Tight end Larry Donnell gets a high-five from Tom Coughlin during his three-touchdown night.
Another Thursday night game and another 20 plus point victory, but it turned out to be the opposite team this time. Eli Manning and the Giants just shredded the Washington Redskins Thursday night on all sides of the ball resulting in a 45-14 rout to put an end to the road team TNF losses this season. Tonight was the first time that we saw what this offensive system that Ben McAdoo has been installing, could actually do.
Eli was able to read the defense easily and get rid of the ball much faster than the past, all with little dirt on his jersey by the end of the night. Manning had his best game of the season in this game passing for 300 yards and 4 touchdowns. He even had a 1 yd rushing touchdown later in the game. Three of his touchdown passes went to tight end Larry Donnell. The 6-foot-6, 265-pound second year tight end had a monster break out performance in this one, grabbing 6 passes for 54 yards and 3 scores. The first three touchdowns of the game were all Manning to Donnell and it was clear that the Redskins weren’t ready for it.
“He’s better than what we thought,” Brandon Meriweather said. “And by the time we made that adjustment, he was three touchdowns in.”
Donnell has been a bright spot in this Giants offense and has been a trusty safety blanket for Manning through 4 games this season. He leads the Gmen in touchdowns and receptions heading into the bye and Donnell says that isn’t the end of it.
“There’s more coming,” he said.
Victor Cruz also had a good night. Although he didn’t find the end zone, he did lead the team in receiving with 6 catches for 108 yards. Manning has found Cruz for 100 plus yards now in two straight games, a good sign of things to come. Manning was so efficient that the team got to enjoy the bench for the fourth quarter.
We want to execute like that week in and week out,” said Cruz, “and put Eli in a position where he doesn’t have to finish the game for good reasons.”
The Giants defense played a great game in which they created 6 turnovers. Trumaine McBride surprised with both an interception and a fumble recovery. New York also held Washington to a 12% third down completion ratio and held DeSean Jackson to 1 reception for 9 yards. It looks like the Giants have finally found their answer to Jackson.
It was overall an important win on a division rival’s ground.
“That was the whole thing, to be able to leave here tonight and be 2-2 and 1-0 in the division. That was huge,” Tom Coughlin said. “It’s exciting to be in the hunt, and by being able to come out of here with a win, hopefully we have a chance to be.”
The Giants will be on a bye next week and look to keep the momentum going against the Atlanta Falcons back home at MetLife Stadium on Oct. 5th.