[Riggo70Chip]

EVEN BIG BLUE CAN BEAT THESE GUYS:

December 28, 2006 -- DON'T give up fans, for whatever it's worth, the Redskins still will get the Giants in. Washington's defense is last in the NFL in yards allowed per play, third from the bottom in yards allowed per game. On his worst day, Eli Manning will move the ball.

Oh, you're afraid that, even after Sunday, when the Giants didn't drive the ball over the 50, we still haven't seen Eli's worst day? Actually, we did on Dec. 12, 2004, in Baltimore during his rookie season, when he completed 4 of 27 passes with two interceptions for a 0.0 rating. On the train home, he and Kevin Gilbride had a talk and the next day, Manning asked Tom Coughlin to simplify things. The following week, against a Steelers team on the way to 15-1, the results (16-for-23, two touchdowns, 103.8 rating) were eye-opening.

Of course, there have been too many games since when you had to close your eyes, but there have been enough flashes and comebacks that we still aren't convinced Ernie Accorsi picked a bad quarterback. Made a bad trade, yes, considering what he gave up. But bad quarterback no, not yet, not in only Manning's second full season as a starter. Greater consistency will come with a greater comfort level, which of course is where Kevin Gilbride is supposed to come in, essentially too late to save the season or maybe his own job in a regime change, but not too late to get the Giants by one bad team.

Manning - a glass house, too often a crystal glass house - knows what it will sound like if he applauds the change. So yesterday he was saying what players always do immediately after a coach gets replaced.

"It's about the players. I don't think the switch will make a huge difference," he said, refusing to throw John Hufnagel, the essentially-dismissed offensive coordinator, under the bus.

At this stage, if Eli tried to throw anybody under a bus, he probably would be intercepted.

Manning and Hufnagel may not have been butting heads to the degree that, say, Bob Whitfield butts heads, but the Giants became so frustrated they quit against the Saints. So for a team suffering a crisis of confidence, there is nothing to lose by this change. Last gasp, or last grasp, the logic is to help Manning. There's just no percentage in a quarterback with a 46.7 third-down percentage suggesting the quarterback coach will put him in better positions than the deposed offensive coordinator, that's all.

"It's not that things were so complex I didn't know where to go with the ball," said Manning. "We just didn't execute well.

"We got stuck in third-and-long, had some drops and different things. We just need to get some rhythm, get some third-and-shorts and convert those, and then you can get into your runs and play-actions and your whole offense. You need to find a way to stay on the field longer."

The Redskins, who gave up 37 points last week at St. Louis and have an NFL-low 12 takeaways, can help in that regard. So could the Giants finding something that works early and, for a change, staying with it. If Jeremy Shockey, who disappears as an option for whole halves, is dropping the ball, then keep throwing it to him - and in shorter patterns - until he catches it. That is, if Shockey, listed as questionable with a sore ankle, even plays. In the effort to spread the ball around, Shockey remains underused.

If the running game is slow to get going, then keep pounding Tiki Barber. In desperate times, with underconfident offenses and quarterbacks, one dimension can be better than several.

It wouldn't work against a playoff team. The Giants have played too bad for too long to be beating any playoff teams. But Washington is 5-10, 2-5 in its last seven, with only two impressive wins, against the Saints and Cowboys, all season. The Redskins have their cars packed. Giants won't win a 24-20 game against those guys?

jay.greenberg@nypost.com



WOW!!!! I hope we beat the piss out of them!!

[UK Skins Fan]

If I was in New York, I wouldn't be so quick to write off any opponent right now, but I'd like my chances against the Redskins.

I'm grateful that the guy thinks our win against the Cowboys was impressive though - surely lucky is closer to the mark?

I pray that Tiki's last game is a real disappointment to him.

[SkinsJock]

"Amen"

[JPM36]

Didn't the Redskins also beat the Jaguars.

A team that the Giants got absolutely whupped by on national TV....


I guess that would be our 3rd "impressive" win...

He says we have our cars packed? The Giants packed it in during the 2H of their game last week...

[HitDoctor]

If NYG gets in, they are DONE next week no matter who the opponent is!

[Deadskins]