The Giants were up 21-9 at one point in the first half, but a DeSean Jackson touchdown catch and a strong drive following Shane Vereen’s second fumble in as many weeks left the Redskins with a chance to take a halftime lead.
At the very least, they were in position to cut the Giants lead to two points, but they remained down 21-16 at the whistle after a mental blunder by quarterback Kirk Cousins. Cousins took a snap with six seconds left on the clock and the half ended with him being stripped of the ball on a sack by Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul.
Cousins recovered the ball, but it did the team no good after he failed to throw the ball away and preserve the field goal opportunity. Some may choose to add some blame to coach Jay Gruden for not choosing to kick the field goal and guarantee some points with the ball coming their way to start the third quarter.
When the third quarter does start, the Redskins will be dealing with several injuries. Cornerback Bashaud Breeland went out with an ankle injury early in the first quarter and safety DeAngelo Hall joined him after a knee injury late in the second. Hall’s injury came after the two minute warning, so it also cost the Redskins a timeout they could have used before Cousins’ fumble.
The secondary will be stretched thin, which is an issue as they’ve had a hard time covering rookie Sterling Shepard on Sunday. Odell Beckham has two catches for 44 yards and Josh Norman nearly picked off another pass in his direction during a fireworks-free matchup between the two players.
The Redskins also saw wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who has three catches for 84 yards and touchdown, leave with knee and ankle injuries in the second quarter. He was limited by both injuries during the practice week as well. The Giants have fewer injury issues, although rookie corner Eli Apple is done for the day with a hamstring injury.
UPDATE 2:55 p.m. ET: Jackson returned to start the second half.