Running Commentary for Giants @ Redskins

First, a preface to all of this. The reason I run these little in-game commentaries is because oftentimes, we will watch a game, forget everything that happened in the first 55 minutes of it, and base our opinions of the team on one drive, or one play, or one crucial penalty or coaching decision, and from then on, that will be the only thing we remember about the game.

Then we turn on Sports Radio the next day, and do we get any kind of detailed analysis of the game? Do we get a fair, balanced take on the entirety of the offense, defense, special teams, and coaching staff?

Not usually. They usually focus on that last 5 minutes of the game, that one drive, one play, one penalty, one coaching decision. And opinions change dramatically depending on whether or not the team won or lost the game.

I like to try to keep an even keel about things like this, and note what I feel they did right and wrong throughout the game, before I know whether they won or lost, so as not to revise history and look at everything through rose colored glasses in a win, or conversely, through doom and gloom in a loss.

So with all that said, in case you would like to recall your own thoughts at certain points in the game or decide whether you agree or disagree with this admittedly casual sports fan’s opinions, you can read some of the notes I took during the game.

Of course, the last quarter is focused on most heavily, simply because that’s when the action heats up, but I like to take it all down and recapture the entire game, then decide what I feel the team’s strengths and weaknesses are.

So enough from me… here are my thoughts on NYG @ WAS (a few days late):
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1st Quarter:

-Ward continues to look impressive here, with a lot of the credit going to this O-Line. They don’t get enough respect, in my opinion. In all of the Giants troubles, the Offensive Line continues to shine.

-Question: Why is Ruben Droughns our kickoff return man? Is he fast enough for this spot? I realize Bradshaw messed up a lot last week, but it seems like we’d want someone a little faster for this position, like a backup WR or something.

-Eli fumbled the ball. Instead of tucking and taking the sack, he attempted to throw it away and it came out. Way too dangerous of a play to try to make, no excuses for that one.

-D amazingly holds up.
-Ward is fighting for every yard here. Stiff arms his way to a first down on 3rd and 4. I still say the pitch back to him is a counter-intuitive play on 3rd down and <5 style="font-weight: bold;">Ward on 2nd and short… Burress dropped the ball. Tough catch, but it should have been made.

-3rd and short: Ward stuffed at the line. Why not use our big man Droughns here? Seems like we’re not using him effectively.

-Lot of missed opportunities on this drive. A dropped ball here, a bad call there. Should have come away with at least 3 points, because we seemed to have the Skins number on this one. Instead, we were forced to punt it away.

-Wow. Huge pickup of our blitz. Portis looked like a fullback with that block, allowing Campbell to avoid a sack and run for the 1st down. At least we’re attempting to put some pressure in the pocket though. The fact that it took a block like that to get them the 1st down is saying something. We have to keep the pressure on, because Portis can’t block like that all game, can he?

2nd Quarter:

-Nice pressure on the QB again. Hopefully we can keep this up all game. Defense is actually looking kind of fired up today.

-Back on offense, and another dropped pass by Plax. Joe Buck claims it’s our 4th drop today. That’s just awful, I feel like Plaxico needs a rest or something. He’s got a hurt leg and a broken (?) pinky, maybe he shouldn’t be in there.

-Back on D. Kiwi makes a big tackle as a Linebacker!! Is this his first?

-(11:00 in the 2nd—occasionally I’ll throw the time up here when I think of it) 3rd and 5, Defense could use a big stop here.

-And the TE over the middle, kills us again. This is definitely our biggest weakness.
-Wow, Kiwi was lined up at Defensive Tackle on this play? Give this guy credit. As much shit as he takes, he really has been asked to do pretty much everything for this team. I heard next game they’re planning on lining him up as Defensive Coordinator, GM, and partial owner.
-Skins throw LONG to Santana Moss. Thing is, we had excellent coverage, but it was just the perfect throw, and the perfect over-the-shoulder catch--the hardest catch in football. This may be the difference between a Moss and a Burress.
-Robbins with a nice stop. The whole defense seems to be getting their shots today. That’s saying something, after last week.
-3rd and goal now, damn. Can the defense bend-but-not-break?
-Nope. They broke like fine china nosediving off a precipice. Touchdown. Cooley, the TE, kills us again. A solid TE is the curse of a team with holes in their Linebacker core.

-Eli sacked on 2nd down. Skins look to be in prevent for 3rd down, giving us a nice wide hole in the middle. Shockey time?
-Nope, not enough. 4th down again. In the 1st quarter we were missing these 1st downs by inches. This time, we’re fading back on 3rd down and missing them by a few yards. Not a good trend happening here.
-Nice punt by Feagles aka Iron Man… he’s most definitely our most consistent player.

-Sean Taylor is hobbling off the field. This could potentially help us, as he’s their best defensive weapon.
-And God laughs at me for being slightly happy about another person’s misfortune. Portis with a huge gain. I apologize.
-The bullshit new-rule offensive delay of game penalty on the Skins. If only we had jumped off-sides, we could’ve negated that penalty like the Packers did to us last week. I’m still convinced they pulled that rule out of their asses.
-Our defensive backs have been really good on the corners against the Skins WR’s. I’ve got no complaints about our secondary, surprisingly, aside from the TE play, which we have to find some kind of solution for.
-Osi jumped offsides. Every time I compliment our defense, something happens. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut.
-Nevermind… PERFECT blindside sack by Madison on the CB blitz! We finally reach the QB! Beautiful.

-Back on offense. Manning’s got all the time in the world… but ends up dumping it off. Little gain.
-Sinorice shows his brother a thing or two with the great catch and great run after the catch. 1st down.
-Plaxico, wow. He’ll drop some really easy passes, but then go on and make some amazing ones. I guess you just have to leave the guy in, even when he looks hobbled and tired. He’s a tough one to get a handle on.
-And now, it’s being reviewed.
-aaaand, it’s overturned… damn. Still, nice effort even though it hit the ground.
-3rd and 10 now (1:42 in the 2nd) - PICKED OFF… Skins ball… fuck.

END OF 1ST HALF

(Watching the Jags/Broncos on my computer screen, as the Broncos were my pick this week in the football pool I run… Just to show how little I really know about football, I’m 0-2 so far. The Broncos are currently down by 14…)

START 2ND HALF

-Hmm, may have jumped the gun on questioning Droughns as our return man. Great return by him and nice way to start the 2nd half.

-Down in the red zone now… We’re starting to convert 3rd downs. The difference between our 1st half out put and this drive is those couple inches.. Madden is right about the whole "game of inches" thing.

-TOUCHDOWN Droughns. We’re putting the man to good use today. Disregard all the crap I said earlier.

-Our blitzes continue to put pressure on, and Moss runs a bad route. Something got botched on their end there. Dropped a potential interception. Damn.

-Giants have the ball with a chance to tie the game up. Dare I say we have… momentum?
-Play action again. Pressure on Eli, thrown away. 2nd down.
-Pitch back to Ward, couple yards gained. 3rd and 6. Our momentum is slowly fading here.
-Lots of time for Eli, Shockey makes another catch and converts another 3rd down. O-Line still looks solid, even in the 3rd quarter. The drive stays alive.
-Ward with a nice break, 10 yard scamper for a 1st down. Keeps the chains moving.
-Snee with a false start. Damn, I hope this isn’t a momentum killer here.
-Play action again. Pressure on Eli, thrown DEEP, and picked off. Dammit, that was just an awful throw off of his back foot. No excuses for that one, should’ve taken the sack or thrown it out of bounds. He’s making rookie mistakes here.
-3 turnovers now. This could end up being the difference in this game.

-Madison with an excellent open field tackle for a loss.
-The rookie Ross with another great tackle. Our secondary is looking on fire here. 4th down.
-The defense turned Eli’s pick into almost a long punt for us. Amazing that our defense is actually bailing us out of tough situations today. After last week, I thought the D was pretty hopeless outside of possibly looking on the waiver wire. Now they’re giving us second chances and allowing us to recover from mistakes.

-Plax with another great catch on the sideline. Man was I wrong in thinking he needed to sit out.
-Ward stuffed for no gain. We’re really running Ward like he’s Tiki, and he’s handling the extra workload well.
-Again to Ward up the gut, for 5 yards.
-Shockey time on 3rd down! Makes the catch right at the marker. Aikman said the pass was too close for comfort, but who else would you rather have fighting for that extra yard than Jeremy Shockey?

4th Quarter:

-Ward fumbles the ball in the red zone on 1st down! This is potentially disastrous.
-Wait, on review he was definitely down. Elbow hit the ground and that’s what knocked the ball out. Whew. Overturned.
-My mom calls to tell me that they just gave the Giants a gift and that was definitely a fumble. Thanks mom, way to kill my excitement. This is not the time to get into this conversation, I quickly explain the rules to her, explain why it was not a fumble, and hang up and pray for a touchdown here.

-17-10 Redskins lead. First and goal. Chance to tie the game up now…
-False start by David Diehl. Oh what timing.
-False what? TOUCHDOWN Droughns!! He’s doing great clean-up duty here today. Tie Ball Game: 17-17

-Wow, awful special teams coverage on the kick. Redskins on the 45-yard line to start their drive.
-Madison with a great open field tackle on the end-around to Moss.
-Dropped pass, we catch a break. 4th down.

-(10:40 left in the game, Giants ball) Ward with an 8 yard run from our own 6 yard line. He’s really got a pro stiff arm. That seems to be his go-to move. Shockey’s got his bowl over momentum, Plax has his reach, Ward has his stiff arm. We’re really not missing Jacobs all that much. I think Ward may have won the starting job at this point.
-3rd and 1, in comes Droughns up the gut—I don’t think he got it.
-I stand corrected. Replay shows he’s over the marker, now we await the arbitrary spotting from the ref. FIRST DOWN!
-Ooh, Shockey drops a perfect pass from Eli. Our 6th drop today. I hope these little mistakes don’t end up costing us the game.
-Ward stuffed by the entire fucking Redskins defense. I’d say they read that one about right. 3rd and 11 now.
-Eli’s pass is batted down. Damn, we’re about to give the Skins some great field position.

-Fumble! Giants recover! What a break that was.

-Pass interference on the Skins. It’s amazing that the calls all seem to be going our way today.
-TOUCHDOWN PLAX! Amazing reach out and catch on a ball that could’ve very well been picked off, evaded a defender, shook a tackle, and raced between two defenders to eventually get plowed into the end zone.

-(5:25 left in the game) Another big return for the Skins. Looks like we have our improvement area for next week pretty much set.
-Long pass to Moss, overthrown.
-Ooh, big first down to Randle El over the middle. I was really hoping they wouldn’t notice how much we suck in the middle of the field.
-Madison with amazing coverage. He’s definitely our defensive MVP of the game to this point.
-Blitz picked up, 13 yard dump-off to Betts for an easy 1st down. Our blitz has been hit or miss all game, but I’m glad we’re sticking with it.
-3rd and 10 now, big defensive stop is needed here, I pray that they find a way to close up the enormous gaps in the middle of the field.
-Great collapse from Strahan and Osi, to set up the sack by Tuck and Kiwi. The front four did their job there.

-(2:37 to play) It’s become a time game now.
-2 runs by us for losses, but 2 timeouts burned by Washington.
-3rd and 11 now, we need to play aggressively and throw for the 1st down. Trust in the offense here.
-Play action, dump off to Ward, falls about 1 yard short of the 1st down. Good play though, I like the call. We didn’t desperately need the 1st down, but it beats stuffing it up the middle and basically admitting we’re not getting it.

-AWFUL special teams coverage again. Randle El runs it back to the Giants 35-yard line on the punt return.

-It’s on the Defense to win this game now. Last week I would’ve completely given up hope, but they actually look pretty good this week.
-Incomplete on 1st down.
-(2:13 left—damn a lot happened in 20 seconds) Campbell flushed out and sacked by Kiwianuka. Again, the DE’s put the pressure on there. This looks like a different team than last week. Amazing.
-3rd down now – huge pass to Randle El… BUT… holding… Giants catch a break. Wow, on replay he was holding both Strahan and Tuck, one on each arm. It’s blatantly against the rules, but still--kinda impressive in a way.
-3rd and 21 now. Moss with the catch, but short about 4 yards from the marker.
-Officially 4th and 3—False Start. Wow, we are catching breaks left and right here.
-(1:30 left, around the NYG 35 yard line, 4th and 8 now)—Campbell avoids the blitz and hits Moss for a first down. Damn.

-1st and 10, FUMBLED SNAP, Moss is limping, they’re forced to spike the ball—wow, just a disaster of a play for the Skins. Goes from 1st & 10 to 3rd &13 with a hurt star WR in a matter of seconds.
-Wow, 1st & Goal @ the 2, after a pass up (where else?) the middle to Randle El. Again, great coverage, but just a perfect throw. I hate to admit it, but Campbell is looking really impressive here.
-2nd and goal after a spike. Play action, picked up our blitz again, dropped by the FB at the 1 yard line. Whew, we’ve definitely got luck on our side today.
-(:47 left in the game, 3rd and goal now from the 2 yard line) – Kiwika Mitchell with a HUGE hit to stuff the run and keep them out of the end zone. Absolutely huge.
-4th & goal, they seem to be rushing to the line of scrimmage even though there’s a good 30+ seconds on the clock. Portis trips in the backfield! Game over! Awful time management by the Skins, really helped us out there.

Giants get their first W of the season, and all credit due to the defense, bailing us out after our offense gave up 3 turnovers.

MVP of the game is definitely Sam Madison—looked about 10 years younger today, making great open field tackles and sticking like glue to his assigned receivers.

Special teams coverage is one major concern after this game. We can’t allow runbacks like that and hope our defense will bail us out every game like that. We got lucky a few times with botched snaps, trips, and penalties—just enough to keep us in the game and allow us to win it.

The middle of the field continues to be a playground for opposing Tight Ends. Definitely need to collapse that area a little bit. Again, that’s likely on the admittedly weak linebacker core we have.

On the plus side though, our defensive backs looked like an entirely new unit out there. I think sitting Webster and starting Ross was the right move. He made some plays and looked like he was getting comfortable with the NFL speed.

Our offense has to work on drops. Fortunately, we were nearly penalty free, just a couple false starts, but no holding calls and no drive killing personal fouls. Huge improvement over last week.

Next week: Philly comes to town. I’ll be at the game, so most likely no running commentary coming next week.