Don’t Snooze on the Skins
by J.D. Cook
Every year there is that one new player in the NFL who shakes things up to an extent that everyone becomes aware of him. Last year it was Cam Newton and this year it is absolutely Robert Griffin III. The Washington Redskins have been the bane of the Giants existence in the division for a long time. They often look so terrible that the Giants overlook them and fall deep into a trap game. Although there have been some awesome victories over them too. Anyone who remembers Tiki Barber’s game for the ages against them right after Wellington Mara’s passing knows that. I should have been excited and pumped up for this divisional showdown. A win was of monumental importance but sadly I found myself dozing off throughout the game.
This wasn’t because of anything to do with the excitement level of the game though. I had worked the Staten Island Breast Cancer walk all morning and found myself exhausted. Luckily I caught pretty much all of the major momentum and scoring plays. This Giants team really looks good; super bowl repeat good. RG3 had some really good plays near the end of the game but for the most part the Giants defense handled him well. The defense forced four turnovers, and had three sacks. They were the team’s weak link at the beginning of the season and they seem to have got the wheels going. Hopefully they steam right over Dallas next week but back to this game first.
People never seem to hype up Eli Manning. He doesn’t run around making unbelievable plays, he doesn’t have the statistics of his older brother. All he’s done is win two super bowls in completely fantastic style after playoff runs of the same sort. It should come as no surprise that Eli Manning and Victor Cruz came back and scored when the game was on the line. It wasn’t really shocking; just good old fashioned football. I actually believe Shanahan made some really bad calls near the end of that game going for it twice on 4th down and then punting it on another set of downs. He is certainly a great coach but I was a little lost with his logic.
Griffin certainly will be good in the coming years but right now he is a rookie quarterback that still needs to prove himself. The fact that people are discussing him as an MVP is completely absurd. I think Nicks may be due for a big week in Dallas if he fully heals. Teams often start to focus on Cruz so much that they forget there is another legitimate threat on the other side of the ball and since Cruz lit up the score board in such spectacular fashion it would not be surprising if he draws most of the game plan this week. I’m looking for revenge next week…sweet, sweet revenge!
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The Giants Blog is published every Monday during the NFL season while the New York Giants remain viable contenders (which in 2011 was right to the end and their Super Bowl championship). On the weeks when the Giants have a Monday night game, the blog will be published on Wednesday. The blogs are thoughtful (albeit heavily biased) analysis of the Giants’ performance from our editor-in-chief and Giant fanatic J.D. Cook.
