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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) -- The New York Giants finally won as
underdogs, returning to first place in the NFC East with a defense
that turned the big-money Washington Redskins from favorites into
flops.
In a throwback to cold-weather, defense-dominated, pound-it-out
football, the Giants held Stephen Davis to 29 yards and chased Brad
Johnson out of the game in Sunday's 9-7 victory.
|  | | Brad Daluiso kicked three field goals for the Giants, the longest for 46 yards. |
"There were a lot of things said about us," safety Sam Garnes
said. "So we were just looking forward to going out there and
proving everyone wrong and showing ourselves that we can be a
playoff team. We've still got a long way to go, but it's right
there for us."
Brad Daluiso kicked three field goals for the Giants (9-4), who
have been maligned for beating the bad teams and mostly losing to
the good ones. They are now 2-0 since coach Jim Fassel guaranteed a
playoff berth.
"We gave the game ball to him because he took everything on his
back and took the pressure off us," Garnes said. "And we played
like that."
Meanwhile, the Redskins (7-6) are on the verge of elimination,
and coach Norv Turner is on the brink of losing his job. The most
expensive roster in NFL history lost for the fourth time in five
games with another unfocused performance, especially on offense.
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TOM DONAHOE'S BREAKDOWN |
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Question on the Giants: Can the Giants finally say they've beaten a
good team?
Donahoe: The Giants can finally lay claim to beating a good team as
they went on the road today and defeated the Redskins. This is the first
time the Giants have won a game in FedEx Field. This victory will go a long
way toward getting the Giants into the playoffs. Today's game featured
old-fashioned, smash-mouthed football. The Giants did an excellent job
stopping running back Stephen
Davis and quarterback Brad Johnson. The Giants took them both out of the Redskins' offensive game
plan. The Giants need to pay less attention to what the media says about
them and concentrate on their football team -- which appears to be very
good.
Question on the Redskins: What is Daniel Snyder's top priority? New
coach or new kicker?
Donahoe: Daniel Snyder's top priority in the offseason was to buy a
Super Bowl team. With today's loss, the Redskins are in real danger of not
even making the playoffs. The kicking situation has been a joke all year,
and it continued in the same vein today. Eddie Murray missed two makable
field goals. This team is a far cry from the preseason Super Bowl hype, and
in this kind of situation the coach usually gets blamed. But the kicking
game may cost the Redskins a shot at the playoffs.
Tom Donahoe, ESPN.com's NFL analyst, was formerly the Steelers' director
of football operations.
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It wasn't until Jeff George replaced Johnson with eight minutes
to play that the Redskins came to life. George led a 97-yard
touchdown drive and another drive to the Giants 30 in the final
minute, but Eddie Murray was short on a 49-yard field attempt with
50 seconds to play.
"That's as poorly as we've performed offensively as long as I
can remember," said Turner, who indicated that George will start
next week. "We weren't able to block. We struggled to execute some
pretty basic things."
Asked if he thought he would be fired this week, Turner said:
"You're asking the wrong guy."
Owner Dan Snyder has said the Redskins must repeat as division
champions for Turner to keep his job, which would require winning
the last three and getting unlikely help from other teams. Both
Philadelphia and the Giants hold the tiebreaker edge over the
Redskins.
The 44-year-old Murray, Washington's fourth kicker of the
season, hit the upright from 39 yards in the second quarter and was
short with the game on the line for the second consecutive week.
Murray didn't have the leg from 44 yards last week on an attempt
that would have sent a 23-20 loss to Philadelphia into overtime.
"I gave it my best shot," Murray said. He summed up his future
with the team by saying: "We'll wait and see tomorrow."
Johnson, making his first start after missing three games with a
knee injury, was 14-for-29 for 126 yards with two interceptions and
had seven consecutive incomplete passes at one stretch, but he was
harassed all afternoon.
Virtually every Giants defensive starter made an impact, from
the interceptions by Garnes and Emmanuel McDaniel to sacks by Mike
Barrow and Cornelius Griffin. There were plenty of batted balls,
near sacks and big hits in the game, in which temperatures dropped
below freezing with a wind chill of 3 degrees.
"It's like a pit bull once it tastes blood," Barrow said.
"The more the game went on, the more we kept feeling it."
The Giants won the game in part by winning the field position
battle. Eight of their 13 drives ended in Redskins territory.
The Giants took the lead at the end of the first half on two
consecutive drives, both starting near midfield, that resulted in
field goals of 46 and 27 yards. An exchange of interceptions in
Redskins territory set up Daluiso's third field goal, a 28-yarder
in the third quarter.
After Johnson's second interception, by McDaniel deep in Giants
territory, Turner went to George, who hit Thrash for 45 yards
before Irving Fryar caught a 5-yard touchdown pass with 4:48 to
play.
The Giants punted on their next possession, and the Redskins
started their final drive on their own 14 with 2:39 to play.
George completed four passes to get the ball downfield Thrash
then caught a pass at Giants 19, but a replay review showed he
trapped the ball, and the pass was ruled incomplete. Three plays
later, Murray's attempt fell short.
"We drove in here and saw the atmosphere, and I knew my team
was ready to go play," Fassel said.
Game notes
The Giants broke a four-game losing streak to the Redskins
and won for the first time at their 3-year-old stadium. ... The
Redskins' six losses have been by a total of 23 points. It was the
second loss of the season in which the Redskins didn't allow a
touchdown. ... The Giants are 6-1 against the NFC East and have won
28 in a row when leading after three quarters.
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ALSO SEE
NY Giants Clubhouse
Washington Clubhouse
D.C. follies: Redskins fire Turner as head coach
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jim Fassel is proud of the maximum effort his team has put out in the last few weeks.
avi: 1550 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Coach Norv Turner was disappointed with the Redskins' offensive performance.
wav: 116 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Offensive blunders have hampered the Redskins all year, according to Irving Fryar.
wav: 211 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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