LANDOVER, Md. – All they had built to get here – the retribution for what had been a downtrodden defense, the personal turn-around for Plaxico Burress, the comeback engineered by Eli Manning, the fight out of a 17-3 hole in a most hostile of surroundings, the raw fear of falling to an 0-3 abyss – it all was about to unravel for the Giants as they frantically searched for their first victory.
A run of 21 unanswered points had shocked a record crowd of 90,803 at FedEx Field, thrusting the Giants into a 24-17 lead. But now things were getting sticky.
Redskin quarterback Jason Campbell was piecing together a drive, and on third-and-13 he found Antwaan Randle El for 20 yards, and suddenly the Skins had first-and-goal on the Giant 1-yard line, with slightly less than a minute remaining and not a single timeout left.
One yard. That was all there was standing in the way of an inspiring victory or a dreaded plummet into the treacherous uncertainty of overtime.
“We came in here basically telling ourselves we need to win or that’s probably the end of our season right there,” surmised defensive end Justin Tuck.
For a defense that had allowed an NFL-high 80 points in the first two losses, this had the makings of an impossible challenge, even after stopping the Redskins stone-cold in a second half dominated by the Giants.
“Everything we’ve been taught since day one has to come into play – great tackling and getting off the ball,” safety Gibril Wilson said. “Everything has to be perfect down there.”
The imperfect defense played a perfect series and, four downs later, after some questionable time management by the Redskins and a final haul-down of a slipping Ladell Betts by Tuck, the Giants were dancing off the field, no longer winless after resuscitating their season with a 24-17 triumph dripping with improbability.
“That’s an amazing way to win a game,” Manning gushed.
Added Tuck: “To win a game like this, and we needed a fourth-down play on the goal line, you can’t write a story better than that.”
The story was in real danger of needing a re-write with the Skins surging for the tie. Campbell, on first down, with 51 seconds left, followed some debatable orders from his sideline and spiked the ball, wasting a down to stop the clock. He then looked for Mike Sellers, but the fullback was blanketed by linebacker Kawika Mitchell and the pass fell incomplete.
The Giants knew what was coming next.
“Of course they were going to come to my side,” defensive end Osi Umenyiora said. “Where else were they going to go? I was like, well, it’s now or never.”
Running to the right side of the Giant defense – away from Michael Strahan – proved to be the wrong way for the Skins. The 225-pound Betts – and not starter Clinton Portis – was the choice, and on third down Betts was dragged down by Mitchell.
On fourth down, with 25 seconds to go, Betts never got untracked and as he slipped Tuck was there, with rookie Aaron Ross also charging in, to finally allow the Giants to exhale.
“We kept fighting on the road against a very good team, a 2-0 team,” Giant coach Tom Coughlin said.
Said Umenyiora: “Especially to stop ’em like that, a goal-line stand, greatest feeling in the world.”
The Giants got off the canvas to win this one. The Redskins (2-1) scored 17 straight points to go ahead 17-3 at halftime. A Manning fumble off a blind-side hit by Andre Carter – who raced past left tackle David Diehl – led to the first Redskin TD, and a 49-yard pass to Santana Moss led to the second.
Burress dropped three passes in the first half and, by his own admission, was terrible. But he awakened in the third quarter, as did his offensive teammates.
A 21-yard pass to Jeremy Shockey led to the first of two one-yard scoring bursts by Reuben Droughns as the Giants took the opening kickoff of the second half and closed the deficit to 17-10.
A highlight-reel 33-yard scoring catch-and-run by Burress with 5:32 left gave the Giants their winning points and then they hung on, with one yard to spare.
“I think,” Umenyiora said, “this is the beginning of something good.”