Giants hold on to win over Washington 27-21.
Kerry Collins completed 17 of 31 passes for 212 yards, and 2 TDs.
Cornelius Griffin had 6 solo tackles and 3 sacks.
Tiki Barber rushed 20 times for 96 yards and 1 touchdown.
Amani Toomer had 4 catches for 60 yards.
Jeremy Shockey had 5 catches for 89 yards.
Ralph Brown recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass.

The Giants win and go to 7-6.
"I don't know why I was so involved and excited by this game. I mean the Giants were 6-6 coming into it, and have almost no chance of making it to the playoffs. I guess no matter what happens, you know it's going to be a close game. They were up 17-3 at the half, and still it all comes down to the very last play of the game with only seconds left on the clock. If a Redskin player catches the ball, they tie and then win after kicking the extra point. If the Giants knock the ball away, then they win instead."

You always get your money's worth with the Giants.
"You sure do. The players never quit on this team, and there's always the fun of watching Jeremy Shockey. When he's not involved with making an exciting catch, he's doing something like rushing over to Amani Toomer, and yelling at him to spike the ball after making a touchdown catch. Toomer handed Shockey the ball and they kept talking back and forth, until another player ended the discussion by grabbing the ball and spiking it to the ground. What a show!"

So you don't think the Giants have a shot at the playoffs?
"Well, with this win, now I'll be sure to catch the Eagles game, and I'll be looking out to see how New Orleans and Atlanta do. By the way, everyone's been picking on my favorite player, Jason Sehorn, but he had the most tackles last game, and he was the one who knocked the ball away on the last play of this game."

Give us the rundown.
"The Giants played a good first half. They were leading 17-3, and all the Redskins efforts at that point led to just a punt, a missed field goal, a fumble, another fumble, an interception, and a field goal. Washington got off to a fast start in the third quarter, taking the ball to the Giants 19, but they drew a 15 yard penalty. After two sacks on Danny Wuerffel, the Redskins had to punt from the Giants 43, and they downed it at the Giants 2 yard line.
Two rushes and a pass to Ron Dayne got the ball to the 8 yard line, and Matt Allen was forced to punt from the endzone. Allen did a nice job of it, and even with a 7 yard return by Champ Bailey, the ball was at the Washington 43. Wuerffel was sacked for the fourth time, and he fumbled the ball. Stephen Davis recovered it for Washington, but Wuerffel was hurt."

That's when they brought in quarterback Patrick Ramsey.
"Ramsey sparked the Redskins. He got sacked along the way, but got them to the Giants 25 where a 44 yard field goal by Jose Cortez put the score at 17-6. The Giants got nowhere, and after Stephen Davis rushed for 33 yards, Ramsey completed the drive with a 13 yard touchdown pass to Rod Gardner. He capped that off with a 2 point pass to Chris Doering, cutting the Giants lead to just 3 points.
Then it was hard to believe that a kickoff returned by Delvin Joyce for 45 yards, to midfield, resulted in no points for the Giants. That's when Giants fans became familiar with Kato Serwanga, because he recovered Champ Bailey's muffed fair catch at the Redskins 21. A Kerry Collins pass across the middle to Jeremy Shockey for 21 yards, and a 1 yard Tiki Barber run for a touchdown gave the Giants some breathing room."

There were a number of unfamiliar names heard in this game.
"Three players made their first career NFL starts for the Giants on defense, Kevin Lewis, Nick Greisen, and Ralph Brown. Most Giant fans hadn't heard of Kato Serwanga, who was released from the Redskins injured reserve list just last week. The Giants picked him up, and he turned out to be instrumental in this game, coming in when Reggie Stephens suffered a concussion.
Champ Bailey misplayed a punt by Matt Allen, and ran up to catch it signaling for a fair catch. He dropped the ball, and it was Serwanga who came up with it. Ramsey kept the Redskins in this game with some long passes, and late in the fourth quarter, trailing by only 6, Ramsey had completed a 12 yard pass to the Giants 30, but here comes Serwanga, batting the ball loose while tackling Darnerian McCants.
Of course, the Giants wouldn't dare ruin your suspense and run the 4 minutes and change off the clock. They had to let Washington have one last shot, and the game was finally over when Jason Sehorn batted the ball away in the endzone."

Giants played without five starters, out because of injuries: cornerbacks, Will Allen (shoulder) and William Peterson (concussion), linebackers Mike Barrow (concussion) and Dhani Jones (ankle), and flanker Ron Dixon (knee).

Giants had a season-high 6 sacks and forced 5 turnovers.

Defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin had a career best 3 sacks after missing the last two games with a sprained ankle.
Linebackers Brandon Short, Kevin Lewis and rookie Nick Greisen also had sacks. For Greisen and Lewis it was the first sack of their careers.

Tiki Barber's 43 yard run in the second quarter put him over the 1000 yard mark for the season.
Tiki Barber now has 1,042 yards for the season, a new career high, topping the 1,006 he had in 2000.

In two games vs. the Redskins, Jeremy Shockey has 16 catches for 200 yards, including 5 for 89 in this game.

The Redskins (5-8) lost for the fourth time in five games.
They were officially eliminated from playoff contention.
They remained winless against NFC East opponents and ensured they will not have a winning record in Steve Spurrier's first season as an NFL head coach.

Next Game
Dec 15, Dallas at Giants, 4:15 PM

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