Grossman, Defense on Point in Win Over Rival Giants

Week one of the NFL regular season is in the books, and there were definitely some surprises around the league. One of those surprises took place in our nation’s capital, where the Washington Redskins knocked off the New York Giants 28-14. Both the offense and the defense looked sharp as the Skins took over in the second half to beat their division rival. The win marked the first win for the Skins in the last 3 years, ending a 6 game losing streak against the Giants.

As announced the week prior to the game, Rex Grossman got the start. It was Grossman’s first start since the 2007 regular season, and he looked as if he had been playing every week since then. He completed 21 of his 34 pass attempts for just over 300 yards and he also connected with teammates for two touchdowns. Grossman didn’t throw any interceptions, but he did lose a fumble. With the turnover column even between the two teams, Grossman’s fumble didn’t prove to be too costly. He spread the ball out well, too, completing passes to six different receivers. His leading man was tight end Fred Davis, who caught five balls for 105 yards. Regular starting tight end Chris Cooley saw limited action, but did catch two passes for 21 yards. Last season’s leading receiver, Santana Moss, caught six passes for 76 yards. Grossman’s touchdowns went to Jabar Gaffney and Anthony Armstrong. Tim Hightower also caught three passes out of the backfield for 25 yards. Hightower continued to show the flashes of greatness we saw during the preseason. He carried the ball 25 times for 72 yards and a touchdown. While his yards per carry average was just under three, he ran hard all game against a good Giants run defense.

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On the other side of the ball, the defense was better than advertised. The defense, which was still without safety LaRon Landry, kept Eli Manning to under 55% and forcing him to throw an interception, which rookie Ryan Kerrigan took back to the house for a touchdown. Filling in for the injured Landry, Reed Doughty led the way with 11 tackles, and linebacker London Fletcher wasn’t too far behind with 8. To go along with his touchdown, Kerrigan totaled 5 tackles in his first regular season contest. Graham Gano got the kicking job by default, but will need to improve on his field goals. He was near the bottom of the league last season, and started off 2011 by missing a very makeable field goal. He did convert all four of his PATs.

The Redskins host the Arizona Cardinals in week two. The Cardinals are quarterbacked by Kevin Kolb, who the Skins saw in an Eagles uniform last season. The Cardinals piled up almost 400 total yards of offense last week, but were outgained by nearly 100 themselves. The Cardinals defense gave up 422 passing yards to rookie Can Newton, and while Rex isn’t nearly as athletic as Cam, he does have the experience to make more plays where Cam tried to force the issue. As long as the defense shows up with the same intensity they did against the Giants, and Grossman continues to play relatively mistake free football, the Skins have more than a legit shot at starting off the season 2-0, something they haven’t done since 2007.

By Matthew Dagen
ProFootball-fans.com Washington Redskins Correspondent