Redskins 17, Giants 24

After last-night's loss, maybe it’s best that I don’t type exactly what’s going through my head. Let’s just say the TV I was watching last night hasn’t heard that many F-bombs since the last time The Big Lebowski was on HBO.

Without further Adu, here’s my take on what transpired yesterday in front of the biggest crowd ever at The Stadium Formerly Known as RalJohn.

The first half went exactly how the Redskins wanted it to go. It was borderline perfect. The defense stopped the Giants on key third downs, the offense clicked and capitalized on turnovers and the playcalling seemed to be a solid balance between hard-nosed running and well-timed passing.

So what the hell happened? Giants coach Tom Coughlin claims to have figured out the Redskins game plan during the break. He said that they made the necessary adjustments and came out for the second half with a better understanding of how to stop the bleeding and get back in it.

I don’t buy it.

The New York Giants are not known for huge comebacks. They started this season 0-2, allowing 80 points in their first two games. To do a complete 180 and dominate the second half on both sides of the ball takes more than just figuring out the opposition’s game plan. The opposition has to fold, and fold they did.

I am fairly certain that the Redskins headed into the locker room, joked around, considered the game all but locked-up and approached the second half as if they were playing a Division III opponent.

They didn’t take my advice, the idiots, and they got cocky. They walked through the tunnel, heard the roar of a very approving crowd and thought the second half would be a cake-walk.

And what happened next can only be summed up with one word: pathetic. I’m still in shock. Honestly.

I don’t think I have ever seen a bigger difference in play between first and second halves in my life. The Redskins went from dominant to doormat in a matter of 20 minutes. They couldn’t do squat in the second half, and they allowed the Giants to do everything. I understand that running the ball eats up more of the clock, but whose decision was it to essentially abandon the passing game? Going three-and-out -- or fumbling the ball -- on 5 straight possessions, considering the circumstances, is absolutely unacceptable.

A team that was Top-4 in the league in both offensive and defensive third downs was nowhere to be found. The Giants converted more than 75% of their second-half third downs, while the Redskins failed to gain a first down until the final minutes of the game, when it was way too late.

How does this happen? And more importantly, who is responsible? Clinton Portis, a guy who has scored exactly 60% of the team’s touchdowns, was used sparingly in the final minutes... and I have yet to hear why. Is he hurt? Did he not feel like he could produce? What’s the deal?

We keep hearing about how he takes himself out of games when he’s tired -- which is bizarre to begin with -- but I’d bet my next paycheck that if it was up to him, he would’ve been in there on those final few plays.

I love Ladell Betts, but if you were to ask every Skins fan in the stadium who they wanted to see handle the ball on a 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 with less than a minute to play, do you think he’d get the majority of the calls? I don’t think so, either.

There are too many weapons on this team to blow a chance like that. Mike Sellers is roughly the size of a Mack Truck, but instead of handing him the ball and giving him an opportunity to bowl over the defensive line, they threw it to him.

The Redskins ran the exact same play twice in a row to end the game, even though the first time was about as unsuccessful as a play can get. You would think that a 700-page playbook would produce a little more variety than that. You would also think that there might be something in there for exactly these circumstances.

Joe Gibbs said that they called their “three best plays” to end the game.

Rushing the final play and leaving 20 seconds on the clock -- was that part of the plan? Is that the third play that he was referring to? I don’t get it. Are there answers to any of these questions, or will the coaching staff continue to blame themselves without offering a whole lot of explanations?

“It was hard fought,” Gibbs said afterwards. Maybe he said “for the first 30 minutes” under his breath -- I don’t know. What I do know is that this team needs to learn a few things before Detroit shows up in 13 days.

They need to learn how to handle themselves as winners. They need to know how to manage the clock better than they have. They need to learn how to fire themselves up when they aren’t doing well, not just be exultant when things are going their way.

They need to learn how to finish.

The Redskins were two exits away from 3-0, saw that they were ahead of schedule and decided to hit the Chesapeake House for a Starbucks. So they head into the bye week 2-1, a game behind the rolling Cowboys and a game ahead of Philadelphia and New York, both teams that now have the momentum the Redskins had heading into yesterday’s game.

The Burgundy and Gold get a week without a game to examine what they’re worth, where they are as a team and to rest their bruised and battered bodies. I don’t think panicking is completely necessary, as being 2-1 is a lot better than being 0-3. If anyone in that locker room feels as though the team did everything it could in yesterday’s game, however, something is terribly wrong.

Joe Gibbs, whether he’s in charge of the play-calling or not, is still the head of this team. What we need from him is more emotion, more fire and more heart than he’s ever shown before. It’s time to start pointing the finger, and pointing it at yourself isn’t going to do anyone any good.

Hail.