Kritik und Lob » thought to be the best of their minor

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- While the New York Giants are off to their best start since 2009, the obituaries are seemingly being prepared for the defending NFC East champion Washington Redskins.Jay Grudens team is 0-2. There have been reports from anonymous sources about frustration in the locker room, much of it directed at quarterback Kirk Cousins play. The defense is struggling. Its not good.The Redskins will carry that load into MetLife Stadium on Sunday when they face the Giants (2-0) in a game with the added attraction of matching Washington cornerback Josh Norman against New York receiver Odell Beckham Jr.The two tangled a year ago in a game here that resulted with both acting like bullies and Beckham getting a one-game suspension.Thats the sideshow.Its pretty much a now-or-never game for the Redskins. Only three teams since 1990 have started the season 0-3 and made the playoffs, the last being the Bills in 1998.Veteran defensive back DeAngelo Hall says there is no secret formula to winning. Its protecting the ball, forcing turnovers, stopping the run and eliminating the stupid mistakes.Weve got a mindset that we want to take the fight to them, he said. But I mean the plan is the same as it always is. And its just up to us to go out there and try to execute it and be dominant to the best of our ability.Cousins, who returned with a one-year contract under the franchise tag, said two games dont decide a season.Ill let the body of work speak for itself at that point, Cousins said . But, Im excited about the challenge we have this week, and really I have enough of a challenge that I dont need to look much further forward or further back than just the Giants this Sunday.Cousins will be facing a much-improved New York defense. It has allowed 32 points without forcing a turnover.Eli Manning and the Giants offense scored three touchdowns in the win over Dallas, but did not get into the end zone against New Orleans. Three fumbles hurt.Manning isnt looking at this game as a chance to bury the Redskins.Hey, its the next game, he said. Were worried about our season and what weve got to do and its a chance for us to go 3-0 and thats all we are concerned with.Starting 3-0 has its advantages. Ninety nine of the 131 teams that have won their first three games since 1990 have made the playoffs. Thats something the Giants have not done since the 2011 season.Heres some things to watch in the game:NOWHERE TO RUN: The Redskins have about as unbalanced an offense as possible, with 89 pass attempts and only a league-low 29 rushes heading into Week 3. This despite a lot of talk from GM Scot McCloughan about how he wanted to be a physical team. We have not given the running game really an ample opportunity to flourish, coach Jay Gruden said. Thats something we have to look at.WHERES THE PRESSURE?: The Giants spent a lot of money to sign Olivier Vernon and Damon Harrison and to re-sign Jason Pierre-Paul for the defensive line. Through two games, New York has two sacks, one by safety Landon Collins and the other from nickel back Leon Hall.STALLING OFFENSE: Among Washingtons many problems through two games, two stand out on offense: converting on third down (36 percent) and scoring touchdowns in the red zone (30 percent). In last weeks loss to Dallas, Washington took over inside the Cowboys 40 twice in the second half and came away with six points before the worst possession of all, when Cousins threw an interception on third-and-goal from the 6. Third-down efficiency, we are behind in that category, and red zone has been bad. It really has, Gruden said. It has been surprisingly bad.WHOS GOT THE BALL?: With Rashad Jennings dealing with a thumb injury to his left hand, look to see who gets the ball. Jennings insists he can carry the ball with his hand taped. Expect Shane Vereen and Orleans Darkwa to get a few extra carries this week against a Redskins D ranked No. 28 against the run.FADE-HAPPY: Cousins repeatedly tried to throw fade patterns into the end zone in Week 2, with zero success. That doesnt mean the Redskins are ready to give up on that particular play call. Hindsight, I wish we wouldnt have tried as many, Gruden said, but well throw more fades.WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: New York lost six games last season either late in the fourth quarter or in overtime in missing the playoffs for the fourth straight year. The Giants have won their first two by a total of four points. It is the first time they won consecutive games by a combined margin of four or fewer points since Oct. 22 and Oct. 29, 1939, when they beat the Bears, 16-13, and the Brooklyn Dodgers, 7-6.---AP Pro Football Writer Howard Fendrich and freelancer Ian Quillen in Ashburn, Virginia contributed to this report.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Cheap NFL Jerseys . Mitch Holmberg added a goal and three assists. Connor Chartier also scored for the Chiefs (3-0-0). Luke Harrison spoiled Garrett Hughsons shutout bid with a power-play goal at 13:17 of the third period. The Spokane goaltender finished with 28 saves, including a Brandon Fushimi penalty shot in the second period that would have tied the game 1-1. Cheap Football Jerseys .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. https://www.nflcheapjerseysfreeshipping.com/ . Terms of the deal were not immediately available. The 26-year-old finished last season with Clevelands Triple-A affiliate in Columbus after signing with the Indians in August. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping .C. -- Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said after all of these years in the NBA hes still amazed at some of the things LeBron James does. NEW YORK -- Watching a second straight loss to last-place Tampa Bay convinced the New York Yankees it was time to shift more fully into sell mode. So late Saturday night, owner Hal Steinbrenner gave the go-ahead.Six days after trading closer Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs for four prospects, New York dealt reliever Andrew Miller to Cleveland for four more.Were trying to get back to a situation where we can build an uber team and a sustainable one, general manager Brian Cashman said. So well see where it takes us, but thats the effort that weve got going on here, and I think fans should be excited by that.New Yorks 5-3 defeat Sunday completed a weekend sweep that left the Yankees (52-52) seven games behind AL East-leading Baltimore and 5 1/2 games back for the ALs second wild card, with three other teams to overcome.Seeking its elusive 28th championship, New York hasnt won a postseason game since Derek Jeter shattered an ankle in the 2012 AL Championship Series, a night that looking back ended an era of greatness that included titles in 1996, `98, `99, `00 and `09.While the Yankees kept adding free agents around the core group of Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada, amateur drafts yielded relatively little and Major League Baseball restricted the Yankees and other high-revenue teams with taxes on high payrolls and penalties for exceeding defined thresholds on amateur spending.Cashman all but admitted the Yankees were slow to adapt.The chessboard thats lined up that were playing is not the same chessboard that we were playing back when I just started in the late `80s, he said. Its a recognition of how the industrys completely different today and the operating standards are completely different today, and theres just a sounder recognition of that. And if you want to become a super team, theres certain ways to go about that that you have to strongly consider. And although they may be tough decisions, the one thing the Yankees have always stood for and do stand for is the effort in trying to become a super team.Convinced they are unlikely to reach the playoffs this year, the Yankees are pivoting to the future. New York hopes to get under the luxury tax threshold by no later than 2018, which would put the team in prime position to spend again after that season. Bryce Harper, Jose Fernandez, Manny Machado and Clayton Kershaw are among the stars who could be on thee market that fall.dddddddddddd.With inconsistent starting pitching and among the American Leagues poorest offenses, the Yankees are in danger of their first losing season since 1992 and appear to be several years from assembling a dominating team. Carlos Beltran, Ivan Nova and Mark Teixeira are eligible for free agency at the end of the season, and CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Pineda, Brian McCann and Brett Gardner also could go free after 2018 (New York has 2019 options for McCann and Gardner).Theres no doubt that theyre trying to add good players to the organization for the future, Beltran said. Maybe theyre really serious about rebuilding.With his average at .205, 41-year-old A-Rod seems to have little future at New Yorks designated hitter in 2017. As the Yankees try to go young, their focus will be on trying to find productive, relatively inexpensive players to fill the big league roster while waiting for prospects to develop.Shortstop Jorge Mateo, catcher Gary Sanchez, outfielder Aaron Judge and pitcher Luis Severino were thought to be the best of their minor league system before the addition of shortstop Gleyber Torres from the Cubs and outfielder Clint Frazier from the Indians. New York views Frazier, the fifth overall pick in the 2013 amateur draft, as a Mike Trout-type player.An electric bat. His bat speed is already legendary, Cashman said. A very exciting high-energy guy that shows up for the national anthem in a dirty uniform.Left-hander Justus Sheffield -- Garys nephew -- and right-handers Ben Heller and J.P. Feyereisen also were part of Sundays trade. Cashman has brought back Adam Warren and Tyler Clippard to fill out the pitching staff, an attempt he said was to cushion the blow. Still, the Yankees are unaccustomed to dealing stars for prospects.Trust me, I didnt sleep a wink last night, and theres a lot of sleepless nights weve had, Cashman said,Manager Joe Girardi will have to make due until the kids grow up. For now, the Yankees are left to spin the present like other also-rans.I dont ever wave a white flag. This organization never waves a white flag, Girardi said. I dont view it as that, and they better not view it in that room as that.---AP freelance writer Mark Didtler in St. Petersburg, Florida, contributed to this report. ' ' '