Redskins vs. Giants 1st quarter game review

Bet you thought I wasn't going to bother rewatching the last game, but here's a start at least. I'm also working on a series of year-end assessments of each position group - I put up a post on the defensive line on Sunday night. Additional quarters of this game and a similar linebackers review will be showing up over the next few days.

As always, the play by play is in bold and taken directly from the official NFL gamebook, with my commentary added underneath most plays.

FIRST QUARTER

G.Gano kicks 65 yards from WAS 30 to NYG 5. D.Ware to NYG 29 for 24 yards (D.Young, T.Austin).

New York Giants at 15:00, (1st play from scrimmage 14:51)

1-10-NYG 29 (14:51) A.Bradshaw left guard to NYG 33 for 4 yards (A.Bryant; A.Carriker).

Holliday drives back the LG and maintains his 2 gap discipline but the LG grabs ahold of his jersey and keeps him from shedding off to make the stop in the backfield. Bryant is driven off the line a bit by the C and RG – not a Ma’ake Kemoeatu sent-reeling-back-five-yards kind of play, but he lets the hole open up. Carriker stands up the RT and fights his way down the line to take down the RB before he can get a major gain.

2-6-NYG 33 (14:10) E.Manning pass incomplete deep right to T.Beckum (K.Barnes).

Manning has a short rollout to the right. Despite the fact that Holliday beats the LG and Fletcher eventually blitzes once he realizes he has no one to cover, he is not particularly rushed on his throw. But for unknown reasons he floats one towards the sideline into double coverage and Barnes very nearly has a pick.

3-6-NYG 33 (14:03) E.Manning pass short right to M.Manningham to NYG 33 for no gain (D.Hall).

4-6-NYG 33 (13:23) M.Dodge punts 39 yards to WAS 28, Center-Z.DeOssie. B.Banks ran ob at WAS 45 for 17 yards (Z.DeOssie).

Washington Redskins at 13:13

1-10-WAS 45 (13:13) R.Torain right end pushed ob at NYG 46 for 9 yards (A.Ross).

Good tandem block by Fred Davis and Jammal Brown, keeping the edge open against the LDE before Brown sheds off and takes out the MLB. Good block by Santana on a safety springs the extra yards.

2-1-NYG 46 (12:48) R.Torain left end pushed ob at NYG 41 for 5 yards (B.Cofield).

Nice job by Fred Davis sustaining his block on a DB to let Torain make the first down around the corner after outrunning pursuit in the backfield.

1-10-NYG 41 (12:22) R.Torain right end to NYG 42 for -1 yards (A.Ross).

Santana, who I praised for a nice block just two plays ago, completely fails to keep the CB from coming off the edge to stuff the run. Torain can’t cut away from him because Rabach is carried into the backfield by the DT.

2-11-NYG 42 (11:43) R.Grossman pass incomplete deep middle to F.Davis (B.Cofield) [O.Umenyiora].

Montgomery starts to get beat, but Torain saves him by putting a nice chip on the DT before releasing to set up for the dumpoff. Montgomery is able to recover and box him out again, but it’s too far in the backfield and the DT makes a nice play to leap and knock down the pass.

3-11-NYG 42 (11:38) (Shotgun) R.Grossman pass short left to S.Moss to NYG 41 for 1 yard (T.Thomas).

Horrible, just awful, failure by Trent Williams to sell the screen. He avoids contact with the RDE altogether, and of course if you can’t suck the pass rush into the backfield then your screen has no chance.

4-10-NYG 41 (11:07) S.Paulescu punts 41 yards to end zone, Center-N.Sundberg, Touchback.

Good Lord it’s a miracle punt – 5 full seconds. Too bad it bounces into the end zone, but at this point I get excited for any hangtime that doesn’t start with a 3.

New York Giants at 11:01

1-10-NYG 20 (11:01) B.Jacobs right tackle to NYG 30 for 10 yards (D.Hall, V.Holliday).

Carriker loses gap discipline here: looks like the rest of the defense is playing 2-gap, and the play is run right through where he used to be. A TE motions to that side, so the RB is running behind a convoy of the RT, TE, and FB and our linebackers don’t stand a chance.

1-10-NYG 30 (10:16) E.Manning pass short left to M.Manningham pushed ob at NYG 39 for 9 yards (P.Buchanon).

Doughty lines up over the slot WR and shows his blitz just a split second too early, so he is easily picked up by the RB (Bradshaw, who excels at this particular skill). Orakpo gets inside and is subjected to his now-standard arm around the neck to let Manning get the throw off.

2-1-NYG 39 (9:57) B.Jacobs right end to WAS 34 for 27 yards (K.Barnes).

Carriker absorbs a significant block by the TE, which is a problem because it knocks him to the inside of the RT (who pulls to the outside) and it looks like ideally he would have taken that guy head on. Instead the RT knocks Carter to the outside and the freely-pulling RG cuts off Fletcher’s pursuit, and that same TE (who had a hell of a play) gets a major block on Rocky.

1-10-WAS 34 (9:08) E.Manning pass short left to D.Hagan to WAS 19 for 15 yards (P.Buchanon). NYG-R.Seubert was injured during the play. He is Out. 69 Seubert Injury is a dislocated knee cap

Buchanon is playing outside technique and has no safety help when the route becomes a deep square in, so I think somebody blew the coverage.

1-10-WAS 19 (8:46) W.Beatty reported in as eligible. A.Bradshaw right end to WAS 20 for -1 yards (D.Hall).

DeAngelo Hall hasn’t gotten nearly enough credit for his strikingly more physical play this year. He lowers his shoulder against the lead FB, they both go down, and the RB is tripped up for a loss. Even if he hadn’t been, neutralizing the FB meant that the closing LBs would have easily made the stop.

2-11-WAS 20 (8:03) B.Jacobs left tackle to WAS 20 for no gain (P.Buchanon).

Buchanon untouched off the edge, and makes a nice wrap-up tackle.

3-11-WAS 20 (7:20) (Shotgun) E.Manning scrambles up the middle to WAS 6 for 14 yards (K.Barnes).

Nickel package with two DEs (Holliday and Jarmon) with a very wide split, so when both rush to the outside there’s a huge hole up the middle for Manning.

1-6-WAS 6 (6:40) A.Bradshaw left tackle to WAS 6 for no gain (A.Carriker, A.Bryant).

Bryant takes on the C and absorbs a chip from the RG to hold his ground on the line, which allows Carriker to make the play from behind after he blows through the RT. I can’t even tell you how refreshing it is to see some real line play…

2-6-WAS 6 (6:04) (Shotgun) E.Manning pass incomplete short middle to D.Hagan (K.Barnes).

Carter fails to impede the slot WR at all of fthe line, so he breaks into his slant too quickly for Barnes to get over. Dropped on the goal line. Dodged bullet.

3-6-WAS 6 (5:58) (Shotgun) A.Bradshaw left guard to WAS 2 for 4 yards (B.Orakpo; L.Fletcher).

4-2-WAS 2 (5:08) L.Tynes 20 yard field goal is GOOD, Center-Z.DeOssie, Holder-S.Rosenfels.

NYG 3 WAS 0, 11 plays, 78 yards, 5:58 drive, 9:57 elapsed

L.Tynes kicks 44 yards from NYG 30 to WAS 26. M.Sellers to WAS 38 for 12 yards (G.Wilkinson; T.Beckum).

Washington Redskins at 5:03, (1st play from scrimmage 4:57)

1-10-WAS 38 (4:57) R.Torain right end to NYG 46 for 16 yards (A.Rolle).

The linemen effectively hold up their guys down the line, and Sellers gets a lead block on a DB while Brown does great second level work against a LB to spring the big run.

1-10-NYG 46 (4:20) R.Torain right guard to NYG 32 for 14 yards (T.Thomas, A.Rolle).

Counter run. The line does a good job of driving the defense to the right, and when Torain cuts back he shows good awareness to keep his footing despite having to step over a sprawling defender.

1-10-NYG 32 (3:45) R.Grossman pass short right to R.Torain to NYG 24 for 8 yards (M.Boley, A.Ross).

Nice cut to beat the DB after taking the swing pass.

2-2-NYG 24 (3:13) R.Torain right end pushed ob at NYG 20 for 4 yards (D.Grant).

Torain bounces it outside too quickly (as he is prone to do) but impressively runs through the LDE’s backfield arm tackle (as he is equally prone to do) and cuts upfield for a first down.

1-10-NYG 20 (2:54) R.Grossman pass incomplete short left to K.Williams [A.Rolle].

This screen is too ugly for me even to take the effort to describe it.

2-10-NYG 20 (2:50) R.Grossman pass short right to M.Sellers pushed ob at NYG 11 for 9 yards (J.Goff).

3-1-NYG 11 (2:29) R.Torain right guard to NYG 12 for -1 yards (A.Ross; R.Bernard).

And on this play you can see the bad side of Torain. Brown is in the process of getting beat by his man to the outside. Torain could make the corner but stops and hesitates, then tries to bounce back inside and right into traffic.

4-2-NYG 12 (1:46) G.Gano 30 yard field goal is No Good, Wide Left, Center-N.Sundberg, Holder-S.Paulescu.

Aw jeez…

New York Giants at 1:42

1-10-NYG 20 (1:42) E.Manning pass short right to K.Boss to NYG 25 for 5 yards (L.Alexander).

Orakpo shoves aside the LT and breaks into the backfield, but Manning drifts to his right and hits the TE in the flat after Alexander couldn’t adjust to his break.

2-5-NYG 25 (:55) K.McKenzie reported in as eligible. B.Jacobs left end to NYG 25 for no gain (L.Fletcher, R.McIntosh).

Buchanon takes out the FB to direct the play inside (God I love that) and the pulling RG is unable to intercept Fletcher, who makes a nice pursuit. Of course he is able to do so because Bryant and Darrion Scott (at RDE) are able to hold their ground on the line.

3-5-NYG 25 (:17) (Shotgun) E.Manning pass short middle intended for M.Manningham INTERCEPTED by P.Buchanon at NYG 33. P.Buchanon pushed ob at NYG 25 for 8 yards (C.Snee).

Fletcher got stuck shallow due to the threat of the RB going out for a pass, so the WR found a huge hole in the zone and should have had a first down – but he just bounces the pass into the air and Buchanon comes down with it.

Washington Redskins at 0:04

1-10-NYG 25 (:04) R.Grossman pass incomplete deep left to S.Moss.