Giants Daily Blitz Blog

1ST QTR: Giants get 3; ‘Skins respond

This week’s game is the 160th regular season meeting between the two teams, with the Giants leading the series, 92-63-4. The two teams have met twice in the postseason, with the series tied, 1-1. The Giants won the first game in 2012, at MetLife Stadium in Week 7 by a 27-23 score. The Giants have a 22-32-1 record on Monday Night Football, including a 4-2 record against the Redskins.

Kickoff: 8:30 PM ET

Location: FedEx Field, Landover, Md.

TV: ESPN

Radio: 660AM/101.9FM

Weather: Clear. 57°F. Winds light and variable.

New York Lineup Changes

» 72 Osi Umenyiora will start at RE

Washington Lineup Changes

» None

FIRST QUARTER

15:00 — Game Day Captains: Chris Snee and Chase Blackburn along with season captains Eli Manning, Justin Tuck and Zak DeOssie. Redskins win the toss and elect to receive.

*Keith Rivers gets the start at linebacker. That’s the fourth time of the season for Rivers in seven games played.

14:50 — An early challenge from Mike Shanahan gives the Redskins a first down. Washington challenged where Paulsen went out of bounds.

12:54 — After forcing Washington to punt on the opening drive, Eli Manning hooks up with Bear Pascoe for a first down on the first play. It was Pascoe’s first catch since Week 5 against Cleveland.

10:54 — Coincidentally, Jerrel Jernigan also gets his first catch since that same Browns game, good for nine yards and another first down.

9:40 — Expected to see a larger role, David Wilson gets his first touch — a toss which he turns into a five-yard gain.

6:27 — FIELD GOAL GIANTS. Lawrence Tynes makes a 39-yard attempt. NEW YORK 3, WASHINGTON 0 (Drive: 11 plays, 69 yards in 6:32)

4:27 — TOUCHDOWN REDSKINS. Robert Griffin III rushed for 12 yards, fumbles, but is recovered by Josh Morgan, who takes it in for the score. XP is GOOD. WASHINGTON 7, NEW YORK 3

3:14 — Manning unable to hook up with Victor Cruz streaking downfield.

2:28 — Ahmad Bradshaw takes a direct snap for 14 yards. He has 40 yards on 7 carries so far.

Inside the Locker Room: Prepping for Redskins

QB Eli Manning
On game plan against Redskins…
“I think we need to protect the football. They do a good job on defense at getting turnovers. They do a good job at getting pressure so we have to protect the ball offensively and be patient. Hopefully we’ll have the right calls at the right times and hit some big plays.”

Safety Antrel Rolle
On Sunday night sparking a run…
“Sunday night was huge for us. It got the bad taste out of our mouth for the last two games. More importantly, it put us on a positive step going into this game. We need this game extremely bad. This is a division opponent. The Washington Redskins always play us extremely tough, and we’re just trying to go out there and get a win any way we can.”

WR Hakeem Nicks
On how he’s feeling…
“I feel like this time of the year, [nobody is] feeling great. It’s football. It’s a contact sport. So we throw our bodies around. I don’t think anybody is going to be feeling great, but I do feel good at this point in the year than I have in the past”

WR Victor Cruz
On WR Nicks’ return…
“Just from an energy standpoint, I mean, you can just feel when he’s out there. There’s a different energy. When he’s talking to us, you know he’s out there on the field and it’s good to have him back…These last couple weeks have been positive even though they weren’t wins…”

Daily Blitz: Cruz, Giants hit stride at perfect time

Scratching and clawing their way into the postseason last year, the Giants are doing everything they can to avoid another thrilling ending. Victor Cruz would be just fine with a less dramatic NFC East finish.

With the Giants holding a two-game lead in the division, a win Monday night over the second-place Redskins would go a long way toward lessening the drama.

“I feel great about this team,” Cruz told Mike Francesa on his weekly spot on WFAN. “I think we’re hitting our stride once again at the perfect time, and we just have to continue it. We understand exactly where we’re at. We understand where a win on Monday night would put us as far as the division, and we want to take advantage of it. We want to take advantage of that opportunity and not make it a nail-biter at the end of the season so Giants fans can kind of relax a little bit.”

Cruz knows nothing will come easy for the Giants against quarterback Robert Griffin III.

“He’s a unique player,” Cruz said. “He’s special. We saw that the first time we played them – how special he is – and it’s going to be tough not just for this upcoming Monday night but for years to come. We’re going to have to see him for a long time, and we’re going to have to be ready to play.”

QUICK HITS

» The Giants have signed free agent RB Kregg Lumpkin and RB Ryan Torain

» Giants look to RB David Wilson to step up

» Giants News Flash: Giants.com brings you the latest team news

» Re-live the Giants’ Top 5 plays from the first 10 games of 2012

Top 10 Tuesday: Eli’s 200 TDs by Receiver

With three touchdown passes Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers, Eli Manning became the Giants’ all-time leader, surpassing Phil Simms (199).

Here is a look at the breakdown of Manning’s 200 touchdowns by receiver:

 CLICK TO VIEW TOP 10 PHOTO GALLERY 

2ND QTR: Balanced Giants extend lead

SECOND QUARTER

15:00 — Packers begin the quarter with the ball on their own 13.

14:25 — Giants force a three-and-out and take over on their own 39 after the Packers punt.

12:48 — On third-and-9, Eli Manning finds Hakeem Nicks for a 22-yard gain.

9:43 — TOUCHDOWN GIANTS. Manning to Victor Cruz for 9 yards. XP is GOOD. NEW YORK 24, GREEN BAY 7 (Drive: 8 plays, 61 yards in 3:58)

*With the score, Eli Manning ties Phil Simms for most in franchise history with 199.

3:51 — FIELD GOAL PACKERS. Crosby makes 28-yard attempt. NEW YORK 24, GREEN BAY 10 (Drive: 10 plays, 62 in 6:00)

1:12 — Osi Umenyiora strip-sacks Rodgers and Jason Pierre-Paul recovers, taking it down to the Packers’ 23.

0:50 — TOUCHDOWN GIANTS. Bradshaw carries it in for a 13-yard score. XP is GOOD. NEW YORK 31, GREEN BAY 10 (Drive: 2 plays, 23 yards in 0:19)

0:00 — GIANTS 31, PACKERS 10

Inside the Locker Room: After the Bye

WR Victor Cruz
On playing after the bye week…
“I’m kind of anxious to get back out on that field and play some football again. It feels like forever since we’ve been out there, so we’re excited about it. We know that we’re in a little bit of a funk, but it’s a brand new season, we feel like, and we just want to attack it head on.”

WR Hakeem Nicks
On Packers revenge for last season’s playoff loss…
“We’re not really focused on what they’re trying to do, we’re focused on what we got to do.”

Safety Kenny Phillips
On Giants chemistry in last year’s playoff run…
“We’re definitely trying to get back to that and hopefully it’ll show this week.”

>> CLICK TO VIEW THE LATEST PRESS CONFERENCES & LOCKER ROOM INTERVIEWS <<

2ND QTR: Offense finds rhythm but no TD

SECOND QUARTER

15:00 — Cincinnati begins the second quarter with the ball on New York’s 30.

14:25 — On fourth-and-three, Stevie Brown breaks up a pass intended for Gresham. The Giants take over on downs.

7:44 — On their next drive, the Bengals go for it again on fourth down. This time they get it on a 15-yard pass to Sanu.

4:17 — FIELD GOAL BENGALS. Mike Nugent makes a 28-yard attempt. CINCINNATI 17, NEW YORK 3 (Drive: 15 plays, 60 yards in 7:46)

2:04 — After back-to-back completions to Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz hauls in his first catch of the day for an eight-yard gain.

1:17 — Giants convert a big fourth-and-6 from Cincinnati’s 41 on a 16-yard pass to Nicks, his seventh catch of the day.

0:11 — FIELD GOAL GIANTS. Lawrence Tynes makes a 31-yard attempt. CINCINNATI 17, NEW YORK 6 (Drive: 14 plays, 69 yards in 4:06)

0:00 — BENGALS 17, GIANTS 6

Giants Music Playlist vs. Bengals

Every week, we’re asking a handful of Giants players what’s playing in their headphones before a game. This is what they had to say before taking on the Cincinnati Bengals:

WR Victor Cruz
Kendrick Lamar – ‘Money Trees’

TE Adrien Robinson
Big Sean – ‘Mula ft. French Montana’

S Will Hill
DJ Drama – ‘My Moment ft. 2 Chainz, Meek Mill & Jeremih’

S Antrel Rolle
Trick Daddy – ‘Forget tha Otha Side’

DOWNLOAD THE GIANTS “ALL IN” PEPSI ANTHEM BY TRAVIE MCCOY 

Previous Weeks

Giants Music Playlist vs. Steelers

Giants Music Playlist vs Cowboys

Giants Music Playlist vs. Redskins

Giants Music Playlist vs. 49ers

Giants Music Playlist vs. Browns

Giants load up iPod for Philly trip

Giants choose pregame playlist

Inside the Locker Room: Cincinnati Bound

WR Victor Cruz
On today’s practice…
“Practice went well today, had a good rhythm to it…we’re building on the timing aspect of it which I thought we lacked a little bit so today was a good day, it felt good. It felt clean, it felt crisp.”

Safety Antrel Rolle
On Bengals 4-game losing skid…
“I approach every opponent the same way, it’s an NFL team. You’re never guaranteed anything in this league. Anything can happen on any given Sunday…just looking to play ball, get back on track.”

WR Domenik Hixon
On Bengals secondary vets…
“You’re going up against great competition, you know that, they got a lot of first round guys and a lot of vets in their secondary so like I said we’re going to go out there and compete.”

1ST QTR: Defensive struggle early on

This week’s game is the 76th meeting between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants. The Giants lead the series, 44-28-3. The two teams have never met in the postseason. In their last meeting, the Giants defeated the Steelers, 21-14, in Week 8 of the 2008 season.

Kickoff: 4:25 PM ET

Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ

Weather: Partly cloudy. 49°F. Wind: W 14mph, gusting to 24 mph

Lineup changes:

NEW YORK