Redskins: Quarter-by-quarter

FIRST QUARTER

What happened: Washington struggled to stop Brandon Jacobs on the opening drive as the bruising Giants back broke through numerous tackles. New York mixed in Ahmad Bradshaw, who took a long screen pass into the red zone. A few plays later he scooted into the end zone. On Washington’s ensuing drive, Jason Campbell got hit hard on the third play and fumbled, though the Redskins recovered before finishing the three-and-out. The Giants kept rolling on the next drive, this time mixing long passes and short gains with more bad tackling. New York ended the opening session inside the Washington 10.

Analysis: The Giants killed the Redskins on the ground on the first drive, utilizing a mix of runs, short dumps and shovel passes; poor tackling by Washington made those plays even more effective. The drive also used up a lot of clock as the Giants handed off on nine of the 16 plays. The tackling got worse on the Giants’ second drive; LaRon Landry totally whiffed on a short pass to Hakeem Nicks that became a 21-yard gain. And check out that time of possession: Washington had the ball for just 1:26.

BY THE NUMBERS

9:13

Time of the Giants’ first scoring drive, the longest allowed this season by the Redskins.

SECOND QUARTER

What happened: Bradshaw finished the drive on the second play with his second touchdown. Campbell opened the next drive with a pass that immediately was nullified by an illegal motion penalty. Eli Manning started picking the Redskins apart, hitting wide open receivers and mixing in effective handoffs. The drive ended with a Lawrence Tynes field goal. Nicks roasted Fred Smoot to get the Giants in the red zone, and Manning threw a touchdown pass on the next play. Washington got a first down, its first, on a Campbell scramble. More progress: The Redskins forced a punt on the Giants’ ensuing drive. But Campbell got crushed again, bringing on Todd Collins, who soon got crushed like Campbell. The half ended on a bizarre Hunter Smith pass from field goal formation that was intercepted.

Analysis: Whatever progress the Redskins’ offensive line had shown over the previous two games disappeared in the first half; Washington would be better off playing Antwaan Randle El at quarterback if that performance holds up. Same for improvements shown in Landry’s game - the wild, reckless and ultimately unimpressive and ineffective effort the safety showed for most of the season returned against the Giants. And that last play of the half, which should have come equipped with a kazoo band and a small car full of men with face paint and brightly colored clothes, was an embarrassment to football - especially the Redskins’ insistence on running it after the Giants called a timeout.

BY THE NUMBERS

2 First downs for Washington in the first half, both in the second quarter.

THIRD QUARTER

What happened: In a surprise, Campbell came out under center. He continued to take hits but led the Redskins swiftly down the field for an eight-play scoring drive, with Fred Davis hauling in another touchdown. Of course, they missed the extra point. The Giants answered with an even swifter drive, with Manning completing passes of 35, 11, 2 and 23 yards, the final one in the end zone to Derek Hagan. On the next play Campbell’s screen pass went right to the other team, and Terrell Thomas returned it 14 yards for another Giants touchdown. Washington rode Marcus Mason and Davis to another touchdown to close the quarter.

Analysis: The Redskins’ brief show of life at the start of the quarter evidently was misleading. After the missed extra point - as if the kicking game needed another talking point with Shaun Suisham coming to town Sunday with the Cowboys - the third quarter looked an awful lot like the second. The Giants tacked on 14 points, and if the few fans left at FedEx blinked, they probably missed it. With Will Robinson in for Stephon Heyer at right tackle, Campbell’s protection improved, and the team sustained a couple of scoring drives.

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