OVERTIME: Giants 24 – Redskins 21
LANDOVER, Md. – Can a precious win be tarnished?
Can victory feel like defeat?
Are the Giants any good?
Who the heck knows.
What is certain is the Giants, after squandering and absolutely blowing a 21-3 halftime lead, survived a potential choke-job yesterday. Matt Bryant nailed a 29-yard field goal with 10:45 left in overtime to allow the Giants to stagger out of FedEx Field with a shaky and somewhat troubling 24-21 victory over the Redskins.
Bryant, who missed a 37-yard field goal with 4:10 left in regulation that could have extended the Giants’ lead to 24-10, made good on the game-winner six days after his kickoff out of bounds was the main reason his team lost 35-32 in overtime to the Cowboys.
The winning drive started back on the Giants’ 6-yard line, but several big throws by Kerry Collins, who tossed three first-half touchdown passes, and a key run-and-catch by little-used fullback Jim Finn set Bryant up.
Before that, the Giants had allowed 18 unanswered points to nearly turn sure victory into harrowing defeat.
The Redskins (2-1) tied the game with 13 seconds left in regulation on John Hall’s 34-yard field goal.
The once-commanding lead was nearly gone when Patrick Ramsey tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Rod Gardner with 2:27 remaining. Down 21-16, the Redskins went for two. Ramsey bought time for himself and found Darnerien McCants for the conversion. The Giants had allowed 15 straight points and couldn’t manage a first down, handing the ball back to the Skins.
The Giants, showing no residue from their heartbreaking loss six days earlier, rolled to a 21-3 halftime lead behind three Collins touchdown passes, two to Ike Hilliard and one to Amani Toomer. But, this being the Giants, control was lost and the game got exceedingly difficult. The Giants’ offense stopped humming and the Redskins got moving, closing to within 21-10 on Ramsey’s 4-yard pass to McCants with 3:47 left in the third quarter.
The Redskins tried to close the gap even further, but John Hall, the ex-Jet, missed his second field goal of the game, this one from 49 yards out with 9:29 remaining.
To ensure there would be no comeback, the Giants used a 26-yard pass interference penalty on cornerback Fred Smoot – who was toasted early and often by Hilliard – to set up Bryant’s 37-yard field goal with 4:10 left. Bryant missed, wide right, to keep hope alive for the Skins.
The Redskins took a 3-0 lead on Hall’s 42-yard field goal and the Giants sure looked a bit shaky as they fell behind. But not for long. Collins heated up and completed six of seven safe passes, including three to Hilliard and two to Jeremy Shockey. On the second Shockey reception, he beat safety Ifeanyi Ohalete and shed a Smoot tackle attempt for 16 yards. That set up Collins 5-yard TD strike to Hilliard, who twisted around linebacker Jeremiah Trotter at the goal line.
Shockey was again a catalyst for an impressive 80-play drive that that was triggered when he made a remarkable one-handed grab of a pass thrown behind him, angling past linebacker LaVar Arrington as he reached back with hit right arm and snared the ball for a 22-yard gain. On second-and-20 after a holding penalty on Luke Petitgout, Collins and Toomer hooked up on a highlight-film maneuver that left Champ Bailey, a Pro Bowl cornerback, wondering what hit him.
Toomer, streaking down the left sideline, expertly slowed when he saw that Collins’ pass was slightly underthrown. He brushed by Bailey, made the grab on the 10-yard line and then ran over Bailey to complete a 54-yard scoring play with 5:41 left in the second quarter.