Giants stand alone atop the NFC East.
Jason Sehorn had 2 interceptions, returning one for a touchdown.
Damon Washington stood out, gaining 90 yards on 25 carries.
Michael Strahan got his 4th sack of the season, and forced a fumble.
Kerry Collins was 15-29 for 177 yards, 1 TD and 2 Ints.
Morten Andersen kicked 3 field goals.

That halftime score was pretty disappointing.
"Which one was supposed to be the 'struggling team', the Giants or the Redskins? I mean, I wouldn't have expected that the Redskins, after giving up over a hundred points in their first three games, would be able to hold the Giants without a touchdown throughout the whole first half. It was 9-6, and they kept the Giants off the scoreboard throughout the third quarter and then tied it up. That was pretty bad on our part, especially since the Redskins lost Bruce Smith on their first defensive play of the game."

Washington couldn't stop Washington.
"That's one way to put it. Damon Washington did lift the Giants running game. They started feeding him the ball almost every play in the third quarter after Dayne was out. Collins even hit him with a 16 yard pass on that drive that ended when they went for it on fourth down. I thought it was a strange call since the Giants were up 9-6, and after five straight field goals today, why not kick another and make it 12-6? Instead, Collins got sacked on the fourth and five and Washington drove and got the field goal instead to tie the game at 9-9."

Damon Washington came up big on that next series as well.
"He was the main force and got us all the way down to the one. Everyone around me wanted to see him punch it in after moving the ball downfield, but maybe that was expected by the defense as well. The Giants had to back off the run and Collins passed the ball to Campbell in the endzone for the first touchdown of the game."

It ain't over till it's over.
"That's the way it goes with Giants games. The Giants were up by 7, but Washington kept coming back at us, like they did all day long. If you only heard the final score, you wouldn't think twice about this game, but just like last week against the Saints, we had to worry about the opposing team scoring in the final minutes of the game."

Jason Sehorn took care of that problem.
"He sure did. Jason took all the tension away by getting his second interception of the day, and running it into the endzone for a touchdown. Thank you Jason!"

You said the Redskins would be tough for the Giants.
"They had the 31st-ranked defense and the 31st-ranked offense The coach released their starting quarterback after Week 2. In three games they've been outscored 112-16, true to their history, they're still able to come in and give the Giants a run for it."

This was Ron Dayne's chance to carry the team against a weak defense.
"With Tiki Barber sitting it out for today, it was supposed to be Ron Dayne's big day. It was a chance to see what he can do having it all to himself, but after 16 rushes for 39 yards, he had to leave the game with a sprained neck, and Damon Washington stole the show. Up to now, Damon had only 1 carry for 1 yard in two NFL seasons. Splitting time with Dayne in the first half, Damon carried 3 times for 10 yards, but then he became the workhorse, and finished with 25 carries for 90 yards.

Collins didn't have much of a game.
"Collins hasn't had much of a season. I don't know what the deal is, but if the Giants weren't winning these games despite his performance, the reporters and fans would be looking around for some backup to step in. Collins has tossed 9 interceptions in the last 5 football games he's played in, and he's barely completed more than half his passes in the last two games. For this season, leaving out that Super Bowl game, Kerry has only 4 touchdown passes in four games, but also has 5 interceptions."

Collins seemed to be under a lot of pressure today.
"OK, I'll give that there was some of that, but Kerry was throwing against the 24th-worst rated defense against the pass, and with Bruce Smith knocked out of the game from the start. One of his interceptions gave the Redskins a first down at the 33 with 4:49 left, and a chance to tie it up. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes next week with an even better running game with Tiki Barber back. Also, now the Giants have discovered a new weapon in Damon Washington, and can figure a way to work him in."

Anything else?
At times the play calling was strange. It was mostly on one series where they had Collins do a toss back to Ron Dayne, and he lost a yard. Why do they do plays like that? Then, shades of former Jets coach Joe Walton, there was that draw play on a third down and twenty one."

The Giants now have the best record in the NFC East.
"That's one advantage to watching the game on TV. I was able to catch the last minute of the Cards - Eagles game and I saw that last second play that put the Cards ahead. That was icing on the cake after watching the Giants game."

Early Stats

Passing
Giants - Kerry Collins 15-29 for 177 yards 1 TD, 2 INT.
Wash - Tony Banks 13-30 for 149 yards 2 INT.

Rushing
Giants - Damon Washington 25-90, Ron Dayne 16-39, Amani Toomer 1-9, Greg Comella 2-6, Kerry Collins 2-minus 2.
Wash - Stephen Davis 12-39, Donnell Bennett 2-10, Michael Westbrook 1-8, Tony Banks 2-0.

Receiving
Giants - Amani Toomer 7-97, Greg Comella 3-30, Ike Hilliard 2-21, Damon Washington 1-16, Joe Jurevicius 1-12, Dan Campbell 1-1.
Wash - Stephen Alexander 5-45, Michael Westbrook 4-34, Rod Gardner 2-68, Donnell Bennett 1-4, Stephen Davis 1-0.

Net yards rushing
Giants - 135
Wash - 56

Net yards passing
Giants - 175
Wash - 124

Interceptions
Giants - Jason Sehorn (2-34)
Wash - Ifeanyi Ohalete (1-12) Sam Shade (1-0)

Kick-off Returns
Giants - Ron Dixon (2-32) Marcellus Rivers (1-11)
Wash - Michael Bates (3-92) Ki-Jana Carter (3-67)

Punt Returns
Giants - Amani Toomer (3-12)
Wash - Kevin Lockett (1-11) Central McClellion (1-0)

Time of Possession
Giants - 38:31
Wash - 21:29

Tackles (tackles-assists-sacks)
Giants - Michael Barrow 6-2-0, Cornelius Griffin 6-1-1.5, Jason Sehorn 5-1-0, Kenny Holmes 3-1-0, Shaun Williams 3-1-0, Michael Strahan 3-1-1.5, Keith Hamilton 2-2-1, Jessie Armstead 2-2-0, Sam Garnes 1-1-0, Will Allen 1-1-0, Brandon Short 1-0-0, Will Peterson 0-1-0.
Wash - Kenard Lang 11-2-0, Lavar Arrington 10-2-0, Kevin Mitchell 8-2-0, Keith Lyle 6-1-1, David Terrell 5-1-0, Sam Shade 3-3-0, Champ Bailey 3-1-0, Dan Wilkinson 2-2-0, Jauron Dailey 2-0-0, Del Cowsette 1-1-0, Jerry Deloach 1-0-0, Eddie Mason 0-1-0.

Scoring:

1ST QUARTER:
NYG - FG (8:19) Play: Morten Andersen 50 Yard Drive: 8 plays, 29 yards in 3:47 Key Plays: • Dayne 11-yard run to midfield • Collins 12-yard pass to Jurevicius to Washington 35 GIANTS 3-0
WASH - FG (11:32) Play: Brett Conway 35 Yard Drive: 4 plays, 3 yards in 1:30 Key Plays: • Pierce recovery of Toomer fumble at New York 20 • S Davis 4-yard run to New York 16 WASH 3, GIANTS 3
2ND QUARTER:
NYG - FG (0:51) Play: Morten Andersen 26 Yard Drive: 4 plays, 6 yards in 1:03 Key Plays: • Holmes recovery of Banks fumble at Washington 14 • Collins 7-yard pass to Hilliard to Washington 8 GIANTS 6-3
WASH - FG (3:35) Play: Brett Conway 55 Yard Drive: 6 plays, 18 yards in 2:44 Key Plays: • Davis 6-yard run to New York 48 • Davis 7-yard run to New York 41 • Banks 5-yard pass to Westbrook to New York 36 WASH 6, GIANTS 6
NYG - FG - (14:20) Play: Morten Andersen 22 Yard Drive: 7 plays, 66 yards in 1:41 Key Plays: • Collins 22-yard pass to Toomer to Washington 47 • 18-yard pass interference penalty on Redskins' Smooth at Washington 29 • Collins 14-yard pass to Hilliard to Washington 15 • Dayne 7-yard run to Washington 3 GIANTS 9-6
3RD QUARTER:
WASH - FG (11:31) Play: Brett Conway 41 Yard Drive: 7 plays, 40 yards in 2:39 Key Plays: • Banks 21-yard pass to Alexander to New York 46 • Banks 6-yard pass to Westbrook to New York 40 • Westbrook 8-yard run to New York 32 • Banks 5-yard pass to Alexander to New York 22 WASH 9, NY GIANTS 9
4TH QUARTER:
NYG - TD (2:01) Play: Dan Campbell 1 Yard Pass From Kerry Collins (Morten Andersen Kick) Drive: 10 plays, 71 yards in 5:30 Key Plays: • Washington 15-yard run to New York 44 • Collins 20-yard pass to Comella to Washington 23 • Washington 22-yard run to Washington 1 GIANTS 16-9
NYG - TD (12:03) Play: Jason Sehorn 34 Yard Interception Return (Morten Andersen Kick) GIANTS 23-9

Notes
Giants are 22-12 at home under head coach Jim Fassel.

Giants are 27-1 under Fassel when leading at halftime.

Washington defensive end, Bruce Smith, dislocated his right shoulder in the 1st quarter. He was hurt on the Giants' first play from scrimmage.

There were 8 fumbles in this game, 5 by the Redskins and 3 by the Giants.

Next Game
Giants at St. Louis Oct 14 at 1:00 pm.

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