rely on the ongoing CBA talks. Free agents Roster Staff Staff changes On March 9, 2011 the assistant special teams Thomas McGaughey accepted a job at LSU as special teams/defensive line coach of their football team. He had been with the Giants since 2007. On June 24, 2011 it was reported that Larry Izzo would become the Giants' new assistant special teams coach once the NFL Lockout had ceased. Schedule Preseason The Giants' preseason schedule was announced on April 12, 2011. § – Due to Hurricane Irene, the Week 3 preseason game against the Jets was moved up to 2:00 p.m. from the originally scheduled time of 7:00 p.m. (EDT). Then, later in the evening of August 26, the game was rescheduled to Monday, August 29 at 7:00 pm. EDT Regular season Standings Regular season results Week 1: at Washington Redskins The Giants opened the 2011 season where they had finished the 2010 season, on the road at FedExField against their division rival Washington Redskins to mark the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001; both teams' cities were attacked by the terrorists that day. New York had not lost to Washington in the regular season in their last six meetings, but fell in this meeting 28–14. After scoring two first-quarter touchdowns and taking a 14–7 lead, the Giants failed to score again. A Ryan Kerrigan interception return in the third quarter put the Redskins in front and a defensive stop gave the Redskins the ball back. They added an insurance score in the fourth quarter when Rex Grossman found Jabar Gaffney in the end zone and iced the game. Grossman threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns, while Eli Manning threw for 268 with the one interception. Week 2: vs. St. Louis Rams The Giants' home opener was played on Monday night and they took a 28–16 victory over the NFC West runners-up from the previous year. The Rams, coached by former Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, took an early lead on a Josh Brown field goal, but that would be their only lead as Eli Manning hit Hakeem Nicks and Domenik Hixon for touchdowns. A Michael Boley fumble return added to that and gave New York a 21–6 lead at the half. St. Louis' only touchdown came in the third quarter as Bradford found Alexander to cut the Giants' lead to 28–16, where the game finished. Manning finished with