EAST RUTHERFORD — You think covering Odell Beckham Jr. was impossible? You should have listened to the Redskins cornerbacks try to explain that they really weren't as overmatched as they looked against him.

Seriously. They actually tried to do this. You know the old cliché that a cornerback needs a short memory? Well, these guys must misplace their car keys quite a bit, because they couldn't seem to remember that Beckham beat them in virtually every way imaginable in a football game.

This was an exchange between Beckham's biggest victim, Redskins' cornerback Bashaud Breeland, and longtime Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell in the locker room after the 24-13 Giants win:

Boswell: That's the second most receptions a Giants receiver has ever had in the history of the franchise and he scored three touchdowns. Wouldn't you think there would be some adjustments, that you'd get some help as the game went on?

Breeland: Help?

Boswell: Yeah. Help.

Breeland: You say I needed help?

Boswell: Do you think you needed help?

Breeland: I don't. I don't think I need help.

To be clear: Breeland didn't just need help trying to cover Beckham during his 12-catch, 143-yard, three-touchdown performance. You worried that he might need a different kind of help dealing with the emotional scars when it was over.

So I figured I would see what it was like on the other side. The Redskins limited the Giants to 49 rushing yards on 22 carries. They outgained the Giants 372-287, and held the ball for five minutes more.

They might have actually won a game for a change, if they had anybody on the roster capable of covering Beckham. Then again, even when they did cover him well, Beckham still scored. He managed to hold onto the first touchdown catch with cornerback E.J. Biggers in his face. At least he used two hands this time.

His second touchdown, on a 35-yard slant pattern, came when the Redskins were confused in a zone defense. "Odell Beckham is hard enough to cover when you do it the right way," safety Ryan Clark said.

His third touchdown came after Breeland actually made a play to knock the ball away from Beckham in the end zone – "It's going to give me trouble sleeping at night," he said – but it didn't matter. Beckham scored easily on the very next play, then celebrated by pretending to warm his hands over the football.

It was as good a performance from a Giants receiver in the long history of the franchise. And if you were on the wrong side of it? I guess Denial is a river in Washington, too, and the entire Redskins secondary was swimming in it.

“It ain't different than any other wideout,” Breeland said. “It was a good matchup. I wanted to come out and play aggressive against him. He made plays. I made plays. … He's a very good receiver. And he's going to be one for a lot of years to come.”

At least he was right about that last part.

Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.