By Stephen D. Riley
AFRO Staff Writer
Washington Redskins fan express their dissapointment with the team's lackluster performance against the New York Giants.(AFRO Photo/Khalid Naji-Allah)
|
(December 22, 2009) - Eli Manning and the New York Giants kept their fading playoff hopes alive with a thorough destruction of the listless Washington Redskins, 45-12, on Dec. 21 at FedEx Field.
Behind a three touchdown performance from Manning, the Giants scored on six of their first seven possessions in route to building a 45-12 lead at the top of the fourth quarter.
After a few strong performances over the past three weeks, everything that could go wrong went wrong for Washington (4-10) on a blustery night.
After New York (8-6) jumped to a 24-0 halftime lead, Washington finally got on the board with an 11-yard hookup between Jason Campbell and Fred Davis in the third quarter but newly-signed kicker Graham Gano’s extra point was blocked.
Although Gano’s failed attempt served as a head-scratcher, a fake field goal by Washington that was intercepted before halftime sent the home crowd into a booing frenzy. Washington lined up in a field goal formation before motioning into a different formation, the Giants then called a timeout to prepare for the attempt. The Redskins then came out again in a field goal formation and motioned to the same set before punter Hunter Smith was hurried into an errant pass that was intercepted by Aaron Rouse.
"It was good defense. It was really good defense. That's what hurt that play," Redskins head coach Jim Zorn said of the play.
"I contemplated just going back, after (Giants Coach Tom Coughlin) had called timeout. I wish it was no timeouts on the clock on their side. I contemplated just kicking the field goal after that.
“The play was unique enough to where I didn't think they saw what we were really trying to do. And then they smelled it out pretty good. We didn't really have a chance. It didn't get started."
An angry audience serenaded FedEx Stadium with their displeasure for most of the night after many fans dug out of several inches of snow to attend the second to last home game of the season after a storm crippled the Washington metro area this past weekend.
A crippled Redskins offense punted on their first four possessions before scoring their only two touchdowns of the game in the third quarter. It was a sour performance by the Redskins in front of new general manager Bruce Allen.
"You've got a new boss to impress," Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall said in a statement posted on ESPN.com. "This is an audition. These last couple of games [are] an audition. Bruce Allen pretty much got a head start on evaluating talent. If he looks at what he saw today, he'll scrap this whole thing."