Giants use turnovers to blowout Redskins on the road

By Matthew Robinson

The New York Giants (2-2, 1-0 NFC East) received an efficient passing night from Eli Manning and some unsung offensive weapons, as well as taking advantage of four interceptions by the Washington Redskins (1-3, 0-2 NFC East) en route to a 45-14 victory.

Josh BrTonight’s matchup versus the Giants was supposed to prove that last week’s offensive bonanza versus Philadelphia wasn’t a fluke by the perennially behind the curve offensive theatrics of the Redskins.

The Redskins put the Eagles through so much offensively last week when they went for 511 yards and four scores, which included an 81 yard touchdown reception by former Eagle wide receiver Desean Jackson. Tonight the Redskins didn’t even get on the board until nearly halfway into the second quarter.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins (19 of 33 for 257 yards, 1 touchdown, and 4 interceptions) culminated Washington’s first scoring drive with an 18 yard touchdown pass to free agent receiver Andre Roberts, who leaped sideways to catch the pass for a 14-7 score with just under nine minutes left in the second quarter.

Up 14-7 late in the second quarter, the Giants added some more agony to the Redskins’ cause as with around 2:20 left in the first half, Manning (28 of 39 for 300 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception) looked to his left and fired a 6 yard touchdown pass to tight end Larry Donnell (6 catches for 40 yards and 3 scores in the first half), who leaped over rookie cornerback Bashaud Breeland and then secured the ball near the back right corner of the end zone.

That play was Manning and Donnell’s third touchdown connection of the game and put the score at 21-7 New York with 2:16 left in the half.

After serving an internship (with pay though) as a rookie in 2013 when he only caught 3 passes for 31 yards and 1 score, Donnell has been integrated into the Giants offense in 2014 to the tune of 24 catches for 222 yards and 4 scores through halftime of tonight’s game. Donnell thus far in the 2014 season, has been the only tight end on the Giants roster to eat at the big table as far as receiving production.

Placekicker Josh Brown sent the game into halftime with a successful 29 yard field goal to give the Giants a 24-7 lead. That play was set up by a crucial and well-timed 29 yard reception by receiver Victor Cruz (6 catches for 108 yards and no score) who caught Manning’s pass and then jogged out of bounds at the WAS 11 to set up Brown’s field goal.

On a drive in which the Redskins were trying to add to their momentum in the third quarter after running back Alfred Morris’s 20 yard touchdown run two drives before (24-14 New York at this point), fourth year Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara put a stop to their plans, when he jumped right in front of rookie receiver Ryan Grant and intercepted Cousins’ pass and returned the theft 28 yards to the Washington 21 yard line.

But Redskin linebacker Keenan Robinson did some thieving of his own, as he intercepted a tipped pass by teammate Brandon Meriweather and advanced the ball to just the Redskin 1 yard line.

But his theft went for naught, as former University of Texas El-Paso safety Quintin Demps intercepted Cousin’s aerial near the right sideline and retuned the theft 3 yards to the WAS 35 yard line. Demps’ big play set up a Manning 2 yard back of the end zone touchdown pass to tight end Daniel Fells, which gave New York a 31-14 lead with 4:19 left in the third quarter.

Cousins suffered his third interception of the third quarter, when he underthrew a pass intended for Roberts that was pilfered by cornerback Trumaine McBride that was returned 11 yards to the WAS 22. McBride’s interception set up a 1 yard and well-blocked for touchdown run by Manning to up the Giants lead to 38-14 with 14:07 left in the game.

Rookie Andre Williams (15 carries for 66 yards and 1 score) scored the first touchdown of his career on a 1 yard touchdown run through the attempted tackles by Robinson and safety Ryan Clark for a 45-14 lead with 6:05 left in the game.