EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz, who struggled getting in synch with quarterback Eli Manning, came up with a late 77-yard touchdown reception Sunday to give New York a 27-23 win over the Washington Redskins at MetLife Stadium.
The go-ahead scoring drive, which took all of two plays and 19 seconds with less than two minutes remaining, pushed the Giants’ record to 5-2. New York had lost each of its previous two games within the NFC East. Washington fell to 3-4.
After Washington had taken a 23-20 lead with 1:38 left, Manning tried to connect with Bradshaw on a first-and-10 from the New York 23. After that pass fell incomplete, Manning hit Cruz, who went down the right sideline for the winning touchdown.
“As I was going vertical, I saw that the safeties were wide and they were outside of the numbers, and I saw the middle of the field wide open so I just kept going vertical, and Eli saw it the same way,” Cruz said of his game-winning touchdown reception.
Washington’s final drive ended with a fumble by Santana Moss after a reception. Giants cornerback Jayron Hosley recovered the ball with 29 seconds left, sealing the win.
The seesaw battle was tied 13-13 at halftime, but in the third quarter, the Giants’ defense began to break the game open by getting after Redskins rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III and by doing a better job against the run.
“I think our coaches did a good job of coming in and making subtle adjustments,” said defensive end Justin Tuck, who finished with six tackles (four solo), one sack, one tackle for a loss, and two quarterback hits. “We kind of figured out how they were doing different things as far as a lot of different motioning with the H-back. That kind of threw off how we wanted to set the front (because) they had an extra man, so we just made that adjustment and improved well going forward.”
New York sacked Griffin three times, forcing five fumbles and recovering three of the loose balls to help interrupt Washington’s momentum.
“We had turnovers today, and there are no excuses for that,” said Griffin. “Like I told guys after the game, we still had a chance to win it at the end of the game.”
The one Redskins miscue that seemed to turn the game around for New York was safety Stevie Brown’s 41-yard interception return of a pass intended for tight end Logan Paulsen, which Brown returned to the Redskins’ 35-yard line.
“It was just a miscommunication between me and Logan,” Griffin said of the interception. “Like I told him, I have the ball in my hands and shouldn’t have thrown it. Once I pulled it back, I should have moved onto my next read or thrown the ball away. So that’s my fault, not his fault.”
That turnover set the stage for New York’s go-ahead drive, which cumulated in a one-yard touchdown run by Ahmad Bradshaw at the start of the fourth quarter to give the Giants a 20-13 lead.
After the Redskins closed the scoring gap on another field goal by Kai Forbath, Washington took the lead on the second of Moss’ two touchdown receptions. The 30-yard catch put the Redskins up 23-20 with 1:38 to play.
The Giants will look to even their record against division opponents next week when they visit the Dallas Cowboys, who beat New York 24-17 in Week 1.
NOTES: Redskins tight end Fred Davis had to leave the game in the first quarter with a left Achilles injury. Davis is the team’s leading receiver. … The Giants, who came up with two takeaways in the second half, have now recorded at least one takeaway in 36 of their last 38 games. … Manning was sacked in the fourth quarter for the first time in three games. It was the only time he was taken down by Washington. … Redskins middle linebacker London Fletcher suffered a right hamstring injury and did not return to the game.