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Week 15 Game Recap: Washington Redskins 22, New York Giants 10
What you need to know
| Washington Redskins |
QB Todd Collins was not pretty to watch, but he got the job done converting on several big plays despite playing with gusting wind. He threw no interceptions and completed eight passes for 166 yards. The Redskins ran 25 less plays than the Giants, showing that they strung plays together on several key drives.
RB Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts each had a touchdown run. Portis received the majority of the playing time and produced several big runs amidst gaining 126 yards.
WR Santana Moss and TE Chris Cooley were targeted 19 out of the 27 passes Todd Collins threw. It was very windy and only eight balls were caught.
| New York Giants |
QB Eli Manning had a tough time dealing with the wind and an even tougher time getting his receivers to catch the ball. Only 18 of his 52 throws were completed on the day, throwing for one touchdown and no interceptions. It seemed like he was trying to put the ball where only his receiver could catch the ball down the field, which is tough with gusting winds.
RB Brandon Jacobs was a beast running the ball; however the Giants got stopped on several short runs when they needed to move the chains. He ran for 130 yards on only 25 attempts, but he really had a hard time catching the ball. He dropped five legitimately accurate throws from Eli Manning and often killed any momentum the Giants had.
TE Jeremy Shockey fractured his fibula in the third quarter. WR Amani Toomer failed to catch any of the nine balls thrown his way. Plaxico Burress was well covered all day, forcing Manning to throw to Sinorice Moss, Steve Smith, and Kevin Boss as the game went on. It seemed like the receivers failed Manning in that they could not make catches that professional receivers should make.
What you ought to know
| QB Todd Collins, Pass: 8 - 25 - 166 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - -2 - 0 |
Collins did not have a good start to the game, but made a couple of crucial throws for huge gains to lead to points on the scoreboard. He only had eight completions on 25 attempts, but he still threw for 166 yards showing that the completions he did make were for big gains.
| RB Clinton Portis, Rush: 25 - 126 - 1 (1 targets) |
Portis was the primary running back for the Redskins. He ran the ball for big chunks of yards at a time against the Giants. He also was stopped short on several occasions, but eventually the Redskins ran the clock out. He scored a touchdown on a five yard run.
| RB Ladell Betts, Rush: 8 - 29 - 1, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
Betts did not get much work as Portis was the feature back all night, but Betts did score a touchdown on his first run of the night on a 14 yard draw up the middle. He was ineffective other than that run until he gained 17 yards on three carries to finish the game out. He had negative two yards on his other four carries.
| RB Mike Sellers, Rec: 1 - 19 - 0 (2 targets) |
Sellers caught one pass out of the backfield and spectacularly hurdled a Giants defender en route to a 19 yard gain.
| WR Santana Moss, Rec: 3 - 75 - 0 (10 targets) |
Moss served as the spark for the Redskins, catching two long passes and a short one for a total of 75 yards. He was targeted ten times, but only caught three of those balls.
| WR Antwaan Randle El (2 targets) |
Randle El was unable to catch either of the balls thrown his way. Todd Collins seemed to favor throwing to Chris Cooley and Santana Moss on the night.
| TE Chris Cooley, Rec: 2 - 34 - 0 (9 targets) |
Cooley was only able to bring in two of the nine balls thrown his way, gaining only 34 yards on the windy night.
| TE Todd Yoder, Rec: 1 - 30 - 0 (1 targets) |
Yoder backed up Cooley, and made good use of his playing time. He gained 30 yards on a short seam route in which Todd Collins nailed him with an accurate pass.
| PK Shaun Suisham 3 - 3 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 10 points |
Suisham hit three amazing field goals in the wind, including a 49 yard kick.
| WAS Rush Defense |
The Redskins gave up a lot of rushing yards on the night; however they had several key stops on short yardage plays. They stopped a fourth and one and multiple third and ones, getting their offense the ball back.
| WAS Pass Defense |
The pass defense was extremely effective on the night, holding Eli Manning to only 18 completions on 52 attempts. They had a twelfth defender in the wind, and they used it very well by forcing Manning to throw to the outside of the field.
| QB Eli Manning, Pass: 18 - 52 - 184 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0 |
Manning had the wind and his receivers' hands against him on Sunday night. He made a lot of good decisions but the ball was dropped often on the good throws. His touchdown came in the third quarter over the middle to the rookie Kevin Bass, which was one of the few opportunities he had in the middle of the field. He seemed to lack confidence and the presence needed to rally his team at the end.
| RB Brandon Jacobs, Rush: 25 - 130 - 0, Rec: 3 - 30 - 0 (11 targets) |
Jacobs was the primary running back for the Giants. He ran the ball with force all night, at one time knocking the wind out of Fred Smoot who tried to hit him. However, he dropped a ton of passes on the night, as seen by the 11 targets and only three receptions on short routes. Jacobs looked like he had a slight injury late in the game, but it was unclear what the injury was to as he just ran off of the field and Ruben Droughns came in.
| RB Ahmad Bradshaw, Rush: 1 - 8 - 0, Rec: 1 - 1 - 0 (1 targets) |
Bradshaw saw limited action in the second half. He was described as a change of pace from Brandon Jacobs.
| RB Reuben Droughns, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (3 targets) |
Droughns was not utilized frequently Sunday night. He was targeted three times and only had one rush, accumulating only eight total yards on one reception.
| WR Sinorice Moss, Rec: 5 - 53 - 0 (7 targets) |
Moss saw a lot of targets from Eli Manning as Amani Toomer could not hold onto anything. On one drive in the second half he had four targets. He stopped drives for the Giants a couple of times by catching the ball past the first down marker and running back a few yards, then getting tackled.
| WR Plaxico Burress, Rec: 3 - 35 - 0 (13 targets) |
Burress was shadowed by the Redskins all night. He was targeted deep several times, but was unable to hold onto any of the passes due to the double coverage. Burress looked like he gave up on a couple of routes that were well covered, and Eli Manning targeted Burress on these routes a couple times by finding areas that the coverage was weak; however Burress was not there.
| WR Steve Smith, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
Smith came into the game in the fourth quarter and got two targets. He caught the short pass and the long pass he was interfered with, but the ball was apparently uncatchable as there was no call made.
| WR Amani Toomer (9 targets) |
Toomer had a terrible night. He was targeted nine times and caught zero balls. This was not solely because of the wind, either, as many of the balls thrown his way were catchable. One of the balls he dropped he beat Shawn Springs on the outside and was wide open with no Redskin within ten yards of him. The ball hung up in the air a little, but hit his hands right in front of his body, basically summing up the night for the Giants.
| TE Jeremy Shockey, Rec: 2 - 18 - 0 (3 targets) |
Shockey only had two catches for 18 yards before being hurt when Amani Toomer fell into on top of him in the third quarter. He was carted into the locker room, and it came back as a fractured fibula.
| TE Kevin Boss, Rec: 2 - 31 - 1 (2 targets) |
Boss came in as the primary receiving tight end after Shockey got hurt, and ended up catching the only touchdown of the night for the Giants. He showed he is a very big target with good hands.
| TE Michael Matthews (1 targets) |
Matthews was not used much in the passing game, and was unable to catch the only ball thrown his way.
| PK Lawrence Tynes 1 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points |
The conditions were very windy in New York, and Tynes only managed to go one for two on field goal attempts.
| NYG Rush Defense |
The New York Giants' rush defense had problems against the Redskins' rush attack. When Washington lined up in a shotgun formation to spread the defense out, they allowed several big plays, including Ladell Betts' 14 yard touchdown run.
| NYG Pass Defense |
The pass defense really did an excellent job considering how often the Redskins went downfield. They defected several passes and only allowed eight completions on the night. They made very few mistakes, and it seemed like every time they did make a mistake Washington made them pay.
