Giants' final report card of season

OFFENSE

CWe heard all week about how the Giants needed to run the ball, and while some of their ineffectiveness was due to the early loss of Rich Seubert, they managed only 82 rushing yards, their second-lowest total of the season. Eli Manning threw for 243 yards, but 92 of those were on one play. The Giants' defense gave the offense the ball three times off turnovers in the second half and they couldn't do anything with it. The Giants also added to their turnover total with an interception off the hands of Mario Manningham. Tom Coughlin growled after the game, "If you took half those damn things away . . . "

DEFENSE

B+Though they held the Redskins to 14 points, they were really a missed field goal away from going into overtime. And they allowed Rex Grossman to scorch them for 336 yards and two touchdowns. But the Giants did come up with four turnovers - three of them in the second half - and held the 'Skins to 67 rushing yards. Busted coverage on the Redskins' long TD had the feeling of a familiar problem with Antrel Rolle appearing to be the player lost in coverage. And on the first touchdown allowed, lineman Rocky Bernard was the closest defender to TE Fred Davis. That just shouldn't be.

SPECIAL TEAMS

CLawrence Tynes had connected on 16 straight field goals, but his streak ended in the second half when he put a 39-yard attempt wide right. Matt Dodge punted seven times and put only two of them inside the 20. The Giants were able to keep Brandon Banks from busting a really big return, but he did average 24.3 yards per punt return and 23.3 per kickoff return.

COACHING

BTom Coughlin did a good job of keeping the team focused on what they could control and not fretting over other areas like his job security or the Packers-Bears game. The Giants had 32 runs to 29 passes, which is a good ratio for them. Perry Fewell's defense was almost everything it was promised to be regarding turnovers. However, this will stick with the him during the offseason: The Giants 'D' never scored a point on a safety or return all season.