Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Washington 17 at NY Giants 19 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Washington Redskins: The Redskins blew a chance to take a late lead when kicker James Tuthill's 43-yard field goal attempt was blocked by New York. Tuthill had missed just twice all year before today, and it appeared that the sloppy Giants Stadium field played a part in the miss as Tuthill's plant (left) foot slipped badly. QB Shane Matthews stood up well to the Giants pressure for the most part. He didn't finish with very good numbers today (15-35, 113 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT), but he did throw for two touchdowns. Both touchdowns were great passes; it was the other 33 that he had some problems making. He does not look like the answer for Washington. RB Stephen Davis returned to the lineup after a 2-game absence. He looked healthy and showed no ill effects from injury. Although at times, it was easy to forget Davis was even in the game. He finished with 19 carries for 59 yards. New York Giants: TE Jeremy Shockey had a monster game. Not only did he catch 11 balls for 111 yards, but he was targeted on 18 passes. He fell just two catches short of the all-time Giants record for receptions in a single game. Forget about Ron Dixon, Herman Moore, or Daryl Jones. With Ike Hilliard gone for the year, it appears that Shockey is the Giant that will take up the slack for Hilliard. QB Kerry Collins had a bad game. For receivers, he would look at Shockey first, then to Toomer. He only had three completions that weren't to Shockey or Toomer. The numbers were poor enough, but he was even worse than it appeared. He missed wide-open would-be touchdown passes to Tiki Barber and Dan Campbell on successive plays. He had 2 balls intercepted, and had numerous other ones either tipped at the line or deflected up in the air that were almost picked. At one point in the game, it seemed as if every pass Collins made was being questioned by the announcers for how poor a decision it was. WR Amani Toomer had his second good game in a row following three very poor ones. Toomer had 16 passes intended for him, as he and Shockey were really the only significant options in the Giants passing attack. Toomer was able to finish with 8 receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Washington Redskins QB: Shane Matthews made a few good passes here and there, but is clearly not a long-term option for Steve Spurrier. Matthews managed just 113 yards on 35 passes for a horrendous 3.2 yards per attempt. Both of his touchdown passes were nice throws, but the nice throws were few and far between. The first touchdown pass came 1 play after a throw that should have been easily intercepted by Will Allen in the end zone. Jason Sehorn intercepted Matthews late in the game, which led to Matt Bryant's game-winning 19-yard field goal. RB: Stephen Davis showed no ill effects from the knee injury he suffered a few weeks ago. Kenny Watson carried the ball just once, and Davis got the remainder of the carries. Still, Davis couldn't get anything going against a Giants defense that had been allowing 7 yards per carry since DL Keith Hamilton went down to injury. In addition, Spurrier's reluctance to admit that the passing game isn't working hurts Davis. Apparently in a close game with his season on the line, Spurrier would STILL rather have Shane Matthews throw 35 passes than Stephen Davis carry 20 times. WR: Rod Gardner is the #1 receiver on the team, and he had a decent game because he caught a touchdown. He received the majority of the passing targets in the game, but with Shane Matthews throwing you the ball, there aren't going to be many opportunities for huge games. In fact, with the way Spurrier likes to juggle his receiver sets, it is pretty likely that none of them can be counted on for solid production. Willie Jackson is not a starter for Washington, but he may be their most consistent receiver. He caught the first of Matthews' touchdown passes, a very nice catch with CB Will Peterson blanketing him. Derrius Thompson started opposite Rod Gardner but had just 2 balls thrown his way all day. The result of those 2 passes were 1 reception for 8 yards. TE: Walter Rasby caught just 1 ball for 5 yards. It was one of only 2 passes he saw come his way all day. Rasby now has 5 receptions for the season. Move along. Redskins Pass Defense: Kerry Collins did not have a very good day against the Redskins, but the Giants receivers had a tremendous day. Jeremy Shockey is too big for defensive backs to handle, and too fast for linebackers. Amani Toomer, despite being covered by Fred Smoot and Champ Bailey, had another big game. Washington failed to sack Collins at all and had numerous opportunities for turnovers but couldn't come up with the big play. Redskins Rush Defense: Did a fine job of stopping the combo of Tiki Barber and Ron Dayne. Came up with a huge stop of Barber to give the offense a chance to come back. The Barber/Dayne combo carried 34 times for just 93 yards, and the LB corps of LaVar Arrington, Jessie Armstead, and Jeremiah Trotter seem to fly to the ball carrier. Redskins Special Teams: A big reason why Washington lost was due to special teams play. Ladell Betts fumbled a kickoff, which led to the third of Matt Bryant's four field goals. Then with four minutes left in the game, K James Tuthill's field goal attempt was blocked. He slipped on the soggy field just as he was kicking the ball, which caused it to come out very low and hit Lance Legree in the chest. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** New York Giants QB: Kerry Collins would look at Shockey first, then to Toomer. He only had three completions that weren't to Shockey or Toomer. Just looked like he was "off" today. His timing wasn't there with the receivers, his accuracy was poor, and he made a number of bad decisions with the football. He finished just 22-46 and was intercepted twice, but it actually could have been much worse. There were numerous deflections and near-interceptions all game long. Even the touchdown pass to Amani Toomer was a poorly thrown ball. A lot of it may have to do with the steady rainfall and cold weather in New Jersey over the past 2 days, as neither QB was able to demonstrate any type of consistency. RB: Tiki Barber was very involved in the offense; he just wasn't very productive. Barber managed 64 yards on 24 carries (2.7 YPC) but wasn't as much of a factor in the passing game as he usually is (2 receptions for -2 yards). He did have all of the red zone RB touches, however, and was tackled at the Redskins 1 yard line on a third down carry. Ron Dayne had a good 9 yard run but managed just 20 yards on his other 9 carries. WR: Amani Toomer followed up a solid effort in Minnesota last week with an even better showing today. Playing against some of the best cover corners in the NFL, Toomer managed to catch 8 balls for 95 yards and a touchdown. Collins threw to Toomer and Shockey an equal number of times, and both received looks on third down and in the red zone. Daryl Jones was a 7th round draft pick and almost didn't make the team. He is only in the lineup because of injuries to Ike Hilliard, Ron Dixon, and Tim Carter. He did not catch a single pass in his first NFL start. Also, Herman Moore is due to play his first game for the Giants next weekend. With all of that in mind, Jones cannot be considered a viable option for any fantasy roster. TE: Jeremy Shockey had the first great game of his career. He is already one of the best tight ends in the league after the catch; he just needs to become more consistent. He had a few more drops today, and fumbled a ball to Washington in which he was maybe trying to do a little too much after the catch. Still, for a rookie he is making his presence felt when given the opportunity. He commented to one of the local NY newspapers that he wanted to be more of a focal point in the offense. He got his wish today, and good things happened when he touched the ball. Giants Pass Defense: Did an outstanding job in pressuring Shane Matthews all day. Michael Strahan recorded 2 more sacks, and forced Matthews into a few off-balance throws. The inexperienced Washington receivers weren't able to do much in the secondary either. One problem with the New York DBs, however, is that other than Jason Sehorn, they all seem to have terrible hands. New York could create so many more turnovers if the cornerbacks could just catch the football. Will Allen dropped a sure interception in the end zone; Willie Jackson scored a Washington touchdown one play later. Will Peterson later dropped an easy interception, and LB Brandon Short dropped a ball that would have been one of the easiest interceptions in history. Giants Rush Defense: After being chewed up the past 3 games, the Giants did a solid job against the run today. Stephen Davis found very little room to run, and Spurrier pretty much abandoned the running game for long stretches. Giants Special Teams: One week after nearly costing the Giants a win, the special teams came up huge today. K Matt Bryant made four field goals, including the eventual game-winner from 19 yards out. Here is the situation: Bryant struggled last week, but it was likely because the Giants used a different holder for the first time all year. Punter Matt Allen hadn't been getting the job done in the punting game, so Fassel de-activated him for the Minnesota game last week. The problem was that Matt Allen is Matt Bryant's regular placeholder. With Allen out of the lineup, Bryant had all kinds of problems last week, missing both a field goal and an extra point. This week, Fassel rectified the situation by putting Allen back onto the active roster and letting him do all of the holding for Bryant. The results were successful field goals from 43, 34, 33, and 19 yards and 2 successful extra points.