NFL: Giants batter Skins; Cowboys cut kicker

LANDOVER, Md. - Playing for their postseason lives, Eli Manning and the New York Giants were efficient, focused, and dominant last night.

The Giants kept themselves in the playoff hunt with a 45-12 rout of the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field.

Manning completed 19 of 26 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns, and Ahmad Bradshaw ran for two scores for the Giants (8-6), who are a game behind Dallas and Green Bay in the wild-card battle with two weeks left in the regular season.

The Giants marched downfield at will to take a 24-0 halftime lead. At one point in the second quarter, they held an advantage of 226 to minus-2 in total yards and a 16-0 dominance in first downs.

"We didn't show up," Washington fullback Mike Sellers said after the Redskins fell to 4-10.

Cowboys change kickers. The Dallas Cowboys cut placekicker Nick Folk and replaced him with Shaun Suisham, a former Cowboy.

Suisham kicked for Dallas in 2005 and '06. He was released by Washington on Dec. 8 after missing a key kick - the same problem that cost Folk his job.

Folk clanged the right upright on an easy 24-yarder that would have put away Saturday night's 24-17 victory against the unbeaten New Orleans Saints. Instead, the Dallas defense had to make one more stand against one of the league's best offenses.

Folk leads the NFL with 10 misses, going 18 for 28 and missing seven of his last 11 attempts.

Suisham was released by the Redskins after he missed a short field goal against New Orleans, which rallied to win in overtime. For his career, Suisham is 85 of 107 (79.4 percent) on field goals.

Holmgren joins Browns. Mike Holmgren, 61, has decided to see if he can fix the Cleveland Browns.

The Super Bowl-winning coach accepted an offer to become the club's president, joining a franchise that needs a major makeover after a decade of losing.

Owner Randy Lerner said the sides reached an agreement yesterday. Lerner said current president Mike Keenan would take the role of chief financial officer.

Holmgren is coming to Cleveland strictly in an executive role. There is a chance he will bring in a general manager to help him.

It was still not known what effect Holmgren's hiring would have on first-year coach Eric Mangini, who improved to 3-11 Sunday with a 41-34 win over Kansas City.

Meanwhile, former general manager George Kokinis has filed for arbitration against the team for firing him Nov. 2. He filed the case with commissioner Roger Goodell, alleging breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation. The case could be heard by Goodell.

General counsel Fred Nance said the team was aware of Kokinis' filing. "We've received it and are reviewing it," Nance said through a team spokesman.

Childress vs. Favre. A day after their first public spat, Minnesota coach Brad Childress said he was thinking only about Brett Favre's safety against a ferocious Carolina pass rush when he considered removing him Sunday night though the Vikings had a one-point lead in the third quarter.

"I'm watching, and I said, 'Hey, you know what? I'm thinking about taking you out of the game here,' " Childress said. " 'I mean, you're getting your rear end kicked.' Through not a lot of fault of his own."

After the 26-7 loss to the lowly Panthers, Favre was asked about an animated exchange he had with Childress in the third quarter.

"Yeah, there was a heated discussion, I guess you would call it," Favre said. "We were up 7-6 at the time. No secret, I was getting hit a little bit. I felt the pressure on a lot of plays.

"We had seven points. So I think everyone in the building was like, 'They're not moving the ball, they're not getting points.' Brad wanted to go in a different direction and I wanted to stay in the game."

Favre remained in the game and finished 17 of 27 for 224 yards, with no touchdowns and an interception.

Grieving Bengals. Cincinnati chartered a flight to New Orleans to attend wide receiver Chris Henry's funeral today.

Henry died from injuries Thursday in North Carolina, a day after he fell out of the back of a pickup truck during what police described as a domestic dispute with his fiancee.

Police in Charlotte said yesterday that they had not decided whether to charge Henry's fiancee, Loleini Tonga, in his death. Police said she was driving the truck.

Injuries. Defensive end Adewale Ogunleye of the Chicago Bears will miss the rest of the season because of a fracture in his lower left leg. He was hurt in a 31-7 loss at Baltimore on Sunday. . . . Tampa Bay rookie receiver Sammie Stroughter will miss the rest of the season after breaking his right foot in the Buccaneers' 24-7 win in Seattle. . . . The Arizona Cardinals said left tackle Mike Gandy underwent surgery Friday in Philadelphia to repair a sports hernia. The recovery is expected to take three to six weeks. . . . The Pittsburgh Steelers said wide receiver Limas Sweed and long-snapper Greg Warren would miss the rest of the season. Sweed is on the reserve non-football-illness list. Warren has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. . . . Seahawks long snapper Kevin Houser was in a Seattle-area hospital recovering from a collapsed lung.

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Lardarius Webb will miss the rest of the season with a torn ligament in his right knee. . . . Tennessee Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck has a torn left anterior cruciate ligament and will miss the rest of the season; outside linebacker David Thornton will have season-ending shoulder surgery later this week. . . . The St. Louis Rams put tight end Daniel Fells (fractured right thigh bone) on injured reserve. Cornerback Quincy Butler is doubtful for their remaining games with left knee and ankle sprains.