T Bell
Footballguy
His best passing season in college was in the WCO. He's still transitioning, so this is an early verdict. Let's see around week 6-8 or so.
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***Week 1 Game Thread - Wash at NYG*** (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Jeff Pasquino
- Start date
Mustang Man
Footballguy
And the point are in doubt people are scared right now
yinzer
Footballguy
for sureI love Pacino and DeNiro, and they idea of them being vigilante cop partners, but I feel like that movie looks nowhere on the level of HeatIt looks like "Hey Bobby", "Hey Al", lets shoot some criminals and drink some vino..hey!Spike's got his fastball backInside Man was a tight film
Tremendous Upside
Footballguy
Thrash should have had that
![[icon]](/data/avatars/m/5/5167.jpg?1660313464){kind=avatar}
Hipple Long Ware & Peete
Footballguy
oooh THrash blew that.
Hipple Long Ware & Peete
Footballguy
awww Moss....
woulda been tough but he usually makes that cacth
woulda been tough but he usually makes that cacth
Sweetness_34
Footballguy
All those that said Grossman was the worst QB in the NFL should just look at Campbell. Amazing how bad the QB play is in general in the NFL.
yinzer
Footballguy
Im not sure how Devin Thomas or Malcolm Kelly couldnt beat him out...thats for sure
Tremendous Upside
Footballguy
Nice, Al Michaels with the requisite gambling quote
Hipple Long Ware & Peete
Footballguy
wow crazy play. does that last play count? big yds for me if it does.
me campbell
opp NYG D with -.05 for yards.
me campbell
opp NYG D with -.05 for yards.
T Bell
Footballguy
Um, no. Grossman's worse anyway, but he's had the pleasure of doing it all in the same offensive system. Nice try though.
Hipple Long Ware & Peete
Footballguy
Sportsline frozen at 07 seconds. Not sure they know.
Anonymous Internet User
Footballguy
So does it look like Kevin Boss is not going to be a part of the Giants offense this year? Looks like he did nothing out there but block when he was even on the field. I saw him go upfield perhaps twice the whole game.
No wonder Shockey wanted out.
No wonder Shockey wanted out.
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Mustang Man
Footballguy
No that play does not count penalty on Samuels probably broke Kiwi's ankle
FavreCo
Footballguy
It gets worse every year.
Avery
Footballguy
I saw some atrocious play calling there.Very little in offensive adjustments.I think Campbell is a fine QB if given a chance. Hopefully for Skins fans, it was first game jitters for Zorn.Hell. It's the first time he's ever called a game let alone been a head coach.
Hipple Long Ware & Peete
Footballguy
-10-NYG32
07) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass short right to L.Betts to NYG 11 for 21 yards (K.Dockery). PENALTY on WAS-C.Samuels, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at NYG 32 - No Play.does that mean no stats??
aww
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Mustang Man
Footballguy
Yes no stats for that play-10-NYG32
does that mean no stats??
aww
FavreCo
Footballguy
Campbell can't play in a WCO. He's an Al Davis type vertical QB. Not a good one either. Skins performed as I expected. They are horrid.
Hipple Long Ware & Peete
Footballguy
Yes no stats for that play-10-NYG32
does that mean no stats??
aww
treat88
Footballguy
Agreed. Way too early to judge Campbell.Zorn has a steep learning curve. Horrific tonight.
Yenrub
Footballguy
Donnybrook
Footballguy
Colt Brennan not an option?3d/17 and....Campbell with the short pass!At least he's consistent.WAS best look real seriously at drafting a QB high next year. Or maybe give Favre a call.
FavreCo
Footballguy
See what? What Colt Brennan can do? Campbell can't run the WCO.
yinzer
Footballguy
Especially considering how the used CooleyIf ARE takes half of Cooleys yards last year (not saying he will this year), hes well over 1000 yardsand Ive never been a Moss fan either
oddball
Smart
I'm kinda surprised it isn't garnering more talk here. It looked pretty bad.
Routilla
Footballguy
Any NY radio post game listeners on the board? Surely they have something on the injury, right?I'm kinda surprised it isn't garnering more talk here. It looked pretty bad.
Pat Patriot
Footballguy
If they wave off the penalty then why doesnt the play count? Seems weird. You either accept the penalty or let the play stand. Obviously, they would let the play stand.
Iwannabeacowboybaby!
Footballguy
I watched the game, and as we heard all the preseason hype, my thoughts are this:
Washington is in trouble, at least for awhile. They have some talent but they're not connecting yet, they showed that they have some major flaws in the running game.
The passing game isn't very good, but you can get some garbage yardage to the QB's favorite target, which seems to be the two starting WR's.
The Super Bowl Champs were impressive. I thought they started off with the run, pounded them and mixed it up nicely with the pass. Plaxico Buress when healthy plays at a level only about 3 to 5 receivers can play at when healthy. The Giants pass rush isn't that bad without the guys we know are missing.
Eli Manning can be great and he can still be goofy. Still, with what he proved last year, he can be great under the most extreme of circumstances, so now after seeing some poor decisions tonight, he can be trusted at anytime.
Washington is in trouble, at least for awhile. They have some talent but they're not connecting yet, they showed that they have some major flaws in the running game.
The passing game isn't very good, but you can get some garbage yardage to the QB's favorite target, which seems to be the two starting WR's.
The Super Bowl Champs were impressive. I thought they started off with the run, pounded them and mixed it up nicely with the pass. Plaxico Buress when healthy plays at a level only about 3 to 5 receivers can play at when healthy. The Giants pass rush isn't that bad without the guys we know are missing.
Eli Manning can be great and he can still be goofy. Still, with what he proved last year, he can be great under the most extreme of circumstances, so now after seeing some poor decisions tonight, he can be trusted at anytime.
oddball
Smart
I went over to a couple giants forums and they are saying he was walking on his own after the game and during the post game interviews he said he was fine.Any NY radio post game listeners on the board? Surely they have something on the injury, right?I'm kinda surprised it isn't garnering more talk here. It looked pretty bad.
From WNYT
Redskins and Giants Quotes, September 4th
Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin
Postgame vs. Washington
Thursday, September 04, 2008
We came in to win. We wanted to start fast, we did start fast, we weren’t as productive as we would have liked to be in the green zone. As I told the players, we have objectives; we wanted to rush the ball more, we were trying like heck not to have the penalties that we had, I am disappointed in the seven penalties, but we knew that this is a work in progress and the key thing was that the next play was the most important play. Our defense played well. Our defense kept the opponent out of the end zone. We gave them bad field position, or gave ourselves bad field position on kickoff coverage a couple of times, which hurt us. Their only score came off starting a drive at midfield. We definitely have a lot of work to do. There are a lot of things that we can clean up on that are just a little bit off that are going to have to be improved on going forward. The key thing is we opened at home, we won at home, and that is a nice way to start.
What was the one aspect of the game that really stood out to you tonight?
I believe we rushed for 140-something and Washington may have rushed for 90 or under, so that aspect of it we did a nice job with that. We didn’t get any turnovers, which boy, that is something we are working and working and working to get better at. We had the one turnover, but the defense did an outstanding job all the way around.
What can you tell us about Mathias Kiwanuka’s injury?
I can’t tell you anything. It is just an ankle. Right now it is an ankle.
What kind of job did John Carney do tonight?
He performed well. He kicked the ball off to I think it was the three yard line, the three yard line, and then the one yard line. He made his field goals. He performed well. When called upon he did a good job and certainly his veteran experience was there for all of our players to rely on.
How would you evaluate the performances of Brandon Jacobs and Plaxico Burress?
Obviously both men had big nights, contributed very, very strongly. I think Plaxico had 10 catches and I think Jacobs had 107 yards, I believe it was. I also thought Derrick Ward contributed well when he was in the game. Obviously that is an area that we need to improve on, our completion percentage, being able to keep drives alive, and score when we get in the green zone.
How much of a lift was it that the organization was able to work out the Burress contract extension?
Everyone is pleased about that, to be honest with you.
What about the attitude of the team for the first game and not trying to be complacent after a championship?
Well, the question was asked. Sometimes I wonder if the questions are asked just to be asked and is anybody paying any attention. I didn’t see it. I didn’t see it in preseason, I didn’t see the complacency, and I didn’t see any of the Super Bowl stuff. I thought we addressed that early on, I thought the players did a nice job of it, I think there is a real hunger to win with this group, and the experience of winning is something that they want very badly. I did not… really at any time, did I have to address it. The practices weren’t always as good as you want them to be, but there is nothing unusual about that. We didn’t have to address the other issue.
What did you think of the passing game and the protection breakdowns?
I think, obviously as I said, we need to work on that. We need to work on that aspect of our game.
Was that the biggest aspect of Eli being a little bit off on some of his throws, especially in the second half tonight?
I don’t know. I think that we won the game, that is what we set out to do, and he controlled and managed the game, had the one interception, which I am sure that he is going to feel like certainly shouldn’t have been thrown, but he is the quarterback. He made a lot of very good plays as well as had a rushing touchdown. He did some things along those lines.
Are you encouraged by the play of the defensive line?
I was. We have to obviously be concerned a little bit with Kiwi here at the end and what exactly that is going to be like, but we did do what we set out to do. I am sure we will improve from here.
Does this game indicate that this team is ready to withstand adversity?
Well, what is the adversity? We went out in the opening game and won, so that is what we have done.
=============================================================
Giants Quarterback Eli Manning
Postgame vs. Washington
Thursday, September 04, 2008
What is your assessment of opening the season?
Well, it’s a win and that’s a start, and that was our goal. Obviously there’s some things we can work on. I thought we ran the ball extremely well, the offensive line, backs ran tough. Passing game, we hit some good plays, we did some good things, but there’s still some miscues that we had that you have in the first game. We were doing some checks, we were doing a lot of different things out there. We had a few plays you’d like to have back, but that’s just… That’s something we can continue to work on and we’ll get better.
Can you talk about Plaxico Burress’ performance and what type of difference you notice in him now that he’s healthy?
He played really well tonight. He had some big catches, some in-routes, some curls and different things he did really well and he had a good – I could tell before the game, just doing our warm-ups a couple of hours [pregame] he had a lot of energy, he was coming off the ball well. He was excited to play. I could tell he felt good and it shows. We’re still getting there. We’ve still got – We had some miscues tonight on a few things because you don’t practice, you get some different looks, you haven’t worked in force and reminders and different things, so we’ll get that going and we’ll be even stronger.
Can you tell us about the confidence of the team, how it’s been affected by what you guys accomplished last year?
I think our team feels good. I think every game going into last year we felt good. We felt confident we could go out there and win. I think tonight it’s the same thing. We feel like if we go out there and play to the best of our ability, play the way we know we can, we’ll be a tough team to beat. Just going out there, being consistent and playing smart football.
Was it strange that you could throw the ball from outside the 20 at will and inside you had problems?
We had a couple of just 3rd-and-short’s we didn’t convert on. That’s not like us. We’re usually pretty good at that situation. [We] had another where we got down there and had a penalty – it was my fault – [and we were] pushed back to the 10 and tried a screen and it didn’t work. So we just had a few bad plays and when you get inside the 10 yard line, everything’s got to be perfect. Everything’s got to be precise and just how you want it. We got one touchdown, had to settle for some field goals a couple of times, so that’s something we need to get better [at] and find ways to get in the end zone and not settle for field goals.
Do you think you put to rest the stories that you’re not quick on your feet with that first touchdown you scored?
I don’t know. I asked Plaxico who broke more tackles today, me or him, and I think I won. I don’t know what -- I’m not swift of foot by any means, but if the play calls for me to try to get in the end zone, I’ll try to do it.
How were your emotions tonight, with the crowd, running out of the tunnel and then seeing Michael Strahan? How did that feel?
It was great. It was a great opening to the season. Obviously a lot of emotions, a lot of excitement. You could feel it in the crowd. The little video they played and then to have Michael there holding the trophy. It was a great crowd tonight. They were fired up, they were here early. For our defense they were getting loud. It was good for us to finally play well at home and to win a game at home. It’s been a while, so that was fun.
How important was it to score on the opening drive?
That was our goal. We wanted to come out and start fast and the last couple of times we played Washington we got off to kind of slow starts. They jumped out on us the last two times. When we played them last year and we had to try to fight back to get in the game, where this time we really jumped on them, we ran the ball well the whole first half. They were getting tired on defense just because we were pounding the ball and keeping the ball for long periods of time. That helps our defense and that’s the way we like to play football. We like to control the clock, move the ball, be consistent, get our three or four or five yards a play and just avoid the bad plays. We had a few bad plays and that’s what we have to eliminate.
How much of a lift is it to you and the organization that they were able to work out an extension for Burress?
Someone just told me about it, so I didn’t know before the game, but obviously I’m excited that he’s going to be – continue to be a part – I don’t know the deal, but I’m excited for him to continue to play for us and be a part of this team. He’s a tremendous player and makes a lot of big plays for us, and he had a good game tonight.
How comfortable do you feel with those short passes to Brandon Jacobs?
The second play we had a screen that we just – It was just a bad play by me. We had a few other ones where he got some pressure. I was trying to come to him late and we missed a few. We’ll just continue to work with trying to get the backs into the passing game, give us some completions, get their confidence in catching it. We worked on that pretty hard in training camp and in the spring, just trying to get them used to catching balls from the quarterback. We had one on a little – on a play-action where he got the ball and got an eight yard gain, and Brandon had a catch – I mean, Derrick [Ward] had a catch on a flat route, so we’re getting there and it will just be another weapon in the passing game.
You and Burress have been effective over time, but can it get significantly better still?
I think the passing game can improve. We have to improve it with everybody. Obviously Plaxico played well tonight and did some good things, but we have to figure out how to get everybody else in the action – get our tight ends in the action, Amani [Toomer], Steve Smith. We have a lot of weapons. We’re not going to try to force it to one guy. I think my timing with all of my receivers can get better and our production can improve.
How do you envision this offense with what you have as far as linemen? Is there an element of unstoppablity you think this offense can achieve?
Yeah, I think we work well together. Guys really understand what’s going on. We’ve been around each other for going on four years, really, where everybody’s kind of been a part of this and has a great understanding, so anything that’s thrown at us, we make adjustments, we act quickly and we bounce back. We have to work on obviously putting up more points than we did tonight, but I think it was a good start. We did some things really well. We did some things poorly we’ll work on, but I think if we can run the ball like that and hit some big passing plays to make cuts and move the ball to get in scoring position, we’ll be in good shape.
There were so many questions about the defense coming into this game with the five new starters. When you kept putting them back on the field, did it feel like they kept bailing you out, playing to the level of last year?
I think they were playing really well. I think in the first half they had a lot of three-and-out’s and we were moving the ball and keeping them off the field for the most part. In the second half they really stepped up and obviously shut them out and gave them no points. They’re playing well. They’re confident and hopefully they can continue to play that way. If you go into the fourth quarter with a two-score lead, it makes your life a little easier.
================================================================
NEW YORK GIANTS PLAYER QUOTES
Postgame vs. Washington
September 4, 2008
Derrick Ward on Giants running game:
We picked up where we left off from last year. Brandon ran his butt off tonight. The offensive line was tremendous with blocking up front tonight. The offensive line also did a good job with pass protection. They might have gotten some sacks but for the most part Eli and Plax were very hard to stop. We just have to continue to improve each game, each week. I’m not sure how the rotation is going to go all year with Brandon and myself, but it definitely worked tonight and don’t forget we are going to incorporate Ahmad in the running attack also.
Justin Tuck on tonight’s overall defensive performance:
We did a lot of great things tonight. But you have to remember that it is still the first game and we have to go back and watch a lot of film. I think we held them to under 100 yards rushing. We did a good job of keeping them out of the end zone except for that one breakdown at the end of the first half. Barry and Fred did a great job tonight. That is one of the things that we wanted to do tonight is take away their run game. We felt that they would try to run to take pressure off their quarterback. We kept their running game at bay tonight. They hit us with a couple of draws but for the most part we took them out of what they wanted to do.
David Diehl on offensive performance tonight:
We went out there tonight and basically did what we wanted to do. And we controlled the ball and time of possession. I felt we controlled the line of scrimmage and kept the ball moving. Field goals are nice but we want to walk away with touchdowns and I felt like we left a couple on the field tonight. When you get down there in the green zone you want to be successful with touchdowns but it really didn’t affect us tonight. We were still able to come away with a win, but down the road those are the things that are going to make or break you in the long run. And that is the difference between winning and losing. We are happy with the win and everything, but are we complacent? Without a doubt, no. We need to get better. We are going to learn from this. We are going to move forward and we are going to be a stronger team after playing this first game. We are going to come to work next week and get ready for the Rams.
Antonio Pierce on the overall performance of defense:
The only thing that was disappointing about the game was the way we ended the second half. Obviously they got pretty good field position. But we need to find a way to make a stop down there. Obviously as a defense you want to dictate and in the first half we did a very good job. We were successful on first and third downs, but as the game went on they started to pop a couple. But overall they found a couple of plays that worked for them. Anytime when you are home and you only allow seven points, the defense is doing a pretty good job. That is championship defense.
=========================================================
Redskins Head Coach Jim Zorn
Postgame at Giants
September 4, 2008
Q. How do you think your first drive and their first drive set the tone?
A. I don’t think it set the tone for the game, I think it set the tone for the first half. They were very methodical coming down and getting a score. We sputtered from the first play. We sputtered around for too many minutes and too many plays for the first half.
Q. What do you attribute that to?
A. I think there were errors, even on the first play. We’re gonna see that the play could have been successful with protection, with route running. We failed to come off the receiver and got really stuck on the receiver that was in the first part of the read. I’m trying to tell it how it is, we failed at that particular play and then we got stuck and got sacked and now that kind of ruins your first fifteen because you think you’re not going to have to call a play on 2nd and 17, backed up, so we had to punt. But after that it was really frustrating. We didn’t pick up the blitz well in the early part of the game. After we got going I felt like we could move the ball. Unfortunately, the thing that got us was not converting those third downs. We did have several opportunities to convert and we ended up in forth and inches on several drives and we had to punt. That’s what we had to do. If you call a third and six play and you get 5, if you call a third and nine play and you get eight and a half, or call a third and 7 play and you get 6 and a half, it’s frustrating.
Q. Do you see why they had so much success running the ball in the first half?
R. They’ve got a bruising running game, they have a really strong offensive line. It just took us time to figure out their plan – it was a good first game. I thought defensively we did a decent job with those guys. We had an opportunity for four interceptions, we got one, and I thought Manning did a wonderful job getting the ball to his favorite receiver.
Q. In your first game, what do you take out of it?
R. My first game was very frustrating. I feel like we’ve learned where we need to improve tonight. If anything is positive out of it, it’s got to be that. We’re going to see on video where we can improve. We saw where we’re at offensively and I think if I was trying to look at the cup half full that would be it. I don’t know if the cup has any water in it right now, for me.
Q. Are you surprised where you’re at right now offensively?
R. We’re on our way in the passing game, we’re not there yet. That’s what I’m disappointed about, but in the running game I thought we were strong. Clinton ran hard and we got some good things going there, and yet we can’t run every down in a ball game. We’ve got to be able to throw the ball, we’ve got to be able to protect, and those are the things we need to improve on. No question about it, it’s our passing game.
============================================================
Redskins Players Quotes
Postgame at Giants
September 4, 2008
LB London Fletcher
Q. If you had to pick out the one thing that cost you the game, what would you say it was?
A. Third downs in the game really hurt us. In the first half, we really didn’t stop them from scoring on any of their possessions.
Q. It didn’t look like you guys had the “fire” on either side of the ball.
A. I can’t really speak for everybody in terms of that. I thought that during our pregame warm-ups and while we were in the locker room everybody was real excited about playing this game, playing the defending Super Bowl champions. I mean it’s opening night and we’re playing on a Thursday…so as far as energy goes, I don’t think that was an issue. I think it was more so how we hurt ourselves, I’m just speaking defensively because I can’t speak about the offense. From a defensive standpoint, there were a lot of opportunities for us in the first half to make plays on third downs and we did not. Even in the second half, we missed some turnover opportunities.
Q. How disappointing is it to lose your first game of the season?
A. Anytime you lose, you’re going to be disappointed. We would’ve liked to have gotten off to a better start by winning our first game, our first division game. We’ve got to go in tomorrow and look at the tape and see where we made our mistakes. We’ve got to come in next week fully prepared to face a good New Orleans Saints football team.
WR Santana Moss
Q. At the end the first half you guys seemed to pretty easily march down the field and score. Why do you feel you couldn’t get it going in the second half?
A. I mean we just sputtered a lot…sputter here, sputter there. Our drive at the end of the second quarter was started by the special teams getting us good field position. When you get good field position, you’ve got to take advantage of it. I think we did a good job by doing that. In the second half, we had some chances that we couldn’t capitalize on when we had good field position. You’ve really got to learn from things like that, you can’t just beat yourself up over that; you’ve got to watch the film and get better from it.
Q. Do you feel like the offense has regressed? You guys looked so good in the first couple of games.
A. I mean this is still the first game and preseason is preseason. You can’t be judged on what you did in the first three games in the preseason, because teams aren’t coming after you. They’re sitting back and playing basic defenses. I feel like now, with a game under our belt, we’ll really find out how we play as a team. I feel good when I think about the potential this team has, but we’ve actually got to go out and do it now.
Q. It didn’t seem that there was a whole lot of urgency from the offense in the fourth quarter.
A. We were trying…we were trying to run the two minute (offense). I mean there was a penalty here, a missed opportunity there, a negative run here…and when that stuff happens you can’t really run what you want to run. That’s basically where we stood, you saw it, we saw it, and now we’ve got to fix it
DT Anthony Montgomery
Q. What changes did you guys make at halftime?
A. I don’t think we made too many changes, I just think everybody came out and let everything out. We all just took a deep breath and everyone took it upon themselves to be where they were supposed to be. We’ve just got to watch this film and build from it and be ready from next week.
Q. Was it tough to catch your breath in the first half because you were out there for so long?
A. No, that’s why you work hard during the offseason; you’ve got to expect stuff like that to happen. It wasn’t about us being too tired or being out there for too long, we just didn’t make the plays that we needed to.
Redskins and Giants Quotes, September 4th
Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin
Postgame vs. Washington
Thursday, September 04, 2008
We came in to win. We wanted to start fast, we did start fast, we weren’t as productive as we would have liked to be in the green zone. As I told the players, we have objectives; we wanted to rush the ball more, we were trying like heck not to have the penalties that we had, I am disappointed in the seven penalties, but we knew that this is a work in progress and the key thing was that the next play was the most important play. Our defense played well. Our defense kept the opponent out of the end zone. We gave them bad field position, or gave ourselves bad field position on kickoff coverage a couple of times, which hurt us. Their only score came off starting a drive at midfield. We definitely have a lot of work to do. There are a lot of things that we can clean up on that are just a little bit off that are going to have to be improved on going forward. The key thing is we opened at home, we won at home, and that is a nice way to start.
What was the one aspect of the game that really stood out to you tonight?
I believe we rushed for 140-something and Washington may have rushed for 90 or under, so that aspect of it we did a nice job with that. We didn’t get any turnovers, which boy, that is something we are working and working and working to get better at. We had the one turnover, but the defense did an outstanding job all the way around.
What can you tell us about Mathias Kiwanuka’s injury?
I can’t tell you anything. It is just an ankle. Right now it is an ankle.
What kind of job did John Carney do tonight?
He performed well. He kicked the ball off to I think it was the three yard line, the three yard line, and then the one yard line. He made his field goals. He performed well. When called upon he did a good job and certainly his veteran experience was there for all of our players to rely on.
How would you evaluate the performances of Brandon Jacobs and Plaxico Burress?
Obviously both men had big nights, contributed very, very strongly. I think Plaxico had 10 catches and I think Jacobs had 107 yards, I believe it was. I also thought Derrick Ward contributed well when he was in the game. Obviously that is an area that we need to improve on, our completion percentage, being able to keep drives alive, and score when we get in the green zone.
How much of a lift was it that the organization was able to work out the Burress contract extension?
Everyone is pleased about that, to be honest with you.
What about the attitude of the team for the first game and not trying to be complacent after a championship?
Well, the question was asked. Sometimes I wonder if the questions are asked just to be asked and is anybody paying any attention. I didn’t see it. I didn’t see it in preseason, I didn’t see the complacency, and I didn’t see any of the Super Bowl stuff. I thought we addressed that early on, I thought the players did a nice job of it, I think there is a real hunger to win with this group, and the experience of winning is something that they want very badly. I did not… really at any time, did I have to address it. The practices weren’t always as good as you want them to be, but there is nothing unusual about that. We didn’t have to address the other issue.
What did you think of the passing game and the protection breakdowns?
I think, obviously as I said, we need to work on that. We need to work on that aspect of our game.
Was that the biggest aspect of Eli being a little bit off on some of his throws, especially in the second half tonight?
I don’t know. I think that we won the game, that is what we set out to do, and he controlled and managed the game, had the one interception, which I am sure that he is going to feel like certainly shouldn’t have been thrown, but he is the quarterback. He made a lot of very good plays as well as had a rushing touchdown. He did some things along those lines.
Are you encouraged by the play of the defensive line?
I was. We have to obviously be concerned a little bit with Kiwi here at the end and what exactly that is going to be like, but we did do what we set out to do. I am sure we will improve from here.
Does this game indicate that this team is ready to withstand adversity?
Well, what is the adversity? We went out in the opening game and won, so that is what we have done.
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Giants Quarterback Eli Manning
Postgame vs. Washington
Thursday, September 04, 2008
What is your assessment of opening the season?
Well, it’s a win and that’s a start, and that was our goal. Obviously there’s some things we can work on. I thought we ran the ball extremely well, the offensive line, backs ran tough. Passing game, we hit some good plays, we did some good things, but there’s still some miscues that we had that you have in the first game. We were doing some checks, we were doing a lot of different things out there. We had a few plays you’d like to have back, but that’s just… That’s something we can continue to work on and we’ll get better.
Can you talk about Plaxico Burress’ performance and what type of difference you notice in him now that he’s healthy?
He played really well tonight. He had some big catches, some in-routes, some curls and different things he did really well and he had a good – I could tell before the game, just doing our warm-ups a couple of hours [pregame] he had a lot of energy, he was coming off the ball well. He was excited to play. I could tell he felt good and it shows. We’re still getting there. We’ve still got – We had some miscues tonight on a few things because you don’t practice, you get some different looks, you haven’t worked in force and reminders and different things, so we’ll get that going and we’ll be even stronger.
Can you tell us about the confidence of the team, how it’s been affected by what you guys accomplished last year?
I think our team feels good. I think every game going into last year we felt good. We felt confident we could go out there and win. I think tonight it’s the same thing. We feel like if we go out there and play to the best of our ability, play the way we know we can, we’ll be a tough team to beat. Just going out there, being consistent and playing smart football.
Was it strange that you could throw the ball from outside the 20 at will and inside you had problems?
We had a couple of just 3rd-and-short’s we didn’t convert on. That’s not like us. We’re usually pretty good at that situation. [We] had another where we got down there and had a penalty – it was my fault – [and we were] pushed back to the 10 and tried a screen and it didn’t work. So we just had a few bad plays and when you get inside the 10 yard line, everything’s got to be perfect. Everything’s got to be precise and just how you want it. We got one touchdown, had to settle for some field goals a couple of times, so that’s something we need to get better [at] and find ways to get in the end zone and not settle for field goals.
Do you think you put to rest the stories that you’re not quick on your feet with that first touchdown you scored?
I don’t know. I asked Plaxico who broke more tackles today, me or him, and I think I won. I don’t know what -- I’m not swift of foot by any means, but if the play calls for me to try to get in the end zone, I’ll try to do it.
How were your emotions tonight, with the crowd, running out of the tunnel and then seeing Michael Strahan? How did that feel?
It was great. It was a great opening to the season. Obviously a lot of emotions, a lot of excitement. You could feel it in the crowd. The little video they played and then to have Michael there holding the trophy. It was a great crowd tonight. They were fired up, they were here early. For our defense they were getting loud. It was good for us to finally play well at home and to win a game at home. It’s been a while, so that was fun.
How important was it to score on the opening drive?
That was our goal. We wanted to come out and start fast and the last couple of times we played Washington we got off to kind of slow starts. They jumped out on us the last two times. When we played them last year and we had to try to fight back to get in the game, where this time we really jumped on them, we ran the ball well the whole first half. They were getting tired on defense just because we were pounding the ball and keeping the ball for long periods of time. That helps our defense and that’s the way we like to play football. We like to control the clock, move the ball, be consistent, get our three or four or five yards a play and just avoid the bad plays. We had a few bad plays and that’s what we have to eliminate.
How much of a lift is it to you and the organization that they were able to work out an extension for Burress?
Someone just told me about it, so I didn’t know before the game, but obviously I’m excited that he’s going to be – continue to be a part – I don’t know the deal, but I’m excited for him to continue to play for us and be a part of this team. He’s a tremendous player and makes a lot of big plays for us, and he had a good game tonight.
How comfortable do you feel with those short passes to Brandon Jacobs?
The second play we had a screen that we just – It was just a bad play by me. We had a few other ones where he got some pressure. I was trying to come to him late and we missed a few. We’ll just continue to work with trying to get the backs into the passing game, give us some completions, get their confidence in catching it. We worked on that pretty hard in training camp and in the spring, just trying to get them used to catching balls from the quarterback. We had one on a little – on a play-action where he got the ball and got an eight yard gain, and Brandon had a catch – I mean, Derrick [Ward] had a catch on a flat route, so we’re getting there and it will just be another weapon in the passing game.
You and Burress have been effective over time, but can it get significantly better still?
I think the passing game can improve. We have to improve it with everybody. Obviously Plaxico played well tonight and did some good things, but we have to figure out how to get everybody else in the action – get our tight ends in the action, Amani [Toomer], Steve Smith. We have a lot of weapons. We’re not going to try to force it to one guy. I think my timing with all of my receivers can get better and our production can improve.
How do you envision this offense with what you have as far as linemen? Is there an element of unstoppablity you think this offense can achieve?
Yeah, I think we work well together. Guys really understand what’s going on. We’ve been around each other for going on four years, really, where everybody’s kind of been a part of this and has a great understanding, so anything that’s thrown at us, we make adjustments, we act quickly and we bounce back. We have to work on obviously putting up more points than we did tonight, but I think it was a good start. We did some things really well. We did some things poorly we’ll work on, but I think if we can run the ball like that and hit some big passing plays to make cuts and move the ball to get in scoring position, we’ll be in good shape.
There were so many questions about the defense coming into this game with the five new starters. When you kept putting them back on the field, did it feel like they kept bailing you out, playing to the level of last year?
I think they were playing really well. I think in the first half they had a lot of three-and-out’s and we were moving the ball and keeping them off the field for the most part. In the second half they really stepped up and obviously shut them out and gave them no points. They’re playing well. They’re confident and hopefully they can continue to play that way. If you go into the fourth quarter with a two-score lead, it makes your life a little easier.
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NEW YORK GIANTS PLAYER QUOTES
Postgame vs. Washington
September 4, 2008
Derrick Ward on Giants running game:
We picked up where we left off from last year. Brandon ran his butt off tonight. The offensive line was tremendous with blocking up front tonight. The offensive line also did a good job with pass protection. They might have gotten some sacks but for the most part Eli and Plax were very hard to stop. We just have to continue to improve each game, each week. I’m not sure how the rotation is going to go all year with Brandon and myself, but it definitely worked tonight and don’t forget we are going to incorporate Ahmad in the running attack also.
Justin Tuck on tonight’s overall defensive performance:
We did a lot of great things tonight. But you have to remember that it is still the first game and we have to go back and watch a lot of film. I think we held them to under 100 yards rushing. We did a good job of keeping them out of the end zone except for that one breakdown at the end of the first half. Barry and Fred did a great job tonight. That is one of the things that we wanted to do tonight is take away their run game. We felt that they would try to run to take pressure off their quarterback. We kept their running game at bay tonight. They hit us with a couple of draws but for the most part we took them out of what they wanted to do.
David Diehl on offensive performance tonight:
We went out there tonight and basically did what we wanted to do. And we controlled the ball and time of possession. I felt we controlled the line of scrimmage and kept the ball moving. Field goals are nice but we want to walk away with touchdowns and I felt like we left a couple on the field tonight. When you get down there in the green zone you want to be successful with touchdowns but it really didn’t affect us tonight. We were still able to come away with a win, but down the road those are the things that are going to make or break you in the long run. And that is the difference between winning and losing. We are happy with the win and everything, but are we complacent? Without a doubt, no. We need to get better. We are going to learn from this. We are going to move forward and we are going to be a stronger team after playing this first game. We are going to come to work next week and get ready for the Rams.
Antonio Pierce on the overall performance of defense:
The only thing that was disappointing about the game was the way we ended the second half. Obviously they got pretty good field position. But we need to find a way to make a stop down there. Obviously as a defense you want to dictate and in the first half we did a very good job. We were successful on first and third downs, but as the game went on they started to pop a couple. But overall they found a couple of plays that worked for them. Anytime when you are home and you only allow seven points, the defense is doing a pretty good job. That is championship defense.
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Redskins Head Coach Jim Zorn
Postgame at Giants
September 4, 2008
Q. How do you think your first drive and their first drive set the tone?
A. I don’t think it set the tone for the game, I think it set the tone for the first half. They were very methodical coming down and getting a score. We sputtered from the first play. We sputtered around for too many minutes and too many plays for the first half.
Q. What do you attribute that to?
A. I think there were errors, even on the first play. We’re gonna see that the play could have been successful with protection, with route running. We failed to come off the receiver and got really stuck on the receiver that was in the first part of the read. I’m trying to tell it how it is, we failed at that particular play and then we got stuck and got sacked and now that kind of ruins your first fifteen because you think you’re not going to have to call a play on 2nd and 17, backed up, so we had to punt. But after that it was really frustrating. We didn’t pick up the blitz well in the early part of the game. After we got going I felt like we could move the ball. Unfortunately, the thing that got us was not converting those third downs. We did have several opportunities to convert and we ended up in forth and inches on several drives and we had to punt. That’s what we had to do. If you call a third and six play and you get 5, if you call a third and nine play and you get eight and a half, or call a third and 7 play and you get 6 and a half, it’s frustrating.
Q. Do you see why they had so much success running the ball in the first half?
R. They’ve got a bruising running game, they have a really strong offensive line. It just took us time to figure out their plan – it was a good first game. I thought defensively we did a decent job with those guys. We had an opportunity for four interceptions, we got one, and I thought Manning did a wonderful job getting the ball to his favorite receiver.
Q. In your first game, what do you take out of it?
R. My first game was very frustrating. I feel like we’ve learned where we need to improve tonight. If anything is positive out of it, it’s got to be that. We’re going to see on video where we can improve. We saw where we’re at offensively and I think if I was trying to look at the cup half full that would be it. I don’t know if the cup has any water in it right now, for me.
Q. Are you surprised where you’re at right now offensively?
R. We’re on our way in the passing game, we’re not there yet. That’s what I’m disappointed about, but in the running game I thought we were strong. Clinton ran hard and we got some good things going there, and yet we can’t run every down in a ball game. We’ve got to be able to throw the ball, we’ve got to be able to protect, and those are the things we need to improve on. No question about it, it’s our passing game.
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Redskins Players Quotes
Postgame at Giants
September 4, 2008
LB London Fletcher
Q. If you had to pick out the one thing that cost you the game, what would you say it was?
A. Third downs in the game really hurt us. In the first half, we really didn’t stop them from scoring on any of their possessions.
Q. It didn’t look like you guys had the “fire” on either side of the ball.
A. I can’t really speak for everybody in terms of that. I thought that during our pregame warm-ups and while we were in the locker room everybody was real excited about playing this game, playing the defending Super Bowl champions. I mean it’s opening night and we’re playing on a Thursday…so as far as energy goes, I don’t think that was an issue. I think it was more so how we hurt ourselves, I’m just speaking defensively because I can’t speak about the offense. From a defensive standpoint, there were a lot of opportunities for us in the first half to make plays on third downs and we did not. Even in the second half, we missed some turnover opportunities.
Q. How disappointing is it to lose your first game of the season?
A. Anytime you lose, you’re going to be disappointed. We would’ve liked to have gotten off to a better start by winning our first game, our first division game. We’ve got to go in tomorrow and look at the tape and see where we made our mistakes. We’ve got to come in next week fully prepared to face a good New Orleans Saints football team.
WR Santana Moss
Q. At the end the first half you guys seemed to pretty easily march down the field and score. Why do you feel you couldn’t get it going in the second half?
A. I mean we just sputtered a lot…sputter here, sputter there. Our drive at the end of the second quarter was started by the special teams getting us good field position. When you get good field position, you’ve got to take advantage of it. I think we did a good job by doing that. In the second half, we had some chances that we couldn’t capitalize on when we had good field position. You’ve really got to learn from things like that, you can’t just beat yourself up over that; you’ve got to watch the film and get better from it.
Q. Do you feel like the offense has regressed? You guys looked so good in the first couple of games.
A. I mean this is still the first game and preseason is preseason. You can’t be judged on what you did in the first three games in the preseason, because teams aren’t coming after you. They’re sitting back and playing basic defenses. I feel like now, with a game under our belt, we’ll really find out how we play as a team. I feel good when I think about the potential this team has, but we’ve actually got to go out and do it now.
Q. It didn’t seem that there was a whole lot of urgency from the offense in the fourth quarter.
A. We were trying…we were trying to run the two minute (offense). I mean there was a penalty here, a missed opportunity there, a negative run here…and when that stuff happens you can’t really run what you want to run. That’s basically where we stood, you saw it, we saw it, and now we’ve got to fix it
DT Anthony Montgomery
Q. What changes did you guys make at halftime?
A. I don’t think we made too many changes, I just think everybody came out and let everything out. We all just took a deep breath and everyone took it upon themselves to be where they were supposed to be. We’ve just got to watch this film and build from it and be ready from next week.
Q. Was it tough to catch your breath in the first half because you were out there for so long?
A. No, that’s why you work hard during the offseason; you’ve got to expect stuff like that to happen. It wasn’t about us being too tired or being out there for too long, we just didn’t make the plays that we needed to.
He gave the remaining crowd a scare on the game's final play, tweaking his left ankle in a pileup but said X-rays taken immediately afterward were negative.
"You never want to go down like that, especially at the end of the game, but thankfully the X-rays were negative so we'll just line it up and play again next week," Kiwanuka said.
http://www.amny.com/sports/football/giants...0,4027899.story
"You never want to go down like that, especially at the end of the game, but thankfully the X-rays were negative so we'll just line it up and play again next week," Kiwanuka said.
http://www.amny.com/sports/football/giants...0,4027899.story
Giantseasonticketholder
Whammy
Great game! I think the Redskins will look like a much different team when they meet again, but I'll take an "ugly" win any day of the week.
Jacobs looked great was was one step from breaking a few long ones on 3 plays. Eli was in snych in the first half, but looked lost in the 2nd. Plax is awesome and should put up very good #'s to go along with his new contract.
The Giants did not blitz very much tonight. Maybe to hide things for later in the year?
According to the post game report with Howard Cross, Kiwi was fine and walking around without a limp. He should be good for next week.
Jacobs looked great was was one step from breaking a few long ones on 3 plays. Eli was in snych in the first half, but looked lost in the 2nd. Plax is awesome and should put up very good #'s to go along with his new contract.
The Giants did not blitz very much tonight. Maybe to hide things for later in the year?
According to the post game report with Howard Cross, Kiwi was fine and walking around without a limp. He should be good for next week.
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