Giants vs. Redskins: What Went Wrong for the Giants in the 28-14 Loss?

So, the New York Giants kicked off their 2011 season by playing on the road against the Washington Redskins.

The Giants looked like they could have won in the first half, but in the second half, they looked like they had no chance of winning.

The Giants got dropped by their NFC East rival 28-14, losing to the Redskins for the first time since December of 2007.

The Giants already came into Sunday's game with a laundry list of injuries going into the game.

Right before the game started, defensive end and captain Justin Tuck was ruled inactive with an injured neck, so that made the Giants' defense even more thin.

The Giants had two leads in the game.

The Giants took an early 7-0 lead when Eli Manning scored on a two-yard run in the first quarter.

The Giants then took a 14-7 lead when Ahmad Bradshaw scored on a six-yard run in the second quarter.

The problem with that was the Giants never let themselves get some separation in the score; the Redskins were always right behind them.

After Bradshaw's touchdown made it 14-7, Rex Grossman threw a touchdown pass to Anthony Armstrong to make it 14-14.

The offensive line was also another big problem for the Giants on Sunday.

William Beatty is the new left tackle, they moved David Diehl to left guard and David Baas is the new center, making for a newly constructed offensive line.

I don't know if it was playing together for the first time as a unit, or they just had an off game, but they gave Eli no time to set and throw as they allowed four sacks and numerous hurries in the backfield.

The Giants' offensive line has always been a strength. On Sunday, it was anything but that.

Speaking of their offensive strengths, where did the running game go?

Bradshaw carried 13 times for 44 yards and Brandon Jacobs carried six times for 29 yards.

The Giants are a power-running football team; yet, they got away from that, especially in the second half.

That falls on the fault of offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, who at times is as clueless of a play-caller as one can be.

In the third quarter, with the Giants in their part of their field, Eli had his pass tipped by rookie Ryan Kerrigan, which he caught for an interception and took back nine yards for a touchdown and made it 21-14.

Turnovers like that were the story in 2010. If the Giants start making more turnovers like that in 2011, the Giants might as well pack it in early, because they won't survive if they make those kinds of mistakes.

Now, the defense is extremely banged up and a lot of guys are injured. We all know that.

But Rex Grossman is NOT an elite quarterback. He's not even average. He's a backup at best.

Yet on Sunday, the Giants made him look like a star, allowing him to go 21-for-34 with 304 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Usually, Grossman is a turnover machine, but he didn't make a devastating turnover against the Giants on Sunday.

The Giants usually make plays and cause turnovers, and they did cause a Grossman fumble late in the game that allowed them to try and tie the game.

The result was a blocked field goal on Lawrence Tynes by Brian Orakpo, which goes back to special teams.

If your special teams can't get it done, your chances of winning in the NFL are not good.

Getting a field goal blocked when you're only down seven in the fourth quarter is back-breaking.

Tynes getting the 38-yard attempt blocked was back-breaking. As a result,  the Redskins marched down and Grossman threw his second touchdown pass to Jabar Gaffney with 5:04 left in the game to make it 28-14.

At that point, the game was over. The Giants had no shot left in getting back in the game—not with the way they were playing on Sunday.

So now the Giants, 0-1, will wait until next Monday night to play their home opener against the St. Louis Rams and their former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

Going away from their strength in the running game really hurt the Giants against Washington. At times, they looked like they had no business playing professional football.

So now, head coach Tom Coughlin will have over a week to figure out how to correct their mistakes of Week 1 and get ready for the Rams in Week 2.

The Giants cannot start 0-2 and then play the Eagles in Week 3 in two weeks. Coughlin and his team know this. Those odds are too much to come back from.

The Giants need to learn from this mistake and rebound strong against St. Louis next Monday night.

If not, the "Tom must go" chants may re-surface again in East Rutherford.

The Giants have a week to get it together.

Right now, they need all the help they can get.