Giants Provide More Cheer for N.Y. : They Beat Redskins, 27-20, to Gain a 3-Way Tie for Lead

It was simply amazin’. The fans at Giants Stadium ostensibly came to see a football game, but their hearts and minds were two boroughs away at Shea Stadium.

For the record, the New York Giants defeated the Washington Redskins, 27-20, creating a three-way tie with the Dallas Cowboys atop the NFC East. They’re all 6-2.

The Giants won largely because of Joe Morris, who ran 31 times for 181 yards and caught 5 passes for 59 yards.

His 13-yard scoring run with 1:38 left in the game was the decisive play, enabling the Giants to survive an uneven effort by a defensive unit that entered the game ranked No. 1 overall in the NFL.

The Giants were superb against the run--permitting just 32 yards--but Washington quarterback Jay Schroeder shredded the secondary for 420 yards, including 5 passes of 42 yards or more. Wide receiver Gary Clark had 11 catches for a club-record 241 yards.

But it was baseball, not football, that really seemed to interest the crowd of 75,923 here Monday night. There were only 941 no-shows.

“I was surprised there were so many people here,” Giant quarterback Phil Simms said. “I figured they would be at home watching the World Series.”

Offensive tackle Karl Nelson seemed surprised the Giants had to share the evening with the Mets.

“I can’t explain why we had second billing,” he said, only half seriously. “Well, I guess the seventh game of the World Series is a pretty big deal.”

It was a big deal to the Redskins because the crowd noise, coming at unpredictable times and with unexpected intensity, affected their concentration.

“The crowd and the noise got us a little bit,” Coach Joe Gibbs said. “In fact, we jumped offside a couple of times. The noise upset us.”

Linebacker Neal Olkewicz was puzzled by the din, which bore little reaction to what was happening on the field.

“It was weird,” he said. “It was hard to understand what it was all about. We finally figured it out. The World Series.”

The loudest cheers of the first half had little to do with what was happening in New Jersey.

Equipped with radios and pocket-sized TVs, Giant fans kept up with the Mets’ comeback in Queens.

Responding to the action across town, the fans applauded a 49-yard pass from Schroeder to Clark when the Mets’ Keith Hernandez hit a two-run single

Later, the fans cheered wildly when the officials penalized the Redskins five yards--and Ray Knight hit a home run to put the Mets ahead.

A Washington punt also brought cheers as Rafael Santana singled in a run for the Mets.

At last, in the third quarter, the fans got an honest-to-goodness football play to savor as the Giants stopped a fourth-down run by George Rogers at the 24-yard line.

Getting worked up for the Mets’ victory, the fans rallied when Darryl Strawberry hit an eighth-inning homer.

The noise had barely subsided when the Giants’ Perry Williams intercepted a pass and returned it to the Redskin 30. Simms then threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Johnson for a 20-3 lead--and a nice way to complement the Mets.

The fan enthusiasm was momentarily chilled when Schroeder threw a 71-yard pass to Ricky Sanders, and Rogers ran 1 yard to cut the Giant lead to 20-10.

The crowd was further silenced when Clark caught a 42-yard scoring pass as the Redskins came within three points late in the third quarter.

But the cheering was restored with 3:15 left in the third quarter when the scoreboard flashed, “Mets Win,” and Morris caught a 20-yard pass.

After that, it was all football.

In trying to come back from a 10-0 second-quarter deficit, the Redskins were facing a defense that arguably ranks with that of the Chicago Bears as the NFL’s best.

“I’ve never played against or known a defense that was better,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs would prefer to run against any defense, but Schroeder and the Redskins were forced to play catch-up.

A 37-yard field goal by Raul Allegre and an 11-yard run by Morris, who had 93 yards rushing at halftime, put the Giants ahead, 10-0.

After a 49-yard pass from Schroeder to Clark, the Redskins missed a chance to get within three points. An offside penalty at the New York five-yard line forced a 23-yard Max Zendejas field goal.

The Giants added another Allegre field goal for a 13-3 lead as the second quarter ended.

After the Giants opened a 20-3 third-quarter lead, the Redskins began working on the New York secondary. The 71-yard pass play to Sanders that set up Rogers’ short scoring run was accomplished against Mark Collins.

The Giants’ pass defense failed again as Clark ran away from Williams and Herb Welch for the 42-yard touchdown play that made it 20-17.

The Giants drove 70 yards to the Washington 12 early in the fourth quarter, but Allegre’s 29-yard field goal attempt was wide right.