a 12-play, 56-yard drive on their third possession but, because of untimely penalties, the team had to settle for a field goal.
The Redskins defense continued with the aggressive play, taking advantage of the Giants injuries on the offensive line and bringing relentless pressure to Manning.
The unit came away with a huge sack, forcing yet another three-and-out on the Giants first position of the second quarter. Gruden and offensive coordinator Sean McVay dialed up a huge play to get their big-time deep threat involved. Quarterback Kirk Cousins, on the first play from scrimmage, found side out DeSean Jackson deep for a one-play, 63-yard touchdown.
After that, Cousins & Co. put together a solid nine-play, 80-yard drive that would take up 3:55 on the clock. That drive was capped by a one-yard touchdown by the former Spartan on a quarterback sneak.
The Redskins defense continued with their solid, scrappy play for entire first half, getting the Giants offense off the field and holding them scoreless in that time frame. This would be the third time this season that Barry’s guys would hold their opponent scoreless in the first half but the first time since 1991. The unit held Manning to 10 completions out of 22 attempts, 91 yards and two interceptions. As well, the Giants were only able to convert two of nine third-downs. Middle linebacker Perry Riley, Jr. and corner back Will Blackmon were the ones that came away with the two first-half interceptions and the “Capital Punishment” crew forced five punts.
Despite the early inconsistencies of the offense, Washington went into halftime with a 17-point lead. Cousins logged 207 yards on 12 completions with one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown. With such a great start to the game, the Redskins now had to do something that has been lacking recently and that was to not just simply finish but finish with authority and conviction.
On the first drive of the second half the offensive issues that plagued the Redskins offense earlier continued. Once again the Redskins had a promising drive but, a poor hand-off by Cousins on fourth-and-one gave the Giants some of the best field position that they’d had the entire game. Manning took his team on a successful drive that looked to end in a score. But once again the Washington defense rose to the occasion.
Redskins undrafted rookie CB Quinton Dunbar came away with a huge interception in the end zone, undercutting Giants wide receiver Rueben Randle and shutting down a nine-play, 56-yard drive.
For the entire game, Washington’s defense played with an aggressiveness that the Giants offense was unable to match. The front line was having a NASCAR kind of day as guys were blazing fast at the snap of the ball and corralled Manning. Washington’s secondary played with a nasty physical presence, blanketing the wide receivers and swarming to the ball like killer bees.
Even with the inconsistencies in the offensive attack, the Redskins team as a whole showed a large level of resolve, giving their all and not giving up. Washington’s “enough is enough” attitude was on full display against its division rivals. The defense had the attitude that it would not allow the same five-touchdown performance that was allowed against the Panthers.
Unfortunately for the Redskins, the Giants didn’t quit either as Manning would put together two touchdown drives late in the game. But it would be too little too late as the Redskins would out last them and take over first place in the NFC East division with a win, 20-14.
Cousins finished the game with 20 completions of 29 attempts, 302 yards and one touchdown. He even rushed for one of the team’s touchdowns. Running back Alfred Morris got the majority of the carries on the day, finishing with 78 yards on 23 carries. Despite having four crucial penalties early, tight end Jordan Reed finished the day with eight receptions for 98 yards and a few drive-extending plays.
Jay Gruden’s offense wasn’t hitting on all cylinders today but a team effort got the Redskins a much-needed win to put them right in the thick of the NFC East title race. It wasn’t pretty. But Washington continued to fight throughout and those are the kind of wins needed to achieve character-building momentum for the upcoming division game against the 3-8 Dallas Cowboys on national television.
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