Giants defense goes all out with another shutdown performance
LANDOVER, Md. — Somebody forgot to tell the Giants defense the Giants had nothing to play for Sunday afternoon.
The Big Blue D treated this meaningless regular-season finale against the Redskins like a playoff game, holding one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses firmly in check and ending Washington’s season with a 19-10 victory.
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie’s second interception of Kirk Cousins with 1:27 left sealed the Redskins’ fate and was a pleasing capper to another phenomenal defensive performance by the Giants.
“We felt like we had something to play for,” said Rodgers-Cromartie, who triggered a $500,000 personal bonus with his first interception of the game. “We treated this like a playoff game, because we had to go on the road in a hostile environment. It’s good to have an experience like that under our belt.”
Washington began the day sixth in the NFL in scoring, third in total offense and second in passing offense but could do nothing until very late against the pumped-up Giants defense — and it still wasn’t enough.
The 10 points were a season low for the Redskins, and the Giants held the Redskins to just 282 total yards and 38 rushing yards. It was just the second time all year Washington had been held to fewer than 300 total yards, and the Redskins’ rushing total was a season low.
Those numbers were in keeping with a Giants defense that continued to hit its stride in the second half of the season. Not only were the 38 rushing yards the fewest allowed by Big Blue all year, but they also held an opponent under 300 yards for the third time in the past four games.
“That’s our mindset: defense wins championships,” said safety Landon Collins, who had a team-high eight tackles and one of the four sacks. “We want to be the best defense in the league, and — boom — we’re going to keep running for it.”
The Giants looked like they would hold Washington without an offensive touchdown for the first time all year until Cousins hit Jordan Reed with a 1-yard touchdown pass with 8:13 left in the game, but all that play ended up doing was firing up Spagnuolo’s unit even more.
The Giants forced two turnovers after Reed’s score, with the biggest one being Rodgers-Cromartie’s second pick of Cousins when he stepped in front of Pierre Garcon at the New York 25.
The Giants were particularly merciless with Cousins, harassing him all afternoon and sacking him four times. Three of those sacks were by defensive backs as defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo unleashed the blitz on Washington’s veteran quarterback.
Coach Ben McAdoo said all last week that his team would treat this game as if a playoff berth wasn’t already wrapped up, and the defense went out and backed up the boss’ words from the outset.
The same couldn’t be said for Eli Manning and the still-struggling offense, which remained stuck in the mud — a worrisome sign heading into the postseason — and failed to reach the 20-point mark for the fifth consecutive game.
But McAdoo was serious about playing to win on defense, even having banged-up cornerback Janoris Jenkins — still slowed by a back injury — play the entire first half before coming out.
“A physical, hard-nosed win on the road,” McAdoo said. “That’s exactly what we needed coming in here.”