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LANDOVER, Md. — A year ago, the Giants snapped out of a four-game losing streak with a rousing victory in Dallas, seemingly righting all of their wrongs and catapulting them forward for a strong stretch run.
Instead, the Giants returned home and sleepwalked through a desultory loss to the Redskins.
“The lesson we got out of that was: When you’re playing a divisional opponent, it doesn’t matter what the records are, or what you’re ranked in the conference, or anything like that,’’ linebacker/defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said. “We’re two teams that have seen each other a lot. We know what each other is capable of, and it’s going to come down to desire more so than the X’s and O’s.’’
Desire should be clearly evident tonight at FedEx Field, where the Giants (7-4) — coming off their 38-10 pasting of the Packers to end a two-game skid — can go a long way in sealing up first place in the NFC East or the Redskins (5-6) can plow into serious playoff contention behind their rookie sensation, Robert Griffin III. It’s a rematch of a 27-23 Giants victory on Oct. 21 that left the Giants defense convinced that in RG3 it had just been introduced to a star. How much he’s grown and how far the Giants have come in figuring out a way to deal with him — they didn’t do so great the first time around — is the major theme of the night.
A look inside the game:
Best battle
Redskins WR Pierre Garcon vs. Giants CB Corey Webster. Injuries have limited Garcon to only five games, but he’s now healthy and hauled in a 59-yard touchdown pass last week vs. the Cowboys. The former Colts receiver is a classy pass-catcher. Webster has had his ups and downs this season, with last week’s 61-yard TD allowed to Jordy Nelson a definite downer (followed by an interception of Aaron Rodgers). The first time around, the Giants didn’t face Garcon.
“Boy, he’s a heck of a player, isn’t he?’’ defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said. “He puts speed on the field for them and he can stretch the field. We’re always aware of him. We won’t change our plan, but we’re always aware of him.’’
High risk, high reward
Eli Manning did not have an especially crisp performance against the Redskins last month, but he still passed for 337 yards. That’s the way it usually goes down for the Washington defense, which is ranked 31st in the league against the pass. The Redskins are great at stopping the run — 89 yards a game — and not-so-great at defending the pass. They have allowed 23 touchdown passes but also have 14 interceptions.
“They have an aggressive style in some of their coverages,’’ Manning said. “Gives the opportunity for guys to make plays and make interceptions, yet if you can see things, and you have enough time, they open up some holes for some big plays. You have to understand when to take your shots and understand that when they have things covered, don’t force anything.’’
Big play bombs away
Last season, the Redskins managed one play of 50 or more yards all season. This year, they’ve got six touchdowns of 60 or more yards — five on pass plays to four different players (Garcon, Santana Moss, Leonard Hankerson and Aldrick Robinson).
No time like the present
At some point, a team can no longer wait to see the evidence that proves a rookie is ready. That time is now for the Giants and David Wilson. He’s been elevated, like it or not, into the No. 2 running back role behind Ahmad Bradshaw, with Andre Brown gone for the season with a broken leg. Wilson hasn’t looked much like a first-round draft pick but the physical gifts — speed, most of all — are there and he’s the only option.
“He’s certainly been around long enough to learn from the guys ahead of him that have done a great job with handling that stuff,’’ offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said. “There’s no excuse for him not to be ready. Until you see him on the game field, you don’t know. I think he’s making fewer mistakes and I think you see a little bit of it, an incremental growth. It’s never as fast as a coach would want, but it is definitely happening.’’
Phenom alert
At some point it is possible and even likely one of the Redskins receivers is going to be so wide open it is going to look as if the Giants defense has no idea what’s going on. Some players will be playing pass, others run and at least half of them will be wrong. That is what Griffin and the read-option Redskins attack is capable of doing when on its game.
“The toughest team I played against in college, honestly, to prepare for was Navy,’’ said Justin Tuck, a Notre Dame grad. “But they don’t have, obviously, the athletes, RG3 or Santana Moss or whoever it is out there. But scheme-wise, that’s a tough scheme to play against. I played against Nebraska, they had Eric Crouch and guys like that, that’s a tough scheme to play against. But you take that scheme, heighten that scheme a little bit and then the athletes are completely, way more athletic. So I don’t want to compare anything the Washington Redskins are going to do to anything I saw in college.’’
The other rookie
The only way the Redskins’ read-option works is if there is a legitimate threat at both the run and pass option. Washington has it with Alfred Morris, who could be a bona fide Rookie of the Year candidate if not for RG3 on his own team. This is an attack averaging a whopping 162.9 rushing yards a game and Morris — sixth-round pick from Florida Atlantic — is 18 yards shy of 1,000. He buried the Giants the first time around for 120 yards, but the Giants hope holding him to 26 yards in the second half is a sign they figured some things out.
“Our coaching staff likes to call him thick in the hips,’’ linebacker Spencer Paysinger said, “and whenever you see a running back like that, you know it’s gonna be a long day.’’
paul.schwartz@nypost.com