LANDOVER, Md. — The Redskins are the one NFC East team that’s consistently given Eli Manning trouble over the years, but he turned the tables on them Sunday night.
Shaking off a slow start, Manning crisply carved up an injury-battered Washington secondary while helping the Giants keep their fading playoff hopes alive with a 24-17 victory at FedEx Field.
Manning was sacked by Brian Orakpo on Big Blue’s first play from scrimmage and did little while the Redskins raced to a 14-0 lead, but he came alive along with the Giants’ running game in the second quarter and calmly directed them to their fifth victory in six games.
“Obviously, we got off to a rough start,” Manning said. “But once the running game got going to get within seven [points], it was a different game. Offensively, we started making a few plays.”
Manning suffered another interception (his 18th of the season), but that felt more like an aberration on this night as he finished 22-for-28 passing for 235 yards and a touchdown.
Manning’s 78.6-percent completion rate was his best in a regular-season game since he went 8-for-10 in a 44-7 rout of the Raiders on Oct. 11, 2009.
It was just his 15th career touchdown pass against the Redskins, compared to 38 versus the Cowboys and 36 against the Eagles in NFC East play. Washington always seems to play Manning and the Giants tough, even in their worst years, but he wasn’t rattled this time.
Everything seemed to change for Manning and the Giants when they went to a hurry-up of their own in the second quarter and cut the Redskins’ lead to 14-7 on a 23-yard TD run by Brown.
“That was a great way to change the momentum, and it showed us that, hey, we can break some big plays and get back into the game,” Manning said. “That was a big drive there in the second quarter.”
Manning was mostly content to take what the Redskins were willing to give him, which meant focusing on his tight ends and running backs until Washington eventually let up on top receiving targets Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks.
Tight end Brandon Myers, who exploited big holes in the Redskins’ secondary early, got Manning jump-started and finished with six catches for 61 yards and the lone passing TD. But once Manning got warm, Cruz took over and ended up with a team-high seven receptions for 80 yards.
Manning narrowly missed finishing with two TD passes after connecting with Cruz for 19 yards early in the fourth quarter. Cruz caught the ball and tried to back in from the 1-yard line but was stopped just short, setting up Brown’s dive on the next play for the go-ahead score.
With the help of a pass rush against the Redskins’ Robert Griffin III that came alive in the final quarter behind Justin Tuck (who finished with four sacks), Brown’s score would hold up as the Giants eliminated 3-9 Washington from postseason contention.
It was a gratifying bounce-back performance for both the Giants and Manning, who had struggled through much of a crushing, 24-21 home loss to the Cowboys the week before that had snapped Big Blue’s season-reviving, four-game win streak.
“That was a tough loss last week, but there’s no quit in this team,” Manning said. “We’re going to keep giving it our best shot and enjoy the ride.”