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Giants are co-stars for Redskins' latest soap opera

Dec 11, 2014 - 8:12 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Giants simple destruction of the Washington Redskins back in late September at FedEx Field is a distant memory.

The Giants will try to duplicate their demolition of the Redskins when the NFC East cellar dwellers close the season series Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

New York recorded a 45-14 rout of the Redskins on Sept. 25, as it racked up 449 yards of offense and quarterback Eli Manning threw for 300 yards with a season-high four touchdown passes and one interception. A healthy Victor Cruz caught six passes for 108 yards and tight end Larry Donnell ended with seven receptions for 54 yards and three TDs.

Guess how many touchdown passes Donnell has since. Donnell has recorded only two receiving scores in the past nine games since his breakout performance for the Giants, who defeated Atlanta the next week on Oct. 5 for a 3-2 record.

The Giants lost seven in a row from Oct. 12 - Nov. 30, but came alive in Sunday's 36-7 dismantling of the Tennessee Titans at LP Field. They were ahead 30-0 in the third quarter, recorded 402 total yards and received a big game from rookie running back Andre Williams. Williams posted a career-best 131 yards and a 50-yard touchdown run in a season-high 24 carries.

Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was asked if Williams is evolving into an NFL- type running back.

"I hope so. That is what this thing is all about," Coughlin said. "I think he is, with the exception of a couple of times when I would've maybe made a little bit different reaction to some of the things he saw in front of him. He was on the spot with his cuts and he did demonstrate once again the power that we are counting on. The more he plays, the better he gets, and the more opportunity he has."

It was New York's most complete game since that victory over the Redskins and the team exceeded 400 yards for the fifth time. The 142 rushing yards was the Giants' third-highest total of the season and the most yards on the ground since they had 154 at Washington.

New York will try to stop a three-game home losing streak Sunday and is 2-4 at home and 2-7 in conference play.

The Redskins are winless in the last three road games and 1-6 as the visitor.

Washington dropped its fifth straight games and fell to 3-10 on the season following Sunday's 24-0 loss at home to the St. Louis Rams. Colt McCoy threw for 199 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions, and sustained a sprained neck in the fourth quarter.

McCoy is listed as day-to-day and expects to start against the Giants.

"I want to see how he is doing first," Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said. "I don't want to really rush into any decision at this time anyway. Nobody else has to announce any starters on a Monday press conference so I don't think I should be any different. So I am going to wait and see until I get all the information on the quarterback."

Benched starter turned backup Robert Griffin III saw action in the loss to the Rams, completing 3-of-4 pass attempts for 33 yards. Griffin, of course, lost his job to both Kirk Cousins and McCoy this season, and could be playing his last season in Washington. Many speculate Gruden could be on his way out after just one year with the sinking franchise.

Gruden is actually considering all three QBs for Sunday. He discussed the possibility of going back to RG3.

"Hopefully he'll play well," Gruden said. "Hopefully he's taken a step back and taken everything in and just continuing to learn the position and learning about the concepts that we run, and hopefully he'll have more of a confident air about him when he jumps back in there, and there's less indecision is what we're hoping for; that he is decisive and will just pull the trigger and make plays."

Speaking of Cousins, he threw for 257 yards with a touchdown and four interceptions against the G-men in September. It was one game after going head-to-head with Nick Foles of the Philadelphia Eagles and throwing for 427 yards and three scores with one INT.

Cousins still leads the Redskins in passing yards with 1,710 and hasn't played since Oct. 19 in a 19-17 win over Tennessee.

This will be the 166th time Washington and Big Blue have locked up when you include the postseason with the Giants winning four of the past five in the series and holding a 96-65-4 all-time advantage.

"We've got to end on a good note," Redskins linebacker Will Compton said. "We've got to focus on New York, and we've got to get a win. And then we've got to do whatever it takes to get another win. But we need to get some momentum going into the offseason."

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson did not play versus the Rams because of a leg injury and is day-to-day. Washington's deep threat and big-play target was held to one catch for nine yards against a Giants team he is very familiar with from his days as an Eagle.

Seattle talkative cornerback Richard Sherman said the Eagles miss Jackson and his explosiveness because they no longer have a home-run threat and defenses, like Seattle's, can line up across the line of scrimmage.

The Redskins have seen those flashes of brilliance from Jackson, who has 942 yards and five TDs on 47 catches. Perhaps Jackson wishes he was still in Philly and hauled on 82 passes for 1,332 yards and nine scores in 2013. He is approaching the fourth 1,000-yard season in his career.

Andre Roberts took Jackson's spot on Sunday and had only two receptions for 11 yards. Pierre Garcon finished with nine catches for 95 yards and, like Jackson, was a non-factor versus the Giants with two catches for 28 yards. He did surpass 400 catches in his career against St. Louis.

Washington will be playing for pride and respect Sunday at the Meadowlands.

"If you're competitive, and I'm assuming most people in the NFL are, there should still be a lot of fight left in you. There's a lot to fight for," 'Skins tight end Niles Paul said. "As a team, I would expect everyone to still be competitive, we have three division rivals coming up, and if you can't get excited for those games, then something's wrong."

The Redskins will host the Eagles Dec. 20 and the Dallas Cowboys Dec. 28.

Giants rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. did not play in the first game against the Redskins and will get his first taste of the rivalry. Taking the place and production of Cruz (knee), Beckham finished with 130 yards and a touchdown on 11 receptions last week. He has at least 90 yards receiving in six straight games with four 100-yard performances in that stretch.

Beckham's four 100-yard games are a Giants rookie record. Beckham leads the Giants in receptions (59) and receiving yards (829) and is tied for the team lead with Williams and tight end Larry Donnell with six touchdowns.

New York will try again to expose Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. Former Redskins linebacker London Fletcher had harsh words for his former coach and wondered why he still had a job following Sunday's game. Haslett said he never had a problem when he worked with Fletcher.

"I just heard what London said and all I'll say is I'm disappointed in his reaction," said Haslett, who was rendered clueless by the longtime linebacker. Obviously, he has an opinion, but I'm disappointed that he would come out and say something like (that). But, every man has an opinion, and he obviously stated his."

Washington's defense hasn't been that awful this season and has stud linebacker Ryan Kerrigan. Kerrigan, who had the only sack of Manning in the first meeting, posted two sacks versus St. Louis to push his single-season career high number to 11 1/2. Kerrigan has now recorded a full sack in three consecutive games for the first time since Weeks 9-11 of the 2011 season.

Kerrigan is facing a Giants offense that didn't allow a sack to the Titans. Manning was sacked four times in the previous game at Jacksonville and 13 times over the past five games before last week. The clean performance gave Manning enough time to pick apart Tennessee's defense.

"The offensive line did a really good job of blocking and giving Eli time to throw the ball and to be able to take those shots down the field," Beckham said afterward. "Its cliche, but it really does all start up front."

Beckham should have another 90-plus yard game Sunday and perhaps even Donnell will make an appearance.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

The Giants are averaging almost 30 points (29.3) over the last three games and will get to that mark again to complete a season sweep of the Redskins for a second straight year.

Cruz gave Washington problems in the first meeting and Beckham is faster. Look for the Redskins to scramble around in the injury-riddled secondary for a sixth consecutive loss.

Sports Network predicted outcome: Giants 30, Redskins 19