Giants vs. Redskins: Washington scouting report

On Monday Night Football, the New York Giants will travel to the Washington area to take on the Washington Redskins in a game that is very important in the division but also the playoff chances. Win, and the Giants only need to win the Eagles game in Week 17 and have Dallas lose any one of their remaining games on their schedule to clinch the division. Lose and things could get interesting.

But before we get into a general breakdown of the Washington Redskins here's a link to "the sight and sounds" weekly feature over at Giants.com. I point it out this week because it's funny to watch the reaction to Eli lowering his shoulder against Tramon Williams from the bench, especially what Tuck says. So enjoy that, then come right back here to Big Blue View.

Offense

Category	Redskins	New York Giants
Points per game	26.8 (7th)	27.7 (6th)
Passing yards per game	221.4 (19th)	254.8 (9th)
Rush Attempts per game	31.6	25.7
Rush yards per attempt	5.2	4.5
Turnover differential	+12	+ 13
Sacks allowed	26	14
Time of possession	30:50	30:02

Nothing too enlightening here when reflecting on the Redskins and Giants first match-up this year, except for the turnover differential. Watching the Redskins in their first matchup with the Giants you never would know that they were a team that took care of the football. The Giants can't count on the Redskins giving the ball away as much Monday as they did before, and must play better on defense because this is a potent offense.

The Redskins are the best rushing team in the league, with maybe the only exception being the 49ers. The Giants have to do a better job there.

You would think with RGIII's speed and the fact that Washington runs the ball frequently (and effectively) that teams wouldn't get a chance to sack Griffin much, wbut that's not the case.

Individual Leaders

Passing

RGIII has 2,497 yards passing at 8.2 yards per attempt (very good) with a 67.4 completion percentage, with 16 touchdowns and 4 INT

Eli Manning has 2,890 yards passing at 7.3 yards per attempt (lowest since 2008), with a 60.7 completion percentage, 15 TD and 11 INT

Rushing

Alfred Morris 208 attempts, 982 yards (4.7 yards per carry) and 6 touchdowns. Griffin also has 6 rushing touchdowns and a 100 rush attempts for 642 yards. Griffin has been sacked 26 times and has run the ball 100 times. Throw in the hits he has taken on passes that he attempted where he was not sacked and this man has been hit a lot.

Receiving

Josh Morgan leads the Redskins in receptions with 37 and Santana Moss leads the team in receiving yards with 416

Yikes! I imagine those are the worst totals in the league for team leaders -- even the Jaguars have players who beat both of those categories. Even the Jets have Jeremey Kerley, who surpasses both numbers.

A big issues is of course their No. 1 receiver, Pierre Garcon, has been hurt much of the year.

Really, though, this offense is built on the running talents of Morris and Robert Griffin III.

Defense

Category	Redskins	NY Giants
Points per game	25.9	20.5
Yards per game	390.5	366.6
Yards per rush	4.1	4.4
Sacks	20	30
Interceptions	14	18

Numbers can be misleading, but they are not for this porous defense. The Redskins play defense like the Eagles play defense (Bazinga!)

Tackles

London Fletcher, to the surprise of no one, leads the team in tackles with 88. Perry Riley is an emerging player and has 85 tackles.

Sacks

The former first-round pick, Ryan Kerrigan, has 6.5 sacks to lead the team. Perry Riley is second with 2.5 sacks. The Redskins do not offer much in the pass rush department.

Interceptions

The Redskins have done a good job of taking the ball away this year. DeAngelo Hall has four interceptions to lead the team.

Special Teams

The Redskins now employ kicker Kai Forbath, who has yet to miss a field goal since taking over for Billy Cundiff.

Sav Rocca is averaging 44.0 yards per punt and only has two touchbacks. He has, however, had two punts blocked this year so that is something to watch out for.

Brandon Banks was dangerous at one time, but hasn't really done much this year. He averages 6.8 yards per punt return and 24.1 yards per kick return. Neither is a very special number.

Final Thoughts

The Giants have a challenge ahead of them on Monday night, especially if they struggle to generate pressure. The Redskins have a terrific running game and use play action very well. The Redskins defense is nothing special, and that's my polite way of saying terrible, so this game has the makings of a high-scoring one.

In their first meeting the Giants won because they were 66 percent on third down conversions, sacked RGIII three times, and collected three fumbles and an interception. In this meeting the defense needs to play better, especially against the run, the Giants need to run the ball better, and stay as effective in the red zone and on third down as they did last game.