Defense played well, but don’t tell the scoreboard

The Giants allowed the Redskins to score 35 points in this game, by far Washington’s best output of the season. Considering the Giants won the first meeting, 24-3, in September, that’s a huge turnaround. This can be chalked up to several things.

It was rookie on rookie out there when the Redskins had the ball. They started rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins and their three top receivers — Terry McLaurin, Steven Sims and Kelvin Harmon — are all rookies and tight end Hale Hentges is as well.

The Giants countered with three first-year players in their secondary (Sam Beal, DeAndre Baker and Julian Love) and the offense won out, it seems. The Giants needed to score 41 points to win this game because the defense is so disorganized and confused, there is no way they can give a consistent 60-minute effort. It will probably get better, but don’t fool yourself in thinking this is a defense on the rise.