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By Michael Stewart

The New York Giants got an “A” for effort, but another “L” in the lost column with their 20-10 defeat to the Washington Redskins. Both teams played the first half that can be best described as uneventful with both offenses sleep walking. Both teams entered the game with defenses that were ranked near the bottom, but you would never know it based on the first half stats. Eli Manning and Kirk Cousins couldn’t generate any momentum for their respective teams and the half ended with the teams tied at 3.  The second half was a bit more entertaining as both offenses started to warm up and move the ball. Kirk Cousins was under pressure for most of the game, but managed to performed well enough (19/31 for 242 yards and 2 touchdowns with one interception) to get the win. Eli Manning on the other hand had one of his worse games stats wise with a 13/27 for 113 yards with an interception performance. A lot of that however was due to not having any of his starting wide receivers available and at least 4 dropped balls by his receivers (3 by Evan Engram).

Top reasons why the Giants lost:

  1. Offensive lack of execution: The Giants offensively were their own worst enemy as they failed to more the chains due to several dropped balls by the receivers; most notably tight end Evan Engram with 3, who has looked more like a 7th round pick over the past few games. Also a lack of a running game (84 total yards) put Manning under constant pressure by the Redskins defensive front 7, most notably defensive end Ryan Kerrigan who had 2 sacks and a ton of pressures.
  2. Time of Possession: The Giants once again lost the battle of T.O.P by nearly 10 minutes (25:23 to 34:37). Obviously, dropped balls and a failure to run the ball prohibited the Giants to successfully more the chains and keep the Redskins offense off the field.
  3. Red Zone Efficiency: The Giants were 0/1 in the red zone with the Redskins a respectable 2/4. In fact, the Giants only touchdown was scored by cornerback Janoris Jenkins on a deflected pass off the hands of a Washington receiver.

Hero: Wide receiver Jamison Crowder gets my vote with a solid performance (7/141 and a touchdown). The Giants either had no one or couldn’t find anyone to contain Crowder all night. Also want to give rookie running back Samaje Perrin some ink for his solid performance with 100 yards on the ground and 30 more in receiving.  

Goat: I’m nominating two players for this game with quarterback Eli Manning and tight end Evan Engram. Understandably, Manning really didn’t have much to work with, however; he’s being paid a ton to be the best player on the field for the Giants. Tight End Evan Engram has digressed over the last few games and with all the injuries to the starting wide receivers, he needs to step up; which hasn’t been the case lately.

Final Thoughts: This game played out to what I expected with the Redskins finding a way to win a big game on home field to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Giants next game will be against the Oakland Raiders, who are 4-6 and hosting the struggling Denver Broncos this Sunday.