TAKE HIM DOWN! After Osi Umenyiora and the Giants’ defense easily handled Aaron Rodgers and the Packers on Sunday night, they now have to prepare for another round with rookie phenom Robert Griffin III on Monday night. (UPI)
The bridge Tom Coughlin implored his Giants to build from Super Bowl XLVII to XLVII is back under construction. But the demolition team that demolished Aaron Rodgers and the Packers better keep its hard hats on.
Because here comes Robert Griffin III again. Intent on blowing up the bridge. Each and every time the Giants try to build one.
For the next decade.
“I don’t plan on being here that long,” Justin Tuck said, “but until I exit stage right, it seems like he’s going to be a fixture in my dreams and nightmares.”
The Giants will be the first team to get a second crack at the Redskins’ phenom/wunderkind/natural Monday night. The first meeting was an eye-opener for them.
“Fastest guy on the field,” Coughlin said.
Only late heroics from Eli Manning and Victor Cruz enabled the Giants to survive Griffin (20-28, 258 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, one fumble, 89 rushing yards). Tuck spent part of his Thanksgiving Day watching RG3 carve up Rob Ryan’s Cowboys defense.
“I was hoping to learn that he would slow down a little bit, but that’s not the case,” Tuck said. “He is one of the best dual threats in our game today, and we’re gonna have our hands full trying to stop that guy.”
Former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson would pick RG3 — ahead of Andrew Luck — if he were starting a team.
“He just seems to always be in the moment, never rattled, never too high with the highs, it just seems like he’s always focused on the play at hand,” Tuck said. “I haven’t seen him kind of fuss with his O-line or anything like that. You always see him poised and ready for the moment, and that says a lot about his maturity, to be thrust upon this league and have the weight of a franchise on you.”
The Redskins can pull to within one game of the Giants with a win at home. The game will not be too big for RG3. He lives for the big game.
“Very elusive quarterback,” Antrel Rolle said. “Strong arm, very, very strong arm. He’s a very gifted quarterback — he doesn’t seem like this is his first year with his reads and his progressions.”
When someone asked if Griffin makes you sit there and go, “Wow, that kid’s pretty good.” Rolle said: “He’s not pretty good, he’s a very good quarterback, and he does it all. His play fake is awesome, and just the scheme that he’s in, I think it definitely fits his style of quarterback. It creates a lot of problems for a defense. You have to be very disciplined, very sound, and even while doing that, you still have to understand that they’re going to get some plays. You try to make sure you limit the plays that they do make.”
What encourages the Giants as much as Manning’s tired arm awakening from its slumber following the bye week is the revitalized pass rush that sacked Rodgers five times. Big Blue sacked RG3 three times.
“We don’t really get down on ourselves just because of a few bad games, and we’ve had our share of bad games this year,” Tuck said, “but we all know what we’re capable of doing once we tie it all together, and I think [Sunday] night was a showcase of that.”
Giants players think that their new debriefing sessions, where they break off into offense, defense and special teams for approximately one hour on Mondays, has been beneficial. “Tuck leads it, since he’s the captain, so it’s just great to hear good feedback or hear constructive criticism from other players,” Prince Amukamara said. “What’s great about it is that everyone has a voice, from scout team to Pro Bowl guys.”
While RG3 is growing on a weekly basis, the Giants seem hellbent on picking up a head of steam for another memorable playoff run.
“This is when you need to be playing your best ball,” Tuck said, “heading into the cold weather, the playoff atmospheres that we’re about to embark on. A lot of times you see teams start hot and kinda end on a cold note. We’ve been more of a variety — start hot, get cold and then heat up again. So hopefully, we can end this season playing our best ball and head into the playoffs playing our best ball. That’s where you want to be.”
Across the bridge.