Game Notes: Redskins at Giants 2016

REDSKINS-GIANTS GAME NOTES

· The Washington Redskins earned their first victory of the 2016 season with a 29-27 victory against the New York Giants in front of an announced crowd of 78,368 people at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

· The Redskins now have earned consecutive victories against the Giants for the first time since sweeping them in 2011.

· The Redskins earned their first road win against the Giants since a 23-10 victory against the eventual Super Bowl Champions at MetLife Stadium on Dec. 18, 2011.

· The Redskins extended their road winning streak to four games, dating back to last season. The Redskins’ most recent four-game road winning streak had been in Weeks 4-12 of the 2008 season.

· With 403 net yards, the Redskins set a team record by exceeding 350 yards of offense for a seventh consecutive regular season game, dating back to last season. The team’s previous record of six consecutive games had been set across the 1988-89 and 2011-12 seasons.

· Kicker Dustin Hopkins tied a team record for field goals in a single game by converting 5-of-5 field goal attempts. Hopkins became the first member of the Redskins to record five field goals in a game since Shaun Suisham on Nov. 4, 2007.

· Hopkins’ five field goals surpassed his previous career high of four, set in Week 10 of the 2015 season vs. New Orleans.

· Hopkins has now converted 15 consecutive regular season field goal attempts, surpassing his previous career-long streak of 10, set in Weeks 5-11 in the 2015 season.

· Quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 21-of-35 passes for 296 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 106.4.

· With the performance, Cousins reached 50 career touchdown passes and joined Sammy Baugh, Sonny Jurgensen, Joe Theismann, Billy Kilmer, Mark Rypien, Eddie LeBaron and Jason Campbell as the only quarterbacks in team history to throw 50 career touchdown passes.

· During the game, Cousins (50) passed Gus Frerotte (48) for sole possession of eighth-most career touchdown passes in team history.

· Cousins fell four yards shy of tying a team record by exceeding 300 passing yards in a third consecutive regular season game.

· With his third completion of the game, a 14-yard third down conversion to tight end Jordan Reed, Cousins (698) surpassed Robert Griffin III (679) for eighth-most completions in team history.

· During the contest, Cousins (8,185) passed No. 10 Eddie LeBaron (8,068) and No. 9 Griffin (8,097) for ninth on the team’s career passing yardage list.

· The come-from-behind victory in the fourth quarter was the fourth of Cousins’ career and his third as a starter. It was his first since Week 7 of the 2015 season vs. Tampa.

· The Redskins intercepted Giants quarterback Eli Manning twice. The Redskins have recorded five interceptions in their last two games against Manning, dating back to last season.

· Su’a Cravens sealed the victory with his first career interception in the fourth quarter.

· At 21 years and 80 days old, Cravens became the youngest member of the Redskins to record an interception since Tom Carter on Nov. 14, 1993 (21 years, 70 days), according to Pro Football Reference.

· Wide receiver DeSean Jackson led the Redskins with 96 receiving yards on a team-high-tying five receptions with one touchdown.

· Cousins connected with Jackson for a 44-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

· On the play, Jackson surpassed 8,000 career receiving yards in regular season play. He became the ninth active player to reach the mark, joining Andre Johnson, Steve Smith Sr., Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Brandon Marshall, Jason Witten, Antonio Gates and Vincent Jackson.

· The touchdown was Jackson’s ninth career total touchdown against the Giants (six via reception, one via rush, two via return), the second-most by any active player (13, Jason Witten).

· The touchdown was Jackson’s 29th total touchdown (rushing, receiving and return) of 40 yards or more since entering the NFL in 2008. No other NFL player entered the day with more than 18 in that timeframe.

· Wide receiver Jamison Crowder scored his second touchdown of the season on a career-long 55-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter.

· Crowder has now posted touchdowns in consecutive games for the first time in his career.

· Crowder recorded a career-long 50-yard punt return in the second quarter. It was the longest punt return by a member of the Redskins since Richard Crawford’s 64-yard return on Dec. 9, 2012 vs. Baltimore, a span of 54 regular season games.

· The Redskins converted a fourth-and-four in the third quarter on a 31-yard pass from punter Tress Way to cornerback Quinton Dunbar. It was the first completion and reception of their respective careers.

· The fake punt was the Redskins’ first successful fake kick of any kind since Week 10 of the 2009 season vs. Denver, when punter Hunter Smith connected with fullback Mike Sellers for a 35-yard touchdown.

· Dunbar later recorded his first interception of the season in the fourth quarter. It was his second career interception. Both career interceptions have come off of Giants quarterback Eli Manning.

· Dunbar became the first member of the Redskins to record a reception and an interception in the same game since cornerback Champ Bailey on Dec. 24, 2000, vs. Arizona.

· The Redskins forced three fumbles, marking Washington’s first game with three forced fumbles since Week 16 at Philadelphia last season. Entering the game, Washington’s 24 forced fumbles across the last two seasons were the most in the NFL in that timeframe.

· Defensive end Chris Baker recorded his first sack and first forced fumble of the season in the second quarter. The sack was Baker’s first since Week 17 of the 2015 season at Dallas.

· The forced fumble was Baker’s fourth of his career and his first since Week 13 of the 2015 season vs. Dallas.

· Safety Will Blackmon registered his ninth career forced fumble in the second quarter, his first of the season and his fourth as a member of the Redskins.

· Cornerback Greg Toler recovered the fumble, his second career fumble recovery and his first since Sept. 19, 2010, as a member of the Arizona Cardinals.

· Linebacker Trent Murphy recorded a strip-sack of Eli Manning in the third quarter. He has now recorded sacks in consecutive games for the third time in his career and posted a forced fumble in back-to-back contests for the first time since Weeks 11-12 of the 2014 season.

· The Redskins have now forced a takeaway in five consecutive games, dating back to last season. It marks the team’s first five-game takeaway streak since a six-game run in Weeks 4-10 last season.

· The Redskins won their first road opener since 2012 and improved to 1-0 on the road in 2016.

· The Redskins evened their record in NFC East play this year at 1-1.

· Head Coach Jay Gruden leveled his career record in NFC East play at 7-7.

· The victory was Washington’s 67th all-time win against the Giants, including postseason play, the team’s third-most against any opponent.

· The Redskins scored at least 20 points on an NFC East opponent for a fourth consecutive divisional game, the team’s first such streak since scoring 20+ in four straight NFC East games in Weeks 10-17 of the 2007 season.

· The game was the 169th between the Redskins and Giants all-time. The Giants are the Redskins’ most common opponent.

· The game marked the second straight year in which the Redskins and Giants faced one another at MetLife Stadium in a Week 3 contest.

· The game was the Redskins’ first of five scheduled in 2016 against head coaches hired this past offseason (two vs. New York’s Ben McAdoo, two vs. Philadelphia’s Doug Pederson and one vs. Cleveland’s Hue Jackson).





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Hopkins could've set the team record for field goals if they didn't fubar the end of the half.

Lot's of feel good notes above. They did run it 30 times which helped them win TOP for the first time this year. And coincidentally, they won a close game. They didn't run well (3.0 YPC) but losing half your line during the game didn't help and they didn't give up on it.

On the year:
So far on the year 3 INT's by the team; Breeland, Cravens and Dunbar. That's the youth of the secondary.
Sack leader is - Trent Murphy with 3 of the teams 7.
Tackles leader is - Mason Foster with 29 total and 18 solo, which also leads the team
Crowder actually returning punts now - 21 yard average.

Some reality mixed in with the warm and fuzzies -

Hopkins, still perfect, has made 8 of his 11 from inside the 40. That happens when you're a failure in the Red Zone.

Failure in the Red Zone, 0-4 and 0-2 in goal to go in NY. I think the only goal to go they've converted so far this year was Jones's run but not sure.
Red Zone futility is now at 3 of 14. They were in the bottom 5 teams converting in the Red Zone last week, despite being one of the top 5 in getting there. This performance should make them the absolute worst in the league. That's 3 weeks of Jay, "not being able to but his finger on it but hoping it will go away." His words last week. Hope is not working maybe try prayer.

penalties - 25 on the year - just missing being in the top 5 penalized teams by one penalty.
including yet another False Start. That's 9 False Starts in 3 games. Had it been one of the guys that were shuffled in or around I'd say excusable but it was Moses. His first penalty of the year but on 2nd and 18.