This NFC East showdown features the 3-3 Washington Redskins traveling to the Meadowlands to take on the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants, who own a record of 4-2. This will be rookie QB Robert Griffin III’s first division game, while the G-Men have lost their first two division games to the Dallas Cowboys, at home on opening night, and to the Eagles in Philadelphia.
The Redskins won only five games last year, yet two of those were against the Giants. Despite previously suffering through three years without a win against their New York rivals, the Redskins held Eli Manning to zero TD passes and forced four interceptions on their way to 28-14 and 23-10 victories. In another example of the scoreboard not telling the whole story, the latter win was actually the more dominant victory (the Giants would not lose another game after that embarrassing beat down).
Will the Redskins continue to push around the arguably more talented Giants, or will things go back to the way they were during the 2008-2010 era? Let’s take a look at some matchups that will determine that answer.
JPP and Osi vs. Trent Williams
Trent Williams was Mike Shanahan’s first draft pick as the Redskin’s head coach in 2010. The former Sooner would have a rough rookie campaign — he was responsible for 11 sacks, 11 QB hits, and 24 further hurries. However, Williams showed tremendous improvement last year before his season ended four games early due to a substance abuse-related suspension. Enter 2012, and he has continued that change for the better, as his Pass Blocking Efficiency of 96.7% (tied for 12th-best in the league) can attest. Although he did miss most of the Week 3 game with an injury, Williams has allowed RG3 to be taken to the ground on his watch only twice (a sack and a hit from Robert Quinn, with the latter not showing up on the stat sheet because of a penalty) and to be hurried a mere six times.
Here though, the third-year LT will face his toughest test against Jason-Pierre Paul and Osi Umenyiora. JPP beat him for two sacks in the second half of their Week 1 matchup last year, the only two sacks he allowed. Williams was suspended for the rematch.
Right defensive end Umenyiora could spend the majority of the day against Williams, as in his 251 snaps he’s lined up as a left defensive end only 11 times. However, the fierce pass-rushing status Osi previously had has faded in 2012, as he’s only produced two sacks, two hits, and 10 hurries so far. Meanwhile, JPP continues to build his own reputation, registering four sacks, two hits and 15 hurries in this young season. The former first-round pick lines up all over the defensive line but has been at the right end spot for 119 of his 326 snaps. In conclusion, both of these G-Men should have ample opportunities to put a blemish on Williams’ resume this year, but it remains to be seen if they can accomplish that task.
Defending RG3
Griffin, our leader in the Rookie of the Year race, has continued to burn defenses with his arm and legs despite getting knocked out of the Week 5 Atlanta game with a concussion. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan has pulled out all the stops for the prized second overall pick with a wide variety of plays, including the triple option. The results are being discussed daily across the NFL landscape, as RG3 not only has the highest completion percentage among QBs at the moment (70.2) but is also our highest-graded signal-caller as a runner (+6.2) — with the highlight being his 76-yard TD run last week. His deep passing game (throws 20 yards or more) has yielded only 123 yards and a TD, though he was victimized by an Aldrick Robinson drop on a perfect pass with 10:44 left in the St. Louis game. He has done the most damage on passes thrown 10-19 yards over the middle, and has completed 21 of 27 throws for 446 yards and a score, along with a 131.1 passer rating. He hasn’t been terrible when under pressure, but he has thrown his only two picks in those circumstances.
With those stats in mind, the Giants may be better off trying to make RG3 beat them deep. New York’s injury-depleted secondary has been victimized by the likes of Brandon Weeden and Josh Freeman this year and given up 11 passes (five of which were TDs) of 20 yards or more. Two of the biggest culprits have been safety Antrel Rolle and CB Corey Webster. Despite his two picks last week, Rolle has allowed 10 of 14 passes to be completed in his coverage for 151 yards and seven first downs — and that does not include him failing to provide safety help on two further TD passes. Webster, a long-time Giant, has surrendered three scores and gifted QBs a 119.7 passer rating when targeting him. Meanwhile, the best pass defender on this squad has been sophomore Prince Amukamura — he’s been responsible for only 69 yards and a 30.5 passer rating when signal-callers go after him.
The Giants will also have to worry about RG3 running wild on them. Bolstered by Pierre-Paul, our highest graded 4-3 DE in run defense, and Linval Joseph, both of whom have eight stops in this area, this unit was able to limit another dangerous running signal-caller, Cam Newton, to 6 yards on six carries, and a garbage time TD. They had less success against Michael Vick though, and let him roam for 49 yards on six runs. The weakest links against opposing ground games have been starting linebackers Chase Blackburn and Michael Boley. Blackburn has missed eight tackles on runners so far and both have lost the majority of their one-on-one battles, including routinely getting shut down by tight ends and full backs. In order to contain the talented rookie on the ground, the Giants will have to prevent him from reaching the second level.
Giants Receivers vs. Redskins Defense
The Redskins’ defense has allowed all six of their opponents to throw for 299 yards or more. Eli should join that list by the end of Sunday. Aside from starting CBs DeAngelo Hall (giving passer's a 94.2 rating against him) and Josh Wilson (108.8 rating), Jim Haslett has thrown nearly every other DB on the roster in there to try and stop the bleeding. These guys off the bench include former Bengal and Jaguar David Jones (allowed five of eight targets for 37 yards) and rookie Richard Crawford (9 of 13 for 148 yards and a score), along with a rotating group of safeties including Reed Doughty, rookie Jordan Pugh, and sophomore DeJon Gomes who has been the biggest liability (9 of 15 for 157 yards and a TD). The only safety who seems to have solidified his starting spot is veteran Madieu Williams who, after struggling initially, has become Washington’s best pass defender (+4.3). The journeyman, who was supposed to be a backup this year, got a lot of attention for his pick-six last week, but one of his most impressive plays came against Atlanta with 57 seconds left in the first half where he broke up a deep end-zone pass to Julio Jones. Unfortunately, starting inside linebackers Perry Riley and London Fletcher have also been culpable for this defense’s maligned reputation — both of them have given up three TD passes.
The Giants’ pass catchers have to be excited about this matchup. Hakeem Nicks has been injured, which helps explain his mere 17 catches and one score, but will be suiting up for this game and must be accounted for. Victor Cruz has been Eli’s favorite target with 43 catches, nearly 500 yards, six TD catches and six forced missed tackles — the only thing that has stopped Cruz so far has been his drops (six). Elsewhere, a finally-healthy Dominic Hixon, and Ramses Barden have combined for 31 catches and 512 yards. Barden, however, seems to have fallen out of favor after a ridiculous offensive pass interference penalty at a critical moment in the Eagles game and has seen only three snaps since. Another target the Redskins will have to worry about is former Cowboy tight end Martellus Bennett who started off hot with 15 catches and three TDs in the first three weeks, but has only five catches and no scores in the past three contests. Bennett has been dealing with an injury but is reportedly healthy, which is bad news for Fletcher and Riley especially. This matchup will perhaps be the most important factor in deciding who walks away with a victory.
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