If You Do What You Always Did You Will Be What You Always Were

Not so much getting into their heads as not taking their shit

Takeaway drill: No running game, no open receivers, pass pressure but no backup in the secondary, the Giants solve the Redskins again, at least London Fletcher gave Brandon Jacobs a taste of his own medicine.

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Monday walkthrough: Washington is overwhelmed and overmatched in a road opener against the same team for the second year in a row, loses to the Giants 23-17 to open the season 0-1. A hell of a lot more will be needed if the Redskins are to become an elite team.

The Giants took the ball to open the first quarter, Giants return man Danny Ware got his bell rung on the kickoff, the Giants then started their first possession, a negligible completion and a fumbled snap get things going for New York, they recover and move the ball but need to call a timeout after London Fletcher levels Brandon Jacobs, the Redskins make a stop in the red zone and the Giants are kicking a 28 yard field goal to take the early lead 3-0. Washington gets the ball for the first time, Mike Sellers gets a touch on special teams, Clinton Portis takes the first carry 34 yards but Antwaan Randle El gives up ten on the next play, a receiver option that is busted, the Redskins squander Clinton's big run and Hunter the Punter Smith punts the ball, Byron Westbrook just mistimes his jump and it is a touchback, Hunter already paying dividends. The Giants get the ball for the second time at their 20, the Redskins apply tons of pressure but the Giants can move, a LaRon Landry late hit helps things, the Giants move down to fourth and goal when the quarter ends, Giants lead 3-0. [1Q Washington Post | Official Redskins Blog]

The Giants continue their second drive into the second quarter, the Giants go for it on fourth and less than one, Brandon Jacobs is short and the Redskins take over on downs for their second possession. That possession dies young as the Redskins cannot get out of the shadow of their own end zone and punt. New York's third possession starts with excellent field position, on third and nine Eli Manning connects to move the chains, bastards! On an audible on third and seven Eli finds Mario Manningham short, he jukes Fred Smoot and DeAngelo Hall, scores, Giants lead 10-0. The Redskins get the ball for the third time, a good pass to Chris Cooley, a good pass to Antwaan Randle El, Jason Campbell makes a big mistake and throws an interception from beyond the line of scrimmage and it is the fourth possession for New York. New York moves as they have so far which is to say steadily but not in big chunks, on third and six a jailbreak rush puts Andre Carter in Eli's face, he drops the ball and Lorenzo Alexander aka Scarface comes up with it, Redskins ball for the fourth time, with good field position. Antwaan Randle El keeps the chains moving on third down, Osi Umenyiora pushes through left tackle Chris Samuels and hits Jason, he drops the ball, Osi picks it up and runs it back 48 yards for a touchdown, Giants lead 17-0. Washington gets the ball back for the fifth time with just over two minutes left, Jason Campbell muffs the first shotgun snap, recovers and shovels the ball to Ladell Betts for 23 yards to save a busted play, on the next play Jason finds Antwaan for 35 yards down to the Giants eight yard line, two bad plays later Shaun Suisham is kicking a NO WAIT THAT'S HUNTER SMITH ON A FAKE FIELD GOAL REDSKINS SCORE and it is now 17-7 with twenty-one seconds left in the half. New York's fifth possession is thankfully short, one play and it is half time, Giants lead 17-7. [2Q Washington Post | Official Redskins Blog]

The Redskins got the ball to start the third quarter, Washington's sixth possession, the offensive line seems not to be interested in protecting Jason, nor in run blocking, this drive seems harder fought than it was and the Redskins punted. The Giants get the ball for the sixth time, two good Redskins plays and the the Giants are punting, Washington's ball for the seventh time. Clinton Portis would have had nothing on this drive were it not for Mike Sellers pushing him forward, the Redskins are completely intimidated by the Giants and their home crowd and they are punting. New York's seventh possession starts with poor field position, Brandon Jacobs goes nowhere on first down, on second and eight Andre Carter and Brian Orakpo put serious pressure on Eli Manning, LaRon Landry tips the pass intended for Steve Smith, DeAngelo Hall intercepts it and takes it eighteen yards, Redskins ball for the eighth time. Clinton Portis runs for a loss, then a trap screen pass to Clinton then Justin Tuck sacks Jason Campbell, Shaun Suisham kicks a 27 yard field goal, 17-10 Giants. The Redskins kickoff to the Giants for New York's eighth possession, it starts with Ahmad Bradshaw running right into Albert Haynesworth's gut for a loss, that is the end of the quarter, Giants lead 17-10. [3Q Washington Post | Official Redskins Blog]

The Giants continue their eighth possession into the fourth quarter, a drive that looks much uglier in person than on paper, the Giants end with a 45 yard field goal to push the Giants lead to 20-10. The Redskins' ninth possession is a steenking three and out, the Redskins are unable to assert themselves on the Giants at all. The Giants get the ball for the ninth time, thank god for little favors like false starts, on third and five Eli Manning hits Steve Smith in traffic, covered by DeAngelo and LaRon to keep the chains moving, Carlos Rogers saves a touchdown with a penalty, the Giants once again move ugly and kick a 28 yard field goal to move to 23-10 Giants. The Redskins get the ball for the tenth time, in a minute and a half move 72 yards on seven plays with no huddle, Jason Campbell finds Chris Cooley for seventeen yards and the touchdown, Redskins pull to 23-17 New York. The Redskins line up for an onsides kick, it is recovered by the Giants' Steve Smith, Brandon Jacobs takes the ball for one carry on New York's tenth drive then it is Giants in victory formation, game over 23-17 New York. [4Q Washington Post | Official Redskins Blog]

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Soapbox: The obvious story of this game is one of miscues on offense and defense, DeAngelo Hall had a particularly bad game, Jason Campbell often seemed not to be in control in the pocket, Clinton Portis seemed to have no room to run and the offensive line was spotty at best.

The less obvious story of this game was simply a well established opponent that knows itself and knows you too. The New York defense neutralized Santana Moss and with Osi Umenyiora obviously back and healthy the Giants front eight are tough to deal with.

It seems obvious these teams do not like each other very much (op. cit.).

Too many times the Redskins pass rush seemed to get reeeeeeal close to Eli Manning only to see him make a play to a receiver, the defensive backs were unable to cash in on the pressure.

The Redskins are going to have to figure out how to get a receiver open deeper if the running game is to work. The Giants gameplan was clearly to take away Santana and dare the other receivers to pick up the slack, Santana finished with two catches for six yards. Antwaan Randle El and Chris Cooley did good work (op. cit.), no one else did.

On defense the Redskins actually performed a lot like last year, Brandon Jacobs was held to 46 yards on 16 carries, while they managed to contain Brandon it often left receivers in single coverage. Further, the Giants only scored one touchdown and three field goals, the other Giants score coming on defense. Good to see that unit taking responsibility (op. cit.), despite the weaknesses it was a generally good defensive performance.

Going into game two the Redskins need to break down some tape posthaste, try and get a win next week against the Rams and then get back to the business of winning against NFC Beast division opponents, there is simply no other way into the playoffs.

The Giants are a fucking pisser.

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Chattering class: Mark Maske assumes at least for the week the regular A1 front page story at the Washington Post, sandwiched between stories on the significant but easing opposition to President Barack Obama's health care reform plans and a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan's Kandahar province.

Also at the Washington Post, columnist Sally Jenkins really thought defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth's debut was a dud, this opinion is sadly emblematic of the hype machine self justifying, yes Albert got a lot of money and yes the outcome against the Giants was more or less like the ones last year, that said there is no way you can look at the game and not think Albert was a major factor, he was doubleteamed most of the day and with Albert in the game tailback Brandon Jacobs had a hard time getting going, she is right about the exhaustion factor being meaningful, I would submit that we need to wait and see before we call him a fatty and a bust.

If you want a real flag raiser, if you want the right angle on the season opener, the lackluster playcalling, the discipline issues, the apparent sense of urgency with poor execution, check out Mike Wise's column, also at the WaPo. This is either a prescient piece on future ex Redskins coach Jim Zorn or another hysterical rant by the ponytailed jackass when you accidentally spill coffee on his Village Voice at the bodega.

Tom Boswell meanwhile takes a more predictable approach: same old same old, lots of work to do, yada yada blah blah. Matt Swenson at the Washington Express has a similar opinion and even invokes Seinfeld though in the context of ubiquitous reruns and not the show about nothing so that's progress.

Rick Snider at the Washington Examiner writes that the Redskins playmakers let the team down, perhaps training camp was too soft. He came back the next day with a spotlight on Albert Haynesworth's debut on the line, a positive one in Rick's opinion, Albert needs not only to be judged by his performance but also by the performance of those around him. And John Keim, also at the Washington Examiner has Jim Zorn's take, it was the execution, not the strategy.

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Omnibus: Broadcast team: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Pam Oliver, this is the FOX A team.

Uniform watch: Redskins on the road and in the preferred uniform of white jersey and burgundy pants.

In the Giants first possession Tony Almeida astutely noted the Redskins rushed two at one point. London Fletcher got Brandon Jacobs back for the LaRon Landry hit last season with a smashing stop on that same drive. Hey Tom Coughlin, why would you put Ahmad Bradshaw, your scatback, in on third and short instead of Brandon Jacobs? Are you escairt to run up the middle?

Bad field awareness by Antwaan Randle El on the Redskins first drive, he should have thrown the ball away on the busted receiver option. Bad idea to try and run such trickery when opponent is not set, thinks it knows what you will do.

London Fletcher never gets called for penalties, that is what you get when you lead your team in tackles every year and never make the Pro Bowl.

Oofuh, LaRon Landry's late hit on the Giants' second possession was not hot.

The scrum between Santana Moss and Corey Webster was totally instigated by Santana, he was headslapping Corey the whole play.

Eleven minutes left in the half and the Giants have already spent two timeouts.

Jason Jason Jason, you threw that pass beyond the line of scrimmage. Illegal forward pass and an interception, in the words of Jim Zorn, COME ON!

Jason Campbell fumble on Redskins fourth possession, second quarter, that was on Jason, he had all the protection and all the time he needed. Maybe tape will reveal coverage on all options, it certainly looked like Jason's fault.

Quick take at halftime, the Redskins suck, the Giants just execute on you slowly and steadily, like zombies.

Good catch at halftime, we were watching the Redskins final drive again, Tony Almeida caught head coach Jim Zorn giving special teams coach Danny Smith the go ahead nod, on the next play the Redskins ran a fake field goal (ibid.) for their only first half score.

Wait, East Rutherford New Jersey is the greatest city in the world? That is what Joe Buck said, for a moment I thought he was talking about New York City.

Nice Malachi Crunch of Eli Manning by Andre Carter and Lorenzo Alexander on the Giants sixth drive, third quarter, the ball was out but Eli paid, on the next play Chris Horton read the snap count perfectly and got in the backfield to tackle Brandon Jacobs for a five yard loss to force the New York punt.

I know the refs have incentive to let plays run out, here I am talking about the Chris Cooley non fumble in the Redskins seventh possession, third quarter, if the refs on the field are going to let plays play out, then the booth refs need to backstop the field refs by calling out obvious plays like Chris' non fumble and not forcing a challenge.

Great no huddle offense by the Redskins on their tenth possession, it is possible for this team to execute a drive. Chris Cooley's touchdown catch safely matches for him his scoring production from all of 2008 (ibid.).

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Shooter: Quarterback Jason Campbell was much worse than his line, 19 of 26 for 211 yards, one touchdown, one interception; beyond a departure from his improved play to start last season, this line does not represent his tentativeness at times and also does not represent the boneheadedness of tossing an illegal forward pass past the line of scrimmage AND THEN having it intercepted. Gots to do better.

Fat Contract Albert: Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth had a good debut, he was part of a solid pass rush and was seen standing up Giants ball carriers at the line. As the game wore on Albert appeared to tire, this is the knock or at the least the caricature, of Albert.

OH CRAPPO: Strongside linebacker slash defensive end Brian Orakpo was also a major factor in the pass rush, he had a good debut, expecially the tandem crunching of Eli Manning by Brian and Andre Carter in the third quarter. At this point I should reiterate the problem tonight was not the pass rush.

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Washington Post recap, photos. NFL recap, box score, full play by play, Gamebook (PDF), photos, video highlights.

Other game recaps: Mark Newgent at Redskins Examiner,

Next up, the home opener against St. Louis, a team that beat the Redskins on Pete Kendall's fumble and Donnie Avery's last second catch, the Rams' new head coach Steve Spagnuolo was almost the Redskins head coach.



Santana Moss and Corey Webster being separated: Reuters photo from here. Steve Spagnuolo: AP photo from here.