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UPON FURTHER REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 5, 2008

Tom Coughlin reviewed several topics pertaining to the Giants’ season-opening game before he got to his bottom line on the 16-7 victory over the Washington Redskins.

“The great thing is we won at home and we won in the division,” Coughlin said today. “And we can teach from the errors that were made here. Sometimes you get frustrated on some things – the communication isn’t as good as it should be. It will definitely improve. So I’m very, very excited, positive and optimistic about it, because it was a very physical game. We did very well in that regard. We have a lot of things to build on.”

The one that leaps to mind is an outstanding performance by a defense that had five new starters due to retirement, injuries and free agency defections. That didn’t prevent the unit from limiting Washington to 209 yards (51 in the first half), 11 first downs, three successes in 13 third down conversion attempts and a mere three trips into Giants’ territory – two of them in the final 3˝ minutes. The Redskins’ only score was a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jason Campbell to Santana Moss with 13 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Although it was an impressive performance, the defensive players were hardly celebrating. Instead, they adhered to Coughlin’s theme that the game was a building block for the future. The Giants next play on Sept. 14 against the Rams in St. Louis........READ MORE