Redskins 22, Giants 10
By Staff
The Giants had to win to clinch a playoff berth and they failed to do so, and now they have some serious work cut out for them.
Eli Manning was 18 of 52 for 184 yards and a TD, but his 34 incompletitions were the most since Joe Namath. Eli did not have much help if you want to say any at all as the G-Men dropped 10 passes and it seemed as though Brandon Jacobs dropped 59 passes alone.
Todd Collins made his first start in the NFL in 10 years and two days. The backup QB didn’t play well at all (8/25, 166 yards), but he didn’t hurt his team and Clinton Portis picked up the offense. Portis ran for 126 yards on 25 carries including a TD.
Amani Toomer dropped a few balls and one for what would have been a huge play and possibly the turning point of the game. Kevin Boss caught his first NFL TD pass, replacing Jeremy Shockey who left the game with a broken fibula and will have surgery sometime this week.
All in all, the Giants were awful on a night they needed a win. Now, they have to win one of two games to get in the playoffs on their own terms and have to play at Buffalo where anything could happen and at home against the 14-0 Patriots. Not exactly a promising schedule.
Washington holds the tiebreaker on the Giants now and the G-Men are anything but a lock for the playoffs.
Even if the Giants are technically a “playoff” team as of now, they are truly anything but that as their inconsistent play might just keep them out of the playoff picture in the end. The Giants are about as good as their kicker, Lawrence Tynes (who missed a 38 yard FG tonight). A 9-5 record is the most amazing feat a team as poor as the G-Men could accomplish and if they can beat Buffalo next week, playing like this against Tampa Bay, Seattle, Green Bay, or Dallas will get you embarrassed.
Here is a quote from Clinton Portis showed during the telecast:
“If we don’t win tonight, that’s pretty much a wrap on our season.”
If the Giants had played this way they would be popping the champagne in the locker room right now instead of answering questions about their poor play.
Urgency. Something the New York Giants lacked tonight and something their organization has lacked for a while.