The Giants had a wonderful day yesterday. Players were smiling and eager to talk. Nobody was blasting airhorns. And the team was 1-2 on the wings of a dramatic finish in Washington.

First, let’s start with a question from DVF. He wanted to know about the halftime adjustments and about how Mathias Kiwanuka was used and whether Justin Tuck played inside on non-throwing downs. Actually, Kiwanuka was used more as a lineman and was given a freer hand to pass rush, as evidenced by his 1 1/2 sacks and team-high eight tackles. It appeared he had fewer coverage responsibilities even when he did play back at linebacker, as Aaron Ross and the safeties were given that responsibility. And yes, Tuck did play inside some. Don’t know if it was on all non-passing downs, but there was a concerted effort to keep Tuck on the field. It’s no surprise he responded with four tackles and a half a sack to go along with a quarterback hit. That guy’s the goods.

Anyway, looks like Corey Webster has finally lost his gig at right cornerback to Aaron Ross. Tom Coughlin decided he’d seen enough after Webster took a bad angle on Santana Moss and, instead of intercepting Jason Campbell’s second-quarter bomb, he let it fly over his head as Moss made a fantastic catch. Then, on the ensuing touchdown catch by Chris Cooley, Webster was out of position.

Aaron Ross replaced him at the start of the second quarter, moving to nickelback on obvious passing downs. Ross was in much better position, though he did give up the long fourth-quarter toss to Moss that necessitated the goal line stand.

Don’t believe me that Webster’s lost his job, though. Coughlin just about admits it in this little piece of audio. He starts with Ross and goes into Webster.

Download:

Coughlin also was delighted in Eli Manning’s performance. Though not particularly great—Manning had two interceptions and a lost fumble, with two of the turnovers accounting for 10 first-half Redskins points. But Manning did smell out a fake blitz on third-and-5 from the Redskins’ 11 and checked into a Derrick Ward draw that turned into a first down at the 5. The Giants eventually scored a touchdown to tie after that at 17.

A huge test comes Sunday night against Philadelphia. But at least they’re 1-2 instead of 0-3. Puts a whole new light on the season.

Ciao for now.