third time is the charm for redskins-hold off giants 20-17

This is the third time that these teams have met in the mediocre season. Every time the game did not disappoint the fan base. No blowouts and every game came down to the wire. In the first meeting back in week 5 of the season both teams entered with perfect 4-0 records. In that game the Skins held a 24-10 lead going into the final quarter. By the time the gun sounded though neither team would leave with a loss or a victory as they ended up in a 24-24 tie. In the next meeting that took place in week 8 or position week it was another down to the wire affair that seen very little defense. The Giants appeared to have the game well in hand at the half as they led 29-14 and the Skins defense was yet to stop them. The Skins offense though moved at will also but a fumble deep and an interception stopped those drives. By the time this game was over, Washington kept pounding and chipping away at the Giants to lose 43-35.

Now we go to game three and once again this would not disappoint. Both defenses seemed to come to play although in the beginning it didn’t look that way for the Giants. Washington would get the ball first and would begin its opening drive at its own 27 yard line. The very first play netted 0 yards on a run to RB Larry Brown (19-148) but on the second play they again would go to Brown who would rumble off tackle for 69 yards all the way to the Giants 4. ‘Shocked is the best way to explain it’ said Ron Hornsby. “We had him and then bam he is streaking down the sidelines.” The Giants defense though got tough but eventually gave up a 2 yard touchdown pass on 3rd and goal. Skins QB and MVP Sonny Jurgensen (13-16-215-2td) stated “We barely was able to get the ball in on the pass, they knew what was coming and had it well defended”. By the end of the 1st quarter both teams would exchange field goals and the Skins would lead 10-3.

To start the second quarter it looked as if the Giants were marching for the tying score. Facing a 3rd and 2 from the Skins 37, Norm Snead (13-25-144-1 int) would hit Bob Tucker for a 4 yard gain but he would fumble the ball away to end the drive. Washington would take advantage of that mistake and go the distance to go up 17-3 as Jurgensen would hit Walter Roberts for a 16 yard strike. On the Giants next drive Snead would throw his only interception and set up Washington in great field position. Then the bonehead call of the game took place with Washington facing a 2nd and goal from the 2 with 40 ticks left and no timeouts. Figuring I could get two plays off with one of those being a sure fire field goal (which doesn’t exist with the Skin kickers) they tried to run. They could not get another play off and as Coach V stated “Dumb move, just plain dumb and it could have come back to haunt us”. Instead of leading 20-3 at the half, it was only 17-3.

Entering the 3rd quarter, the Skins knew all to well that a 14 point lead over these Giants guided by Marc Weiss would not be safe. Eventually they knew the Giants offense would get on track and make a push. After a punt by the Giants who started the second half with the ball, the Skins went to work on the clock. Taking off almost 7 minutes on the clock they settled for a Knight 42 yard field goal to go up 20-3. “The first thing that entered my mind was that dumb move I made before the first half ended and still knew that 17 was not a big enough lead” said Coach V. In less than a 4 minute span the Giants put new worry into the Skins as they went 65 yards in 8 plays ending with Ron Johnson (14-58) 7 yard touchdown run to make the score 20-10.

In the 4th after a Washington punt the Giants would drive to the Skins 39 yard line and face a 4th and 1. The Skins defense though would be ready for the 4th down play as they went to quick hitch to Bob Tucker which was tackled for a 4 yard loss. “That play was huge for us” said Pat Fisher. With only 5:20 to play the Skins now could work on the clock with a 10 point lead with more confidence. That confidence would be shattered two plays later when Charlie Harroway would be stripped of the ball and Pat Hughes would recover to give the Giants new life. “I still don’t know where the defender came from to knock it out-it’s my fault I should have protected it better” said Harroway. Four Plays later, Morrison raced 15 yards to the end zone to give the Giants fan a whole new hope as they now trailed only 20-17 with 3:30 to play and 2 timeouts remaining.

Washington now would need a couple of first downs and it was gut check time for the offense. The last thing they wanted to do was make the defense have to come back out and defend against the tying field goal or was the winning touchdown. Washington would answer the call and run the clock out behind the running of Larry Brown and a clutch 21 yard catch by Charlie Taylor from Jurgensen. “I’m not sure I should be the MVP as I think it should go to our defense who in our last meeting with the Giants were ripped to shreds” stated Jurgensen. “This is a great Giants team and it’s too bad someone had to go home” added Jurgensen.

Washington now will face either Cincinnati or Cleveland for the Championship. Can that game match the 3 games that took place between these Giants and Skins? Only time will tell. -contributed by Bill Vogt-