NFL

Tuck has sacks appeal in win

LANDOVER, Md. — The Redskins’ hapless offensive line was the fountain of youth for Justin Tuck Sunday night.

Written off by some after two sub-par seasons, the Giants’ veteran defensive end suddenly turned back the clock with a career-high four sacks — all in the second half — in Big Blue’s 24-17 win over Washington at FedEx Field.

It was an astonishing performance from the 30-year-old Tuck, who in one night against Robert Griffin III matched his sack total for the entire 2012 season.

Tuck also became just the fifth Giant in team history to record at least four sacks in a game and the first since Osi Umenyiora rang up six sacks against the Eagles in 2007.

Even more impressively, Tuck did it on a night when the Giants were missing their most feared pass rusher, Jason Pierre-Paul, who was held out because of lingering shoulder problems.

“It’s a big feat, obviously, but the most important thing is that we have to win and we did win,” Tuck said. “If I would have been standing here with four sacks and a loss, I wouldn’t have given two cents about the four sacks.”

Tuck has been bothered by various injuries the past three seasons and went into Sunday night’s game with just 2¹/₂ sacks in the first 11 games. But with the Giants moving him around to try to create mismatches, Tuck was a constant headache for the Redskins’ blockers and Griffin after halftime.

The performance is sure to come in handy in the offseason, considering Tuck is an unrestricted free agent. He said he doesn’t want to play anywhere else but otherwise didn’t want to talk about the future.

“We got a win, and I played pretty good tonight,” Tuck said. “It’s a good feeling.”