EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. _ The rebuild may be underway in the front office, where Dave Gettleman's phone is likely buzzing away with contending teams trying to acquire any viable pieces the Giants are willing to part with before Tuesday's trade deadline. The current on-field product, however, continues to sink to new depths.
A 20-13 loss to the first-place Redskins at MetLife Stadium on Sunday was the latest display of putrid offensive football by the Giants. They managed 303 yards of offense and were 1-for-4 in the red zone, their lone touchdown of the game coming on a 2-yard pass to Evan Engram with 17 seconds left. In a week when the Giants' traded away two defensive starters and had a third on the sideline with injury, it was the offense that looked stripped down and depleted.
The fifth straight loss dropped the Giants to 1-7 as they head into the bye week. Washington remains in control of the division with a record of 5-2.
Eli Manning completed 30 of 47 passes for 316 yards and was sacked seven times. His passer rating was 57.7.
The Giants had what seemed like a spark late in the third quarter when Landon Collins stripped the ball away from Adrian Peterson and Olivier Vernon recovered it and returned it 43 yards. That gave the offense the ball at the Washington 39 trailing 10-3. But this is a Giants offense that extinguishes sparks like a brigade of fire marshals.
Manning's first pass was incomplete for Bennie Fowler. His second was complete to Odell Beckham Jr ... but for a loss of 2. Manning hit Fowler for 9 yards on third-and-12 to set up fourth-and-3 from the 32. Manning threw a quick pass to Engram that went right through the tight end's hands. The Giants turned it over on downs and Washington took over and scored on a 39-yard field goal that made the score an insurmountable 13-3 with 9:53 remaining.
It wasn't the only time the Giants offense turned excitement into an exit. Late in the first quarter Manning hit Beckham deep down the left sideline for a gain of 44. It was a remarkable one-handed grab on a play in which cornerback Greg Stroman was pulling Beckham to the ground and it gave the Giants the ball at the Washington 38. Their next three plays were a run by Saquon Barkley for no gain, a sack of Manning for a loss of 6, and a 5-yard swing pass to Barkley before a punt.
In the fourth quarter the Giants reached the Washington 40 on a 46-yard pass interference penalty and then Manning hit Beckham for a 32-yard gain to the 9. Another penalty gave them first-and-goal at the 4. They kicked a field goal to make it 13-6 with 4:08 remaining. Less than a minute later Adrian Peterson scored on a 64-yard run to seal the game for Washington.
Manning had the Giants marching down the field late in the second quarter, feeding Beckham and Barkley all the way down to the Washington 11. On second-and-11 from the 12, though, Manning did not see safety D.J. Swearinger and threw right to him for an interception. He threw his second pick of the game in the third quarter, also to Swearinger, when airing it out on a third-and-18 pass from the Giants' 17 that was effectively an early punt.
