With nine wins, the New York Giants are almost certain to make the playoffs. They will, however, be no one's favorite to advance beyond the first round, not the way they've been playing down the stretch. They got brutalized by Minnesota a few weeks ago, then pulled out squeakers against bad Philadelphia and Chicago teams - and then last night they hosted the Washington Redskins, and put on a display of offensive football so inept that, if Phil Simms was watching, he probably started crying all over his ironing board.

I think it's safe to say that Eli Manning is no Phil Simms. If anyone doubted that, then those doubts should've been dispelled by Eli's performance last night: 18-52, 184 yards and 1 TD. Those 34 incompletions were the most by an NFL/AFL quarterback since Joe Namath had 36 back in 1967 (Suzy Kolber was only 3). Of course, a night that awful doesn't happen without help. Running back Brandon Jacobs, whose nickname should now be Ironhands, contributed to the cause by dropping just about every ball thrown his way, and Amani Toomer didn't help. The running game was actually quite effective for the Giants - Jacobs had 130 yards on 25 carries - which makes one wonder why the Giants felt the need to throw it 52 times in the first place (they were behind by a lot late in the game and obviously had to throw it then, but that doesn't account for 52 pass attempts).

The Redskins were, statistically, not much better. Recently promoted starter Todd Collins - making his first appearance in that capacity since 1997 when he was a member of the Buffalo Bills - was 8-25 with 166 yards and 0 TDs. The difference is that the Redskins were able to squeeze out some points in spite of their general offensive listlessness. Clinton Portis had a nice night, rushing for 126 and 1 TD. Ladell Betts added a rushing touchdown of his own, while Shaun Suisham booted 3 field goals.

In a game chock-full of Giants low-lights, the worst moment came when Jeremy Shockey had his leg rolled up on by Amani Toomer, breaking said leg and also damaging the tight end's ankle. After the game it was revealed that Shockey would need surgery, likely ending his season. In spite of all this, the Giants still hold the top wild-card spot, and like I said before, will almost certainly make the playoffs. Washington, meanwhile, resurrected their playoff hopes by getting to 7-7. The 'Skins need the Vikings to lose to the Bears tonight, setting up a huge game for Washington in the Metrodome six days hence.