A New Season-Reprise

A boring, predictable offense. A porous defense. Terrible personnel decisions. Coaches who don't know what they're doing. The doormat of the NFC East Sounds like the Washington Redskins of years past, right?
Well, this isn't years past. This is a new season, and these aren't the same old Redskins. The same old Redskins wouldn't have had a quarterback who threw for over 300 yards, two scores, and no interceptions. The same old Redskins wouldn't have completely dominated the second half. The same old Redskins wouldn't have beaten a division rival who had owned them in recent years by two touchdowns.
This version of the Redskins took control of the game shortly after halftime and held on for a 28-14 victory over the New York Giants, their first win against the Giants in the last seven tries. On the Giants' first drive of the second half, rookie linebacker Ryan Kerrigan tipped an Eli Manning pass high in the air and it came down in his arms, and he took it nine yards into the end zone to break a 14-14 tie. The score remained that way for the rest of the third quarter, and some of the fourth, until the Giants threatened to turn it around.
With the Redskins driving, Grossman was sacked by Jason-Pierre Paul and fumbled, with the Giants picking it up and taking it into Washington territory. But the Redskins defense came up big, stopping the Giants after three plays and holding them to a field goal attempt. That field goal was blocked by Brian Orakpo, keeping the margin at seven, and the Giants never really threatened again after that. The Redskins extended their lead to the final margin on a four-yard pass from Grossman to former college teammate Jabar Gaffney, who was playing in his first game as a Redskin.
The first half was evenly matched. After slow started by both teams, the Giants struck first on a two-yard wun by Manning, set up by a long completion to Hakeem Nicks. The Redskins answered by missing a field goal, but eventually tied it up on a Tim Hightower touchdown run from a yard out. Hightower, also making his Redskins debut, ran for a respectable 72 yards on 25 carries. After the Giants forged ahead on a run by Ahmad Bradshaw, Anthony Armstrong hauled in a pass from Grossman to tie it again.
Looking ahead, the Arizona Cardinals visit next Sunday for a 1 p.m. kickoff. Arizona pulled out a 28-21 victory over the Carolina Panthers today.