Day after players-only meeting, Redskins beat Giants 20-14

They were destroyed on their home field by the Carolina Panthers on Turkey Day, with quarterback Tony Romo’s wishbone-flimsy clavicle snapping again.

They had just 91 yards passing in the first half and the injuries keep piling up.

Hard as it might be to fathom, given just how many problems the Redskins have had this season, they now reside atop their decidedly mediocre division, pulling even with the Giants at 5-6 after holding on to beat NY 20-14 on Sunday despite Odell Beckham Jr.’s latest “How did he do that?!” touchdown catch.

Amazingly, the Cowboys still find themselves only two games out of first place in the NFC East, following the New York Giants 20-14 loss to the Washington Redskins. “I mean, historically”, Gruden said…. Meriweather never got deep enough. Together, the teams combined for the sort of mediocrity that has defined the NFC East the last few seasons.

Cousins’ most important stat was probably this: zero interceptions. Instead, they’re 5-6, just like the Redskins, with five games remaining.

“I think we were ready to play but we probably took this team a little bit for granted because … I commend our guys for battling and hanging in there and staying with it”. The Redskins finished with 37 rushes for 105 yards and one touchdown, with the score coming courtesy of a Cousins goal-line dive.

Trailing 20-0, the Giants made it close when Manning threw fourth-quarter touchdown passes of 40 yards to Rueben Randle and 21 yards to Odell Beckham J., who made a fantastic diving catch, corralling the ball with his left hand while parallel to the ground. “He’s an elite tight end”, Cousins said. However, the Redskins have had trouble with the Giants in particular in recent years, having won exactly once against their division foe since December 3, 2012. “He’s a big long kid”, Gruden said. He made the play. He played in 13 regular season games, and threw for 288 yards with one touchdown.

It was part of a nine-catch, 142-yard day for Beckham. One week later, the team trailed Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by 24 points midway through the second quarter. “It’s going to be a good test for us”, Manning said.

But while the Redskins have played extremely well at home this season they are 0-5 on the road.

Against Washington, the New York Giants failed to do anything positive until the fourth quarter of the game. Overall, we have a lot of work to do, obviously, and we’re going to continue to get better. The Eagles and Cowboys both lost on Thanksgiving.

Leading 3-0, the Redskins started on their own 37 following a punt. Not bad for a player Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie dubbed a “one-year wonder” last month. They carried it 37 times for 161 yards in a Week 1 loss to the Miami Dolphins, then carried it 37 times for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a Week 2 win against the St. Louis Rams.

Eight plays later, on fourth-and-goal, Cousins managed to just break the plane on a keeper.

WR Hakeem Nicks caught a 4-yard pass from Eli Manning in his return to the Giants. He has 44.5 for his career and moved past Monte Coleman for the third-most sacks in Redskins history since 1982, when sacks became an official stat.