SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 18, 2011
Eli Manning entered Sunday’s game against the Redskins as one of the hottest quarterbacks in the league. But he threw three interceptions and the visiting Washington Redskins stunned the New York Giants 23-10 on Sunday.
The loss, coupled with Dallas’ win over Tampa Bay on Saturday night, dropped New York (7-7) into second place behind the Cowboys in the NFC East standings.
The Giants will still win the division title if they win their final two games of the season.
After New York failed to cash in on an early interception by Washington quarterback Rex Grossman the Redskins were in control the rest of the way to sweep the season series.
Manning, who has orchestrated five fourth-quarter comebacks this season, had no such magic on Sunday. He threw an interception in the end zone and New York had a touchdown negated by a replay review midway through the fourth quarter.
Entering the game third in the NFC in passing, Manning finished with a passer rating of 45. He was 23 for 40 for 257 yards and failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time in eight weeks.
Grossman, who threw for 185 yards on 15-of-24 passing, led Washington to a shocking 17-0 lead in the first half. After Graham Gano gave Washington a 3-0 lead with a 36-yard field goal in the first quarter, Grossman threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Santana Moss to make it 10-0.
The Redskins (5-9) then turned Manning’s first interception into seven points when Darrel Young scored from 6 yards out.
The Giants got a field goal before intermission to make it 17-3 but Gano capped drives with field goals in the third quarter and on the first play of the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 23-3.
New York gained just 91 yards on the ground and most of it came with the game out of reach. Ahmad Bradshaw scored from 3 yards out less than a minute for New York’s only touchdown.