From the beginning of the game, the New York Giants looked a lot more like the team that strutted to a 5-0 start this season than the one that stuttered into a 2-6 tailspin. Eli Manning and the rest of New York’s offense took the opening kickoff against the Washington Redskins on Monday night and drove 80 yards in 16 plays, keeping the ball for more than nine minutes, until Ahmad Bradshaw plunged into the end zone from 3 yards out.

The Washington Redskins exhausted their supply of must-win games long ago. The New York Giants never expected to have any. But the Giants are indeed in must-win mode as they visit the Redskins tonight. The 5-0 start belongs to another era, and now New York (7-6) needs a victory just to stay in a close third place behind Philadelphia and Dallas in the NFC East.

New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin is sticking with Bill Sheridan as his defensive coordinator. Hours after the defense gave another pitiful performance in a 45-38 loss to the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles, Coughlin yesterday gave Sheridan a vote of confidence, saying he was satisfied with the game plans developed by his rookie coordinator.

Where have we seen this before from the Washington Redskins? Oh yes, last year. Early last year. Late last year. During the middle of last year. And here are the Redskins again, leaving Giants Stadium after absorbing another solid beating. Yes, the Redskins moved within six points in the final minute of the game against the New York Giants. But that was too little, way too late.

PHILADELPHIA - Cole Hamels was relaxed, focused and in control. This was the Hamels the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans got used to seeing last postseason. Hamels pitched a two-hitter, Ryan Howard drove in the only run with a fourth-inning double, and the Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants 1-0 last night. Hamels (8-8) allowed a leadoff double to Ryan Garko in the second inning and a single to pinch-hitter Rich Aurilia to start the ninth. He struck out nine and walked one in his fourth career shutout and second this season. The left-hander extended his scoreless innings streak to 19, tying a career best, and won for the first time since July 28 against Arizona.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.—After blowing the final whistle to end a three-day minicamp on Thursday, New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin gathered his team in the corner of the fieldhouse and gave them a passionate 18-minute speech. The message? Do not forget the disappointment of 2008. Coming off a Super Bowl win, the Giants (12-4) posted the best record in the NFC and then flopped at home in their first playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Washington Redskins will open the 2009 season the same way they opened 2008 - in Giants Stadium. Much of the rest of the schedule looks similar as well, but the Redskins will hope for better results. They lost to the Giants 16-7 last season on their way to an 8-8 record and did not make the playoffs. “Though we are facing some of the same teams we played last year, those teams have a different look with new head coaches, coordinators and players they acquired this past offseason,“ coach Jim Zorn said in a statement released by the team.

NEW YORK - Plaxico Burress will return to court today in his gun-possession case as his lawyers and prosecutors haggle over a plea deal. At issue is what punishment the New York Giants star should face for accidentally shooting himself in a crowded nightclub last year. A law enforcement official with knowledge of the case said that Burress, a former star at Green Run-Virginia Beach, and prosecutors have been discussing a plea deal but remain at odds over the terms. The district attorney’s office is pushing for a stiffer punishment than what defense lawyers believe Burress deserves.

To Richard Malin, Plaxico Burress wasn’t a customer, he was an ordeal. It was 2002 when Burress, then playing for the Steelers, hired Malin, a home inspector, to look over a house he was buying in suburban Pittsburgh. Malin quoted Burress a price of just under $500 and got the job. He should’ve turned it down, Malin now says.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Super Bowl hero Plaxico Burress is done for the year. The New York Giants fined and suspended Burress yesterday for four games - the rest of the regular season - after he accidentally shot himself in the right thigh over the weekend at a Manhattan nightclub. The team also placed him on the reserve non-football injury list, which means the wide receiver couldn’t come back for playoffs, either.

Taken to court in handcuffs, Plaxico Burress posted $100,000 bail on weapons-possession charges yesterday as the frenzy grew around the Giants star receiver who accidentally shot himself in a nightclub. Authorities said teammate Antonio Pierce was being investigated over his role in the weekend shooting, while the Super Bowl-champion Giants weren’t sure what action they would take, if any, against Burress. The NFL said it was monitoring developments. Mayor Michael Bloomberg also weighed in, saying it would be an outrage “if we didn’t prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.“

At some point this afternoon, the New York Giants will put eight of their 11 defenders in “the box,“ the area directly in front of the offensive linemen. By doing so, they’ll be daring Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell to throw.

A lot has happened since Week 1 of the NFL season, but there’s still one constant: The New York Giants are tough to beat.