OBJ burns ’em for pivotal TD
What happens when Odell Beckham Jr. is left in oneonone coverage with a cornerback? Bad things for the defense. The Redskins did a good job keeping Beckham in front of them Thursday night, not allowing him to break anything deep. But early in the fourth quarter, with their best cornerback,
GIANTS NOTES
DeAngelo Hall, out of the game with a toe injury, the Redskins had no choice but to leave backup Bashaud Breeland isolated with Beckham, who had no trouble beating Breeland off the line. With Breeland backpedaling, Beckham made a simple incut and hauled in a 30yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to give the Giants a 256 lead.
The pass was Manning’s 262nd career touchdown pass, moving him past Dave Krieg and into 12th place on the alltime NFL list.
Jon Beason made his 2015 debut and started at middle linebacker but he did not get a full workload, as he was rotated on and off the field with rookie Uani’ Unga. … Manning completed his first eight passes. … Manning started his 170th consecutive game dating to the 2004 season. In that span, the Redskins have used 10 different starting quarterbacks. … RB Orleans Dawkwa hurt his knee while recovering a Dwayne Harris muffed punt in the first quarter.
CB Trevin Wade saved a touchdown by forcing a fumble with Redskins RB Matt Jones headed for the end zone in the fourth quarter. … LB Jonathan Casillas got the Giants’ only sack, dropping Cousins for an 11yard loss in the fourth quarter.
The quick turnaround was not kind to the Giants when it came to getting players back on the field. Several were unable to get healthy enough four days after suffering injuries in Sunday’s loss to the Falcons.
Most notable was DE Robert Ayers (hamstring), who was inactive, robbing the Giants of their most valuable pass rusher. That meant the starting defensive ends were George Selvie and Kerry Wynn.
Also inactive for the Giants were: CB Dominique RodgersCromartie (concussion), DE Owa Odighizuwa (foot), DT Markus Kuhn (knee), LT Ereck Flowers (ankle) and TE Jerome Cunningham ( knee).
RodgersCromartie was running hard during pregame warmups, showing no signs of the concussion that kept him out of the game. It was an indication he might have been able to clear the concussion protocol had it been a Sunday game.
There was a moment of silence for Yankees legend Yogi Berra, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 90. … Iona Prep in New Rochelle will dedicate its football field to Wellington Mara, the late Giants patriarch, prior to Saturday’s 1 p.m. game against Cardinal Spellman High School. Mara is described by Iona Prep as a “longtime benefactor and devoted Gael supporter.’’
The enduring image from the Giants’ loss to Atlanta last Sunday was Prince Amukamara getting beaten by Julio Jones to set up the decisive score. He didn’t have to wait long to make amends, and the cornerback’s early interception set the tone for a lockdown performance in Thursday’s 3221 win over Washington.
Just four days after playing the role of goat, Amukamara rebounded nicely. On Washington’s second possession, he read quarterback Kirk Cousins as easily as a children’s book. On secondand7 from the 9yard line, he jumped a route, intercepting the ball intended for Pierre Garcon at the Washington 20.
He returned the pick 14 yards to the 6yard line. Four plays later, Andre Williams plunged in from the 1 to give Big Blue a 90 lead just 8:21 into the game, a lead they never surrendered.
The Giants’ secondary, which couldn’t buy a stop when they needed it against Atlanta, completely smothered Washington’s passing game, and Amukamara shutting down Garcon was at the heart of it.
In the second quarter, Amukamara made a great recovery to race and break up a Cousins deep ball to Garcon on firstand10 from the Washington 20, stopping a potential touchdown. Washington settled for a field goal on that drive, and still trailed 156.
Amukamara briefly got knocked out of the game with an ankle injury, but came back and made another huge play in the fourth quarter. On thirdand14 from the Washington 22, Amukamara appeared to force a Garcon fumble that the Giants recovered. Replay ruled the pass incomplete, but Amukamara’s impact was still felt.
Garcon finished with five catches for 64 yards and no touchdowns, quiet all evening, like the Washington offense. It was a solid bounceback performance by Amukarama.
Last week Jones caught 13 passes for 135 yards, most of the damage against Amukamara and nothing bigger than his 37yard goroute to set up Atlanta’s goahead score in a 2420 comefrombehind victory.
The former firstround pick, making $6.89 million this season, added it wasn’t unreasonable to leave him on an island against Jones.
“There are 7 million reasons why that is not a lot to ask. I was drafted first round to be that guy, and the Giants are paying me to be that guy. So definitely expect it.’’
And Thursday he played like that guy.