Skins Drop Third Straight Home Game
Giants 23, Redskins 7
By JOSEPH WHITE
Updated 8:45 AM EDT, Mon, Dec 1, 2008
LANDOVER, Md. -- The New York Giants refused to be distracted by a shooting accident involving their star receiver.
The Washington Redskins' coach got rattled by a mere extra point.
Seemingly impervious to hurdles on and off the field, the Giants kept rolling Sunday with a 23-7 victory over the Redskins, improving to 11-1 even as Plaxico Burress stayed home to work on his legal options concerning his self-inflected gunshot wound at a Manhattan nightclub.
"We're accustomed to distractions," said defensive end Justin Tuck, who had two of the Giants' four sacks. "We'll let y'all think that those distractions are going to weigh on us, but when we're on the football field it's all about the team we're playing against."
The Giants have won seven straight, including six in a row against teams with winning records, and have a three-game lead over the second-place Dallas Cowboys with four to play.
The reigning NFL champions completed a sweep of the Redskins by holding Clinton Portis to a season-low 22 yards while producing Eli Manning's first 300-yard game of the season on a dreary, rainy day.
"Everybody thinks that you win a Super Bowl and 'whoopy-doo,' you're going to come out and have a bad year next year just because you're still feeling yourself," Tuck said. "Nah, we felt what it felt like to win it, and we want to be there again, and that's a driving force for us."
The Redskins (7-5), meanwhile, have fallen far since a 6-2 start. They've scored only four touchdowns in four games since and will have to play catch-up to stay in the wild-card race.
Coach Jim Zorn should have known his team was in for a long day when the Giants scored on their opening drive and added the extra point -- even though the holder badly bobbled the snap.
"To have the holder be able to drop the ball, look up, reset the ball, and have them kick it through was very upsetting. Shouldn't have happened," Zorn said. "That kind of set me off, and I started whining about everything. I was on everybody. I was even on myself."
Manning went 21-for-34 for 305 yards with one touchdown and one interception for the Giants. Brandon Jacobs, who missed last week's game with a knee injury, rushed for 71 yards on 21 carries. Amani Toomer caught five passes for 85 yards and scored the touchdown on the opening drive with a 40-yard reception over cornerback Fred Smoot.
Burress wasn't needed at all.
Burress, whose injuries from the Friday night incident are not serious, planned to turn himself in to police Monday morning in New York City and plead not guilty to criminal possession of a weapon, according to his lawyer.
Coach Tom Coughlin said he addressed the team before the game concerning Burress' latest plight -- then it was back to football.
"Come Sunday, 1 o'clock, when the whistle's blowing in between those lines, and you're in the stadium, that's the only focus you've got," said linebacker Antonio Pierce, who reportedly was with Burress at the time of the shooting. "That's the only thing this team ever does, is focus on our opponent and the challenge that's at hand. We had a lot of challenges, obviously, going into this game."
Coughlin started preaching on the difficulties of ignoring distractions while attempting to repeat as champs during one the first meetings of training camp. The coach talked about the 1991-92 Chicago Bulls, the first team to win back-to-back titles in the Michael Jordan era.
"That really kind of set our whole season going and focused in the right direction," Toomer said. "And we've been answering every call ever since."
Jason Campbell went 23-for-38 for 232 yards with one interception for the Redskins, whose only score came on a 29-yard run by rookie receiver Devin Thomas on a double reverse.
"We've got so much firepower," Thomas said. "Why isn't that firepower putting in on the scoreboard? We're still working on that. Everybody's wondering about that. It's going to come together somehow, some way."
Notes: The Redskins honored late safety Sean Taylor by inducting him into the team's Ring of Fame during a pregame ceremony. ... The Giants played without DT Fred Robbins (shoulder), giving Jay Alford his first NFL start. ... Redskins DT Kedric Golston (foot) was inactive, and LB Marcus Washington (ankle) missed his second straight game.
Copyright Associated Press
First Published: Nov 30, 2008 4:39 PM EDT
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