Here's the relevant question in light of last night's handling of the Redskins: Were the Giants that good, or were the Redskins that bad?

I'll take the latter. The Giants were sharp in their opening drives, but in the second half when they took their foot off the pedal, they were pretty average. Eli Manning went from brilliant in the first half, to trying like hell to have a four-interception game in the second. The Giants had their moments, but were inconsistent.

The Redskins, however, were extremely consistent, playing terribly on both sides of the ball most of the way. For only a few fleeting seconds did it seem like they had any hope or inspiration at all. 

Brandon Jacobs treated them like Dale Doback and Brennan Huff treated a group of schoolchildren in the closing credits of Step Brothers. Their offensive line was porous. Jason Campbell was ineffective. Nothing went well.

And during last night's liveblog, and in some of the things I'm reading this morning, much of the concern revolves around one Jim Zorn. I can't be objective on the matter, as I believe I'm falling in love with him, so I'll quote from around the Redskins blogosphere:

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Hibachi, commenter on Hogs Haven: "Has Zorn never watched a football game?"

Mister Irrelevant: "LOSERS: Jim Zorn — The offense never got going. At all. And the passing game looked real bad. They were also running the ball and huddling up late in the game while down two scores. And here I thought the clock management issues left with Gibbs."

guinnesscrazy at ExtremeSkins: "Zorn said our run game "looked good" in the presser. I don't think this could be farther from the truth. I think it looked terrible. Our team was embarrassed tonight. The Defense looked horrible to start the game, the O-Line couldn't protect Campbell, Campbell looked indecisive as hell, and the run-run-pass-punt from the Gibbs II era reared it's ugly head. I'm thoroughly disappointed and hope that Zorn realizes it's just as much his fault for the play calling as it is his players for failing to execute."

rich20ssu, commenter at the Washington Post: "One and done. Zorn CLEARLY has absolutely no clue how to manage a game. At least we've got Thomas and Kelly to help solidify the passing game. Oh wait... FIRE ZORN!" (multiple exclamation points edited out)

Fanhouse: "I left this game extremely unimpressed with Jim Zorn. I know it is early on (first game and all) and he must be given some time to install his offense. I get that. But the playcalling and clock management were horrible ... and there are enough veteran coaches on that sideline that know better."

GSPODS at TheHogs.net: "It's painfully obvious that Jim Zorn has no clue what he is doing. The Redskins didn't even try to win the game. Unless that changes, this is going to be the longest Redskins season in recent memory."

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So other than all that, it went pretty well, yes?

All that might seem harsh, but it's not completely unwarranted. Not being a Redskins fan, I'm not going to be as likely to have a let's-all-jump-off-the-roof reaction, but at the same time, some of the things the Redskins did last night were just inexcusable.

If you're not a very good team yet, fine. Things need time to gel, maybe the entire offensive system isn't installed, whatever. But there is absolutely no excuse for the lack of urgency displayed by the Redskins in the last six minutes of the game. And I'm not even talking about the playcalling; the runs, the screens, the throws short of the marker, all with precious time ticking away. That's a whole different issue.

I'm talking about players on the field, walking to the ball, not busting it to get a score on the board as soon as they could. How do you justify that? If it were me in the shoes of a Redskins fan, that's what I'd be concerned about more than anything else. That's a massive failing for which there is no excuse.

Related: Love/Hate