Washingon Redskins: Three keys to winning Sunday against the Giants

December 12, 2014 by Terrance Dixon

The Washington Redskins are up against the New York Giants this Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Both teams entered this season with high hopes of making a return to the playoffs, but as the season winds down, both are staring at losing records and an offseason of uncertainty.  The Redskins are on a five game losing streak and the Giants just snapped a seven game losing streak. As a fan, this is not the spot you want your team to be in. The Giants have been terrible lately, but the Redskins have been even worse. This game will be a hard one to watch just because both teams are playing horribly. The Redskins will look to get revenge from the 45-14 spanking they took during week four against the Giants.

Stop Larry Donnell and Odell Beckham

The last time these two teams played Eli Manning destroyed the Skins’ secondary making them look like chumps. I mean the Giants receivers were so wide open that Eli could have thrown a rock into the river. Larry Donnell caught three touchdowns against the Skins during week four. The Redskins defense cannot let Donnell get into a groove like he did last time or Sunday will be a long game. The crazy thing is Odell Beckham didn’t even play that game so you would think the Redskins could have kept the Giants receiving core in check, but this Sunday Beckham will be playing. The Giants will most likely look to go to him early. Just his presence will make life difficult for the Redskins defensively, especially for the backfield who has struggled these past few weeks.

Special Teams

The special teams don’t have to play spectacular; they just have to make stops.  So far the Redskins special teams are giving up way too many mistakes. The unit is coming off one of its worst performances of the season last week, surrendering a 78-yard punt return, and giving up a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter. I’m not sure what special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica is doing at practice but he’s obviously not making the right decisions.

Colt McCoy

Just announced today, Colt McCoy has been cleared and will get the start Sunday.  The question is can McCoy absorb contact and play effectively? The Redskins were shut out by the Rams last week, and McCoy said it was the first time in his life that he had failed to lead an offense to scoring drives. He must get back on track with the efficient play that he displayed in his previous outings if he wants to remain the starter. Although the doctors cleared him to play, if I was Jay Gruden, I would sit McCoy out and start Robert Griffin. A neck injury is nothing to play with. If he takes one wrong hit from a defensive lineman, his career could be over or he could be severely injured.

With three games left, Washington will try to end their season on a respectable note (6-10). Hopefully DeSean Jackson will be able to play this game and give the Redskins a huge spark they desperately need.