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Thursday Night Observations

Every game seems more bizarre than the last. The Giants are grinding out an ugly, borderline unwatchable win, and suddenly the Redskins score a touchdown, nearly recover an onside kick but for a lucky bounce to Shane Vereen, give up a long touchdown to Rueben Randle on another lucky bounce and then return the ensuing kick for a touchdown. Yogi Berra may have overstated the case generally, but for Giants fans it really never is over till it's over.

I harp on this every year, but Jim Nantz is enabling coaching cowardice every time he says, "That'll bring up fourth down - they're forced to punt." No they're choosing to punt, and it's actually a stupid choice because it's fourth and short in plus territory. It's one thing to be a smooth-as-silk-corporate shill, but at least comprehend the strategic nuances of the game you've covered for God knows how many years.

The Giants running game is a three-headed monster, and it's fairly equal. While Andre Williams led the team with 14 carries, trucked a Washington DB in the open field and scored the only rushing touchdown, Rashad Jennings had 11 carries, was used near the goal line, caught three passes for 25 yards and blocked a punt for good measure (the last part isn't a point in his favor, but how can one not mention it?)  While Vereen had only six carries and failed to catch any of his three targets (he had one bad drop), he's the favorite to lead the team in receiving most weeks. A three-way split of a good running game isn't worth much, and an average one even less so. That said, injuries will likely change the equation at some point.

Alfred Morris saw only six carries to Matt Jones' 11, but neither caught a pass nor produced much on the ground, and Jones lost a fumble near the goal line. I'm not sold that Morris won't have value at some point, but he's unstartable in the near term.

The Giants defense might actually be good especially when cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie returns from his concussion next week. Prince Amukamara had a huge game with a pick and a few defensed passes, and the tandem is probably among the top-five in the league. The run defense was surprisingly good, and they even generated a pass rush despite missing Jason Pierre-Paul. The difference might be defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, the architect of the team's Super Bowl winning unit in 2007.

Why did it take the Giants until the fourth quarter to target Odell Beckham down the field? The touchdown was pitch and catch as if the defender weren't even there. If I were calling the plays, I'd dial that up on the first play from scrimmage every game.

A healthy Jordan Reed looks as good as any non-Rob Gronkowski tight end in the league. Had Kirk Cousins not thrown a ball late and short he would have added a 30-odd-yard TD to his 6-for-96 line.

Rueben Randle moves like he's in three feet of water and was lucky to catch the long TD which bounced off the defender right into his hands. That said, he caught every ball thrown to him and has the size and length to make plays even if he's not especially open. If Victor Cruz comes back at 100 percent next week, the Giants will be loaded at the WR position.

• It might have been a small thing, unnoticed by many, but on a play in the second quarter, Eli Manning threw a pass that clearly bounced into the arms of DeAngelo Hall, and Hall returned it before being tackled. The referees swallowed the whistle and let the play continue just in case it were an interception because they knew it would be reviewed. No big deal, right? Wrong, because that review triggered a commercial break and cost me three minutes of my life. If we conservatively estimate that 15 million people are watching the game, that means it wasted 45 million minutes collectively, which equals 750,000 hours, 31,250 days or 85.56 years. Basically, they wasted an entire human life.