Four plays later, Washington was in the end zone after a 47-yard drive. Croskey-Merritt was featured heavily in the drive, starting with an 11-yard pickup at the Giants’ 33-yard line. The rookie capped the drive off with a 16-yard score that made the score 10-0.
The Commanders tacked on another field goal after the Giants were held to 20 yards on four plays, only for New York to respond with a 10-play drive that ended with a 12-yard Tyrone Tracy touchdown run.
The best the defense looked all afternoon came in the closing minutes of the first half. The defense forced a three-and-out, which led to Lane breaking loose for his punt return touchdown. Then, after the Giants got to the Commanders’ 35-yard line, Mike Sainristil jumped in the way of a pass intended for Jalin Hyatt and returned it to the Giants’ 24-yard line, putting the Commanders in range for a 42-yard field goal to make the score 22-7 at halftime.
The Giants came out of the locker room determined to climb back into the game and marched 82 yards downfield, thanks in part to a 24-yard run from Dart. Three plays later, Dart connected with Tracy for the 18-yard score.
It took the Commanders a whole quarter to respond. Koo missed a second field goal attempt, giving Washington the ball at its own 41-yard line. Back-to-back false starts partially negated an 18-yard reception from Deebo Samuel, but McLaurin made up for it by sprinting past the Giants’ secondary and shrugging off defenders for his 51-yard touchdown.
The defense’s goal-line stand made it seem like all Washington needed to do was run out the clock to secure the win. However, much like several aspects of the season, it wasn’t that easy.
Mariota fumbled the ball eight plays into the Commanders’ ensuing possession on third-and-12, with Brian Burns returning it to the Commanders’ 21-yard line. The Giants only needed four plays to find the end zone, as Dart found Wan’Dale Robinson for a 16-yard score. Then, four plays into the next Commanders’ drive, Jeremy McNichols fumbled on an eight-yard loss with Abdul Carter getting the recovery.
This time, however, Washington’s defense held firm and forced two incompletions from Dart on third and fourth down, allowing the Commanders to run out the clock.
