Giants Have No Answer for RGIII & Skins

REDSKINS 17
GIANTS 16

The Giants had a golden opportunity Monday night to all but ice the NFC East, and keep their hopes alive for the number two seed in the NFC playoffs with a win against the Washington Redskins. However, as has been the case with Big Blue over the years, nothing they do is ever easy as the Giants found a way to blow a 16-10 lead, and lose to Washington 17-16.

Once again the Giants were failed by missed opportunities on offense, as New York settled for three field goals after failing to convert huge third down plays inside Washington's red zone.

It wasn't like the Giants weren't playing well between the 20s in this game; they were excellent. Eli Manning looked sharp, completing 20 of 33 passes for 280 yards. But, when New York desperatly needed to move the ball inside the red zone they couldn't do it, as Manning missed Victor Cruz on two crucial third down's, one inside the seven and another at the Washington 16 yard line.

As for RGIII, the Giants didn't have an answer for him. Justin Tuck said a week ago, the Redskins singal caller gave him nightmares, and it came to fruition on Monday night.

Griffin was percise and accurate with his throws. While the statistical total won't blow anyone away, Griffin made the big throws when the Skins needed it the most.

With New York leading 3-0, Griffin hit Pierre Garcon for 25 yards to move the ball closer to mid-field. After two nice runs by rookie Alfred Morris, Griffin was off to the races, streaking down the sideline for what looked like a sure score. However, Griffin was tripped, and fumbled the football at the Giants 13. Fortunately for Washington Josh Morgan was there to scoop it up and score to give the Skins a 7-3 lead.

Griffin's big time arm was on display later in the second quarter, when he zipped a 35 yard strike to Gracon to move the ball to the Giants 13, in a drive that culminated in a Redskins field goal to tie the game at 10.

The Giants last great opportunity to score came in the third quarter, leading 13-10. Eli Manning enginerred a seven play drive that started at the Giants own 9 yard line. However when facing a third down at the Washington 16, he couldn't connect with Cruz, forcing Big Blue to settle for three.

It was an opportunity wasted. With the way Griffin and the Skins had been moving the ball on the Giants defense, New York needed a touchdown there, and couldn't finish.

On Washington's next possession it was Morris who did the damage. With rushes of 10 and 16 yards, he moved to ball all the way to the Redskins 40. Later in the drive, Morris would be at it again with three huge carries for 15 yards to move deep into Giants territory at the 25. Then Griffin took over. He connected with Leonard Hankerson for 14 yards to the Giants eight, before capping the drive off with a touchdown strike to Garcon to give Washington a 17-16 lead.

Down a point, the Giants offense went into a collective funk. First, Manning was sacked for a seven-yard loss on their ensuing possession forcing New York to punt from their own 14. Finally, on the Giants final drive of the night, they killed themselves with penalties.

Manning thought he had converted a third and ten at the 43 to Martellus Bennett, but a holding penalty was called on Will Beatty setting the Giants back 10-yards, and facing a third and 20, instead of a new set of downs in Washington territory. Manning's third down throw was well short of the third down marker, and the Giants were forced to punt again.

Griffin made sure that Manning never got his hands on the football again. He converted a monster second and eight to Garcon for a gain of 17 to all but ice the game with less than two minutes remaining.

Now the Giants path to the playoffs has become a little bit muddled. They now stand at 2-3 in divisional games, and have allowed both Dallas and Washington back into the mix. With four games reaming, the Giants have two home games: New Orleans (5-7) and Philadelphia (3-9) and a very difficult two-game road trip at Atlanta (11-1) and Baltimore (9-3) coming up, making their path to January very difficult.

If Big Blue should finish at 9-7, they could find themselves in one of three scenarios: A) miss the playoffs with either Dallas or Washington winning the East, and Seattle or Chicago taking the sixth seed with 10 wins. B) Qualifying for the postseason as a division champ IF Washington or Dallas should finish at 8-8, or C) Qualifying for the postseason as a wild card, if Washington or Dallas wins the East at 9-7, and Seattle or Chicago finishes at 9-7, or worse, allowing Big Blue to get in.

Losing to Washington is a huge step backwards for the world champs. If they had won the game, there would have been a road to the number two seed in the NFC, because the Giants own tie-breakers against the Packers and 49ers. Now, the Giants have to buckle up their chin straps if they want to even make it to the playoffs.