Redskins at Giants

And the wind swirled and the quarterbacks were dismayed. The famous Meadowlands swirling, gusty winds wrecked havoc with the passing game but Tiki Barber gained 206 yards and Clinton Portis didn’t. End result, a old fashion, back behind the barn, butt whipping 36-0.

While both Mark Brunell and Eli Manning had a tough time with the wind, at least when Manning managed to get the ball near a receiver, they caught it. Brunell wasn’t that lucky. I think this is one Mark will just try to forget.

And where did that defense come from? They looked like LT & Co. instead of the 2nd worst defense in the league. They actually pitched a shutout 36-0 while holding the skins to a dismal 125 yards in offense for the day. I have the distinction of being at both games in which a Joe Gibbs coached team was shut out. The last one was 17-0 at Giants Stadium in the 1986 NFC Championship game.

Offense: Good
While it may sound strange to rate an offense which put up 36 points only “Good,” a lot of those points came from opportunities handed to the offense on a silver platter. Way to many missed TD opportunities. Luckily for them, they kept getting more chances.

Defense: Excellent
With only yielding 125 yards in offense and a goose egg on the scoreboard what other grade could you give them? If the truth must be told, it wasn’t nearly as close as the statistics indicate. Almost half of the yardage came on a 4th Quarter drive led by Pat Ramsey that stalled on a 4th and goal at the Giants 5 yard line.

Special Teams: Very Good
It would have been an “Excellent” except for some of the adventures on punt returns by Chad Morton. The man is starting to make me nervous. What we need on punt returns is a nice, safe, conservative approach. Beyond that, another very solid game especially from Jay Feely with 5 field goals. He missed his first, a 51 yarder in the first half. Given how 50+ yard field goals roll off this guy’s foot with some regularity, the crowd was almost surprised when he missed that one.