LANDOVER, MD (AP) -- Right from the beginning of this game, the New York Giants looked a lot more like the team that strutted to a 5-0 start this season than the one that stuttered into a 2-6 tailspin.
Eli Manning and the rest of New York's offense took the opening kickoff against the Washington Redskins on Monday night and drove 80 yards in 16 plays, keeping the ball for more than 9 minutes, until Ahmad Bradshaw plunged into the end zone from 3 yards out.
The next possession? Oh, that one only lasted 63 yards in 11 plays, a mere 5 minutes, until Bradshaw covered the final 4 yards for another TD. New York's defense, meanwhile, kept harassing quarterback Jason Campbell and forcing Washington into three-and-outs.
This was a game between one team (New York) making a last-ditch push for the playoffs and another (Washington) that hired a new GM last week - and it was obvious which was which. The Giants dominated every phase and easily beat the Redskins 45-12 to stay within shouting distance of a wild-card berth.
"We were the team that had more at stake, obviously - and played that way," said Giants coach Tom Coughlin, who's club improved to 8-6, one game behind Dallas and Green Bay in the NFC. "We always talk about being the team that demonstrates greater purpose. And we did."
Now there's an understatement.
Check out the statistics with 4½ minutes left in the second quarter: The Giants had read-it-again-to-make-sure-it's-right advantages in yards (226 to minus-2) and first downs (16-0).
The score was 24-0 at that point, thanks to Bradshaw's two TD runs, Lawrence Tynes' 38-yard field goal, and the first of Manning's three scoring throws.
"That was the big emphasis all week, and we talked about it as a group offensively - just getting off to a fast start. It's something we haven't been very good at these past few weeks," said Manning, who was 19 of 26 for 268 yards and raised his season total to a career-best 26 TD passes. "It puts a little pressure on the opposing offense when you go 9 minutes and hold the ball and score a touchdown. It's a little bit of a buzzkill for the opposing team."
Things never got much better for Washington (4-10), which replaced Vinny Cerrato as front-office chief Thursday with Bruce Allen, son of former Redskins coach George Allen. Reports have been swirling since about who already is being interviewed or contacted about replacing head coach Jim Zorn.
"You've got a new boss to impress. This is an audition. These last couple of games is an audition," cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. "Bruce Allen pretty much got a head start on evaluating talent. If he looks at what he saw today, he'll scrap this whole thing."
Hall and Giants running back Brandon Jacobs got into a scrap in the fourth quarter, and Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth joined the fray, too, swinging at Jacobs and drawing a personal foul. It was about as testy as any of the Redskins got all game.
Haynesworth did not hold back in the locker room, either, complaining about the way the Redskins have used him and sounding ready for the embattled Zorn to move on.
"I don't think really this team is that bad. The players ain't that bad," Haynesworth said. "The score, the record - (they) say that we're horrible, that we don't know how to play football. But I've been around these guys a lot, and I think they know how to play football. I think we're just all going in different directions, and we need somebody to lead us in the right direction."
The Giants were feeling that way of late. After winning their first five games, they abruptly switched directions, allowing at least 21 points for eight straight weeks, including three games where opponents scored 40 or more.
There was none of that Monday.
"We felt we can play at that caliber that we were playing at the beginning of the year," Bradshaw said. "We came out fired up. This was a must-win. I told everybody before we went out: 'I need the whole team to come with us.' And that's how we played - together."
The Redskins, meanwhile, fell apart in every which way. They didn't get a first down until Campbell's 16-yard scramble late in the first half. A couple of minutes later, Osi Umenyiora's sack forced the QB from the game with a hurt shoulder (Campbell returned in the second half).
When Washington finally got into scoring position at the end of the second quarter, it tried a bizarre-looking fake field goal that resulted in an interception and drew loud boos.
When Washington finally did get on the scoreboard on Campbell's 11-yard TD pass to Fred Davis in the third quarter, the extra point was blocked. Zorn shook his head and sighed.
"Today, from the start, we just were not ready," Redskins linebacker London Fletcher said, calling his team's performance "not acceptable" and "very embarrassing."
(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
