Big Blue suffers ugly loss to NFC East-leading Redskins
EAST RUTHERFORD >> By now, the images of Eli Manning dropping back, squirming in the pocket and sinking his shoulders in anticipation of a sack are firmly implanted in the memory banks of Giants fans.
This sequence replays itself like a broken record at MetLife Stadium, where the Giants lost again Sunday afternoon to the Redskins, 133.
As a result, New York (17) plunged deeper into the abyss. The franchise has now lost 20 of 24 games since the beginning of last season — 15 of 16 against the NFC and eight of nine against the NFC East. An upcoming bye week provides little solace.
“Everybody wants to win. No one likes this feeling after a game, and I think that’s what you’re playing for, that’s what you’re fighting for,” quarterback Eli Manning said. “That’s why you prepare — to feel good about the work that goes in. Guys are working hard, they’re practicing hard — they’re doing all the right things … and we’re not getting the results we want, and you’ve just got to keep fighting. You can’t take the easy road and slack off on things. You’ve got to push through it and make it hard and overcome this.”
More changes could be coming — both on and off the field with the trade deadline looming Tuesday. Head coach Pat Shurmur again made generic platitudes. He would not say whether the staff will consider a change at quarterback for the second half of the season.
“I’m going to look at everything, look at everything as we move forward,” Shurmur said. “I don’t want to go there and I’m not going to tease that. I just want to look at everything and just see what we have to do moving forward.”
Wholesale changes may be necessary for an offense that failed to reach 20 points for the fifth time in eight games. The Giants could not score a touchdown until 17 seconds remained. They converted only 2-of-14 third downs. Manning passed for 316 yards on 47 attempts, threw two interceptions and was sacked seven times.
So it was only fitting that a titanic play by the defense went in vain. With 55 seconds left in the third quarter and the Giants down 10-3, safety Landon Collins stripped running back Adrian Peterson after he spun in the backfield. Linebacker Olivier Vernon corralled the loose ball and ran 43 yards to Washington’s 39.
“I thought it was going to turn,” Collins said of the outcome. “Every turnover, momentum change is big for us. When you get the ball on stuff like that, you definitely feel the change of momentum to the other team and it’s like, ‘Alright, we can get this going.’ And it didn’t happen.”
The offense responded by advancing the ball seven yards on four plays. On fourth-and-3, a short pass over the middle went right through tight end Evan Engram’s hands.
The Redskins (5-2) effectively ended the game by driving 51 yards for a 39yard field goal, extending their lead to two possessions at 13-3.
What happened after that — a Giants field goal with 4:11 remaining followed by a 64-yard Peterson touchdown run — merely added to the insult. For the Giants, the game was again lost in the first 45 minutes because of an offense seemingly stuck in an endless cycle of futility.
Saquon Barkley rushed for only 38 yards on 13 carries. For all his big-play prowess, it is the fifth time that the rookie has been limited to fewer than 50 yards on the ground. That’s preventing the Giants from initiating play-action and rolling Manning out of the pocket.
The 38-year-old immobile quarterback is in a losing battle with Father Time now. Manning is playing behind a leaky offensive line, but succumbing to any hint of pressure has seemingly become his natural instinct. There remains little attempt to evade the rush and buy time for a play or — at the very least — throw the ball out of bounds.
“Each one has its own story,” Manning said of the seven sacks. “Some of them were coverage things; some of them (we were) getting beat; some of them I’ve got to do a better job and get the ball out on time.”
The first half contained glimmers of hope from the Giants’ offense that, yet again, went unfulfilled.
On third-and-17 with 1:19 remaining in the first quarter, Odell Beckham Jr. made an acrobatic one-handed catch on a 44-yard play, despite cornerback Greg Stroman dragging his right arm for pass interference. But the Giants lost five yards on their ensuing three plays inside Washington’s 40-yard line.
On their next possession, the Giants gained 16 yards into the red zone on a welldesigned play to their star running back. Barkley lined out wide and ran a crossing route on a linebacker. But two plays later, Manning was wildly off-target on a quick slant to Beckham, resulting in an interception by D.J. Swearinger.
“I thought Odell was going to be able to kind of run by him, and the guy passed it off a little better than I thought,” Manning said. “I thought he might run with the corner route and he came off right away and just drove off on it. I thought Odell was going to be able to get by him, so bad decision by me.”
The Redskins’ first-quarter scoring drive included a third-and-1 conversion where slot receiver Maurice Harris scampered to the sideline completely uncovered for a 16-yard gain. Peterson caught a 7-yard touchdown pass in which linebacker Nate Stupar botched a textbook tackle in the middle of the field for an early 7-0 lead.
New York pulled within 7-3 by driving 51 yards for an Aldrick Rosas 37-yard field goal following a 41yard field goal miss by Dustin Hopkins. But Washington’s kicker redeemed himself with makes from 53 and 39 yards out in the second half.
The Giants’ defense limited Alex Smith to 20-of32 passing for 178 yards, forced a turnover and made the Redskins punt five times, and it still wasn’t enough.
“We’ll try to hit the reset button,” Vernon said of the upcoming bye week. “Some of the guys that have been out wounded a little bit, try to lick their wounds a little bit and get it back going again.”