Redskins vs. Giants, 1st quarter review

Several readers offered their takes on the Redskins' collapse in the comments section of the previous post. And from what I've seen in the 1st quarter, they were all dead on. Especially the part about getting thoroughly out-coached. On both offense and defense the Giants' line was baiting the Redskins' line and exploiting the open holes.

As usual, the play by play info below has been taken from the NFL Game Book, then my commentary has been added in a different font.

1st Quarter

G.Gano kicks 70 yards from WAS 30 to end zone, Touchback.

New York Giants at 15:00

1-10-NYG 20 (15:00) E.Manning pass short middle to B.Pascoe to NYG 29 for 9 yards (R.Doughty).

LBs bite hard on the play action to the right, and Rocky is the only one able to recover and make it to the offensive left to have a chance to stop the screen.
Giants double team Golston, then as Fletcher thinks he has a clear path into the backfield he is blindsided by the RT, who left Daniels unblocked LDE. But the LG pulls and drives Daniels to the outside, as the FB clears Doughty out of the hole.

2-1-NYG 29 (14:20) E.Manning pass short middle to K.Boss to NYG 42 for 13 yards (L.Landry).

Andre Carter and Kedric Golston get penetration by beating the LG and RG respectively, but both are egregiously held and unable to make a play once in the backfield.

1-10-NYG 42 (13:35) B.Jacobs left end pushed ob at NYG 44 for 2 yards (F.Smoot).

Landry reads the play and shoots into the backfield taking out the lead FB, but Jacobs avoids the collision and makes it to the corner, which the LT and TE have succesfully defended against Carter and Rocky. London slips past the C's second level block and pursues the play across the field. He has Jacobs as he turns upfield, but he breaks the tackle. Fortunately, Fletcher's contact forces Jacobs outside enough the he runs out of bounds after a short gain.

2-8-NYG 44 (12:49) B.Jacobs left end to 50 for 6 yards (A.Haynesworth).

The C pulls to the left and Jabobs follows behind him and the FB.

3-2-50 (12:07) A.Bradshaw left end to WAS 46 for 4 yards (L.Landry).

Redskins only have 3 down linemen - Haynesworth is at RDE and Golston at DT. Both are allowed initial penetration and then become the victims of well-executed trap blocks. The Giants linemen also do an excellent job getting to the second level and form a wall in front of the LBs; only a very nice play by Landry prevents a big gain.

1-10-WAS 46 (11:30) E.Manning pass short right to T.Beckum to WAS 42 for 4 yards (L.Landry).

2-6-WAS 42 (10:55) B.Jacobs right end to WAS 34 for 8 yards (C.Rogers, R.Doughty).

RT blocks down to seal Golston to the inside, and LG pulls to the right to neutralize Daniels at LDE. The leading FB dives at Rocky's feet and takes him to the ground, then Jacobs just runs through the tackles of Fletcher and Carlos Rogers for an extra 4 yards and a first down.

1-10-WAS 34 (10:13) A.Bradshaw right end to WAS 30 for 4 yards (A.Haynesworth).

TE seals the corner against Daniels. Fortunately Steve Smith puts a pretty weak block on Carlos Rogers, and even though Rogers doesn't make the tackle he pushes Smith back and pinches the running lane enough that the RB is forced back towards the middle of the field and into traffic. By the way Albert Haynesworth, despite being credited with the tackle, was not on the field for this play. Do not believe everything the official scorer tells you.

2-6-WAS 30 (9:31) (Shotgun) E.Manning pass incomplete short left to S.Smith.

Pressure up the middle from Carter forces a high throw.

3-6-WAS 30 (9:25) (Shotgun) E.Manning pass short middle to A.Bradshaw to WAS 16 for 14 yards (L.Landry, K.Moore).

Orakpo rushes from his standard SLB-but-right-on-the-line position, and the Giants dump the screen right over his head. Bradshaw nicely fakes as if he is picking up Orakpo to sell the screen even more effectively. Fletcher is initially lined up right over the LG and would be in perfect position to break up the screen, but he loops far to the offensive right as part of a blitz combo so the Giants end up with two linemen heading downfield to block Justin Tryon (Tryon loses that battle, in case you were wondering).

1-10-WAS 16 (8:46) B.Jacobs left tackle to WAS 11 for 5 yards (L.Fletcher).
LT keeps Carter to the outside while a double team pushes Golston off the line. Rocky plugs the hole but is taken out by the FB. Golston holds up that double team long enough that the C is too slow getting out to Fletcher, so he is able to make the play before a bigger gain.

2-5-WAS 11 (8:09) B.Jacobs right end to WAS 9 for 2 yards (R.Wynn).

Renaldo Wynn, who is surprisingly still alive, here does a very good job of shedding off the RT's block to pull down Jacobs from behind.

3-3-WAS 9 (7:26) (Shotgun) E.Manning pass short middle to A.Bradshaw to WAS 2 for 7 yards (L.Fletcher, R.McIntosh).

Giants direct the pressure to the outside then exploit it with a shovel pass.

1-2-WAS 2 (6:42) K.Boothe reported in as eligible. E.Manning pass incomplete short right to K.Boss.

Play action freezes the rush, but fortunately Doughty keeps very tight man coverage on the TE and forces Manning to throw wide to avoid the pick.

2-2-WAS 2 (6:36) B.Jacobs right guard to WAS 3 for -1 yards (L.Fletcher).

Rocky absolutely demolishes the FB in the hole, which allows Fletcher to come in clean and stuff the run.
3-3-WAS 3 (5:53) (Shotgun) A.Bradshaw right guard for 3 yards, TOUCHDOWN. NYG-R.Seubert was injured during the play. His return is Questionable.

Carter is at LDE - he rushes to the outside and, I think, abandons gap responisibility. This leaves a big hole and the FB is able to get a hat on Rocky before it can be filled.

L.Tynes extra point is GOOD, Center-Z.DeOssie, Holder-J.Feagles.

NYG 7 WAS 0, 16 plays, 80 yards, 9:13 drive, 9:13 elapsed

L.Tynes kicks 45 yards from NYG 30 to WAS 25. C.Wilson to WAS 33 for 8 yards (C.Sintim).

Washington Redskins at 5:47, (1st play from scrimmage 5:42)

1-10-WAS 33 (5:42) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass incomplete short middle to M.Sellers (J.Goff) [M.Kiwanuka].

Giants stack all 3 LBs on the line. The Redskins apparently make just the adjustments the Giants wanted them to, as Heyer is frozen by a scary looking LB and lets a DT through clean while Levi blocks down and allows the RDE to come untouched.

2-10-WAS 33 (5:38) Q.Ganther left guard to WAS 39 for 6 yards (T.Thomas).

3-4-WAS 39 (5:01) (Shotgun) J.Campbell sacked at WAS 30 for -9 yards (J.Tuck). FUMBLES (J.Tuck) [J.Tuck],recovered by WAS-M.Williams at WAS 30. M.Williams to WAS 30 for no gain (M.Kiwanuka).

LDE and LDT take a couple hard steps to the outside drawing both Heyer and Mike Williams, then the LDE stunts back to the inside and Williams doesn't have a prayer of recovering.

4-13-WAS 30 (4:26) H.Smith punts 42 yards to NYG 28, Center-E.Albright. D.Hixon to NYG 37 for 9 yards (E.Albright).

New York Giants at 4:21

1-10-NYG 37 (4:21) (Shotgun) E.Manning pass incomplete deep right to S.Smith.

Well covered by DeAngelo Hall.

2-10-NYG 37 (4:16) E.Manning pass incomplete short right to H.Nicks (D.Hall).

Hall is all over the slant, and it looks to me like he commits PI.

3-10-NYG 37 (4:12) (Shotgun) E.Manning pass short left to S.Smith to WAS 49 for 14 yards (R.Doughty).

1-10-WAS 49 (3:33) E.Manning pass short left to H.Nicks pushed ob at WAS 28 for 21 yards (C.Rogers).

Landry has him on the sideline and compeletely overruns the tackle to allow the first down.

1-10-WAS 28 (3:06) B.Jacobs left tackle to WAS 23 for 5 yards (R.McIntosh, L.Fletcher).

2-5-WAS 23 (2:28) B.Jacobs right tackle to WAS 19 for 4 yards (K.Golston).

Timeout #1 by NYG at 01:42.

3-1-WAS 19 (1:42) B.Jacobs left guard to WAS 18 for 1 yard (L.Fletcher, R.McIntosh).

Andre Carter makes contact in the backfield but Jacobs powers forward for the first down.

1-10-WAS 18 (:57) (Shotgun) E.Manning pass short middle to K.Boss to WAS 9 for 9 yards (L.Fletcher, R.McIntosh).

The Giants are running so effectively out of 3 WR sets that we can't afford to go to nickel. Rocky is drawn outside to man cover Steve Smith in the slot, creating a void in the middle of the field for the TE, who beats Orakpo.

2-1-WAS 9 (:21) A.Bradshaw right tackle to WAS 4 for 5 yards (R.McIntosh).