Studs
LB London Fletcher. He intercepted a pass in the end zone, so at least someone made a huge play on defense. It was a good read and good coverage. He was called for a holding penalty on another pass play (and dropped a pick on the same play). He also had a tackle for a loss and defended two other passes. Loved one play where he slammed up hard on the outside to take on a lead blocker and, while on the ground, twisted and fought his way to make the tackle.
CB DeAngelo Hall. He gets on here mainly for what he didn’t have to do, which was defend passes. He did have good coverage when the Giants threw at him and he knocked one pass away. He did miss a tackle on Brandon Jacobs’ first big run, coming in with his head down and shoulder out. But the Giants stayed away from him, partly because they knew they could pick on others.
Duds
CB Phillip Buchanon. A week ago I praised him because his play had been solid. But this was a terrible game for the veteran. Eli Manning clearly felt the Giants had a mismatch with whoever was covering Derek Hagan – Derek Hagan! But Buchanon said he was just playing the coverages that were called, keeping everything in front of him. OK. But his tackling was bad and that’s why he was benched. It’s been a knock on him throughout his career, but until Sunday it really wasn’t an issue. Buchanon pulled up on a pass completion to Kevin Boss in which Rocky McIntosh hit him on the other side. Rather than helping out, Buchanon raised his arms and slid to the side. Maybe he was worried about a defenseless player penalty? I don’t know. But that is what happened. Meanwhile, Boss broke free. Buchanon missed a tackle at the line later in the quarter when he tried to hit Ahmad Bradshaw up near his shoulder pads. No pop; no tackle. Buchanon also whiffed on a tackle attempt off a smoke route on the first drive. He’s had much better games for Washington.
NT Maake Kemoeatu. I know Kemo says his leg strength is back, but I have to wonder because it just doesn’t seem like he’s always moving that well. He did have a few nice plays in this game, where he was able to slide along the line and either plug the hole or help on the tackle. Nothing wrong with the effort ever with him. But the Giants, like the Vikings, too often used one man to block him and that consistently freed guards to block the linebackers. On the Giants’ second touchdown, the line was barely blocked and one guard took on London Fletcher and the right tackle took on Rocky McIntosh, opening up an easy lane.
NT Anthony Bryant. He only played a couple snaps, but it was enough to see that he’s not an option over Kemoeatu. Perhaps he’s rusty from inactivity, but he didn’t show enough power at the line. And the Redskins went with Kedric Golston at nose after Bryant’s early work.
QB Donovan McNabb. Yes, he was sacked four times, but for many of his throws McNabb had as much time as he’s had all season. New York rarely blitzed and the line was actually decent so you can’t pin this one on McNabb getting hit all day. McNabb seemed to miss guys breaking free; on his bootleg fumble Fred Davis was breaking free on a shallow cross and James Davis appeared to be getting open on a backside wheel route. But McNabb instead ran, had an awkward slide and fumbled. On his interception in the end zone, McNabb’s eyes kept the safety in the middle, allowing him to easily break on the ball. It’s hard to imagine McNabb didn’t see him; but he threw it as if he had no idea the safety was right there. Easy pick. He did do a good job keeping some plays alive, but that’s about it.
FS Kareem Moore. He allowed Devin Thomas to get inside him as the upback in punt protection, leading to a block. But his toughest play came on the first series when he missed Brandon Jacobs in the backfield because he put his head down while trying to tackle. Moore has struggled in this area much of the season and when the safety isn’t tackling well, the defense is giving up huge plays. And that’s what happened on this play, though it came in the backfield. Instead of a two-yard loss it became a 39-yard run. Of course, someone else missed a tackle on that play …
LB Rocky McIntosh. After Moore missed Jacobs, McIntosh did as well. McIntosh was sliding over and just missed Jacobs, trying to tackle him too high. He missed a tackle on Kevin Boss over the middle, but it only led to a few more yards. McIntosh seems to still be adjusting to his role in the 3-4 and where he must be at certain times. He overcommitted on a couple runs and on one of Brandon Jacobs’ touchdown runs, he appeared to hit a gap he should not have. Now, not sure if that’s completely accurate. But I do know that London Fletcher run blitzed on the play, going through the A gap, and I do know McIntosh was to his left and when the ball was snapped he headed almost to the same spot. That left Reed Doughty to take on a lead blocker and after he did … there was no linebacker scraping over.
TE Chris Cooley. Caught six passes for 61 yards, which was good, but he also fumbled. Big no-no. Can’t say his blocking, especially in the ground game, was as good as it’s been in some other games.
Suds
WR Anthony Armstrong. Ran a nice route to get open for a touchdown on a post pattern. Caught six passes for 97 yards overall. But he also fumbled on a day where the Redskins needed to play perfect.
Note
Offensive line:
I wasn’t sure how to categorize them because for large portions of the game the Giants didn’t apply a lot of pressure. They finished with four sacks, but it’s not as if McNabb was under duress all game. Stephon Heyer as a dud? For a few plays, yes. He couldn’t block a linebacker on a screen for Chris Cooley; he offered no power. And a play later he allowed a sack/fumble. But after that? Very quiet. Will Montgomery was shoved back much of the game and struggles to reach linebackers. Jammal Brown played one of his better games – take that for what it’s worth – but he also gave up a sack when he whiffed on a stunt because of slow feet. Kory Lichtensteiger wasn’t very good, but wasn’t very bad either. All in all a mixed effort because McNabb had enough time on many throws. Now, the Giants did not blitz a whole lot either, which helped the O-Line. But they were not beaten all game as many expected.
Note: Kevin Barnes wasn’t that much better than Phillip Buchanon. He did not play very physical and missed a tackle in the backfield because his head was down, too. Cutting him some slack because he hasn’t played a whole lot. But, in games at least, we haven’t seen enough from him to suggest he’s an eventual replacement for Carlos Rogers.
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