Giants Seek 3-Game Sweep of Redskins : New York Goes Into Today’s NFC Title Game as a Heavy Favorite

The first time the New York Giants played the Washington Redskins this season, they allowed Jay Schroeder to throw for 420 yards. But Joe Morris ran for 181 yards and the Giants won, 27-20.

The second time, in Washington, the Redskins held Morris to 62 yards. But the Giants intercepted Schroeder six times, Phil Simms threw three touchdown passes and New York won again, 24-14.

Whatever the Giants do or don’t do, they seem to be able to beat the Redskins. Particularly at Giants Stadium, where New York has won three straight.

“It’s a double-edged sword. They can kill you with either the run or the pass,” acknowledges Washington Coach Joe Gibbs, whose team is a one-touchdown underdog when it meets New York today (1 p.m., Ch. 2) for the NFC championship at Giants Stadium.

“You stop them one place and they kill you somewhere else. The reason they’re so good is because they’re balanced.”

The first Giants-Redskins game this season was played in a surreal atmosphere--on Monday night, Oct. 27, while the Game 7 of the World Series was being played 15 miles due east at Shea Stadium in Queens.

There were only 900 no-sbows among 76,800 Giants season-ticket holders, but it was the lowest-rated game in “Monday Night Football” history and the attention of the fans was equally divided between the field and the thousands of portable television sets and radios in the stands.

“I never saw so many antennas in my life,” Simms said afterwards.

For a while, it looked like an easy victory for New York. The Giants took a 10-0 lead and Washington lost its only chance for a touchdown when Don Warren jumped offside at the one-yard line when the snap count was obscured by the crowd cheering a base hit by the Mets.

By midway through the third quarter, the Giants had a 20-3 lead. But suddenly New York defensive backs began missing assignments. “We blew more plays in that game than we had all season,” defensive backfield coach Len Fontes said.

A 76-yard completion from Schroeder to Ricky Sanders set up one touchdown. Schroeder threw to an uncovered Gary Clark for another and finally went deep to Art Monk to set up Max Zendejas’ game-tying 29-yard field goal with 4:06 left.

But the Giants began giving the ball to Morris again. Zip, 10 yards left; zap, another eight yards to the right. With 1:49 left, it was third-and-1 at the Washington 13, when the 5-foot-7 running back scooted right, cut back inside blocks by fullback Maurice Carthon and guard Chris Godfrey and tiptoed along the sideline into the end zone.

Giants 27, Redskins 20.

The second game was as easy for the Giants as the first appeared to be.

The Redskins geared for Morris, so the Giants took the opening kickoff and threw to Mark Bavaro for 41 yards on the first play and to Bavaro for 15 more on the second. That drive ended in an interception by speedy Darrell Green but Simms’ passing had set the tone.

Simms threw nine yards to Bavaro for a touchdown early in the second period and the Redskins countered on Kelvin Bryant’s 4-yard run with 1:53 left in the half, a score set up by a 53-yard pass from Schroeder to Clark that represented Washington’s only long completion of the game.

But the Giants then drove 80 yards in a perfect two-minute drill, highlighted by a 34-yard third-down completion from Simms to Bobby Johnson and capped by a 7-yard Simms-Johnson touchdown pass.

Raul Allegre’s 21-yard field goal made it 17-7 in the third quarter and two plays later, Harry Carson intercepted a Schroeder pass to set up Simms’ 16-yard touchdown connection to Phil McConkey.

So what can the Redskins do this time? They profess to be in a quandary.

“Their balanced offense is the thing that got them over the top,” linebacker Rich Milot said. “Their offense doesn’t get enough credit because the defense plays so well.”

“I’m not sure what we can do,” says Gibbs, pointing to the Giants’ 49-3 demolition of San Francisco last Sunday. “I’m not blowing any smoke. I’m telling the truth. You see a team like the 49ers whom I have tremendous respect for and they just take them apart.”

All of which brings a smile to the face of New York Coach Bill Parcells.