The New York Football Giants finish the 2013 season with a 7-9 record after winning a rain-soaked war of attrition against the Washington Redskins that claimed injuries on both sides of the field today in MetLife Stadium. Before the Giants start what is believed to be a pretty eventful off-season, we’ll cap off the final Aftermath of the year.
Injuries Told a Story of the Season: Eli Manning’s consecutive-games-started record will remain intact for next season, but the way hiss season ended seemed to be the only way it possibly could. On the play in which Eli was rolled up on, he was charged with another interception, his 27th of the season. In a game that was strictly for the staunchest of football purists or masochists, this was an eyesore in every way. And an injury to a normally indestructible Manning being taken out of the game before the half was the perfect summation of the year. Hakeem Nicks also left early with a sprained ankle, shutting him out of a single touchdown on the season and likely costing himself millions in free-agency. And Will Beatty suffered a broken ankle, which was as disappointing as his horrific play.
The Tuck and Jernigan Show: It took a while (three seasons, in fact), but it appears that Jerrel Jernigan is finally starting to blossom after back-to-back explosive performances. He turned in 147 all-purpose yards, which was punctuated by his 49-yard touchdown run off of an end-around. Tuck chipped in two more sacks, giving him ten for the year. Both players are making a late-season push to cash in somewhere, if not in Gotham.
The Washington Deadskins: The Redskins appeared to want to be anywhere but where they were. If the RGIII-Kirk Cousins switch was meant to showcase Cousins for a potential trade, Daniel Snyder and GM Bruce Allen have better hope that interested parties choose to ignore the game-tape here. Washington’s been a mess all year and they were just disinterested today. Cousins was awful; barely better than Curtis Painter, who came in out of the bullpen after Eli’s exit. And with the Rams clinching the second overall pick from the ‘Skins with the loss, there is likely no quick-fix for the team on the Beltway, other than a new coaching staff.
Up Next: A long off-season of questions, conjecture and change. The season never truly ends. Enjoy the playoffs.
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