The red zone has not been kind to Big Blue. And it doesn’t figure to get any nicer in Monday night’s matchup with the Redskins, who lead the league in red-zone defense.
The last time the two division rivals faced off in Week 1, Washington held the Giants without a touchdown in three trips inside the 20-yard line.
“They are just sound,” Eli Manning said Thursday. “I think some teams, whether they try to run the ball on first or second down don’t get much and they get a lot of third-and-longs. It’s just tough.”
It may be tough luck if the Giants can’t find a way to pound the ball over the goal line. A hiccup at
Washington really dents their playoff hopes after a 45-38 loss to Philadelphia in Week 14. As far as Manning is concerned, the onus is on the offense to pull out a win.
“We have to go out there and play great football,” he said. “We’ve got to find a way to win the game.”
The defense has to find a way to contribute. The unit is giving up an average of 32.4 points in its last eight games. That trend figures to continue on Monday. The Giants are the league’s worst red-zone defense and are matched against a top 10 red-zone offense.
“The fact of the matter is we haven’t gotten the job done up front,”?defensive end Justin Tuck said. “What the reason is, I can’t pinpoint it.”
They have an extra day this weekend to try and do exactly that.
