Redskins vs. NY Giants: Giants Use Turnovers, Running Attack to Bury Redskins

The Giants needed to make a statement in the NFC with all the other teams winning who needed wins. The Packers, Bears and Saints all won their 1 p.m. kickoff games and the Giants, who were also needing to keep up with the Eagles atop the division, followed suit.

How did they do that? Two words—Brandon Jacobs.

Jacobs got the start once again for the Giants and took advantage of the second such opportunity to get his first 100-yard performance since Nov. 9, 2008. He had eight carries for 103 yards—12.9 yards per carry—and two scores.

I think it's safe to say his roller coaster of a season has hit a high point.

His backup Ahmad Bradshaw did not exactly get lost in the shadow of his teammate either, having 25 carries for 97 yards and two scores of his own. Bradshaw now has 1,013 yards on the season becoming the eighth running back in Giants history to do so—one of which is his teammate Jacobs.

The Giants were missing key players on offense all over the place, but never missed a beat and the well-oiled machine scored on three of their first four possessions to put away the Redskins early—something they have struggled to do of late.

In their last three games—two losses to Dallas and Philadelphia and a win against Jacksonville—the Giants found themselves in big holes early on, being down by double-digits after halftime in all three games.

They knew they needed to start fast and get back some of the swagger they had during their five-game winning streak they had earlier in the season.

The defense has taken that swagger back by force, allowing only 10 points in their last six quarters and forcing eight turnovers in that span.

This can most likely be attributed to Justin Tuck giving a speech that shook the heavens last weekend at halftime. He and Osi Umenyiora expressed their "concern" in a vulgar fashion I cannot repeat, but essentially he told everyone they were "playin' like crap."

Barry Cofield called the speech "one for the ages" and even admitted to being teary eyed as he walked out of the tunnel for the second half.

They continued that dominance today versus the Redskins with four sacks and six total turnovers. Both Tuck and Umenyiora had a sack/fumble and Jason Pierre-Paul continued to improve with his second straight two-sack game.

With the Giants getting David Diehl and Steve Smith back next week almost for sure, and Hakeem Nicks still also having a chance to come back, the offense will look to build on this dominating performance on the ground and get back to being multi-dimensional once again.

Bring on the Vikings.

Find Jeff at NY Giants Central as well, and follow him on Twitter @NYG_Central.