Redskins Held in Check; Playoff Hopes Diminish

The New York Giants finally won as underdogs, returning to first place in the NFC East with a defense that turned the big-money Washington Redskins from favorites into flops.

In a throwback to cold-weather, defense-dominated, pound-it-out football, the Giants held Stephen Davis to 29 yards and chased Brad Johnson out of the game in Sunday’s 9-7 victory.

“There were a lot of things said about us,” safety Sam Garnes said. “So we were just looking forward to going out there and proving everyone wrong and showing ourselves that we can be a playoff team. We’ve still got a long way to go, but it’s right there for us.”

Brad Daluiso kicked three field goals for the Giants (9-4), who have been maligned for beating the bad teams and mostly losing to the good ones. They are 2-0 since Coach Jim Fassel guaranteed a playoff berth.

“We gave the game ball to him because he took everything on his back and took the pressure off us,” Garnes said. “And we played like that.”

Meanwhile, the Redskins (7-6) are on the verge of elimination, and Coach Norv Turner is on the brink of losing his job. The team with the most expensive roster in NFL history lost for the fourth time in five games with another unfocused performance, especially on offense.

It wasn’t until Jeff George replaced Johnson with eight minutes to play that the Redskins showed some spark. George led a 97-yard touchdown drive and another drive to the Giants’ 30 in the final minute, but Eddie Murray was short on a 49-yard field-goal attempt with 50 seconds to play.

“That’s as poorly as we’ve performed offensively as long as I can remember,” said Turner, who indicated that George will start next week. “We weren’t able to block. We struggled to execute some pretty basic things.”

Asked if he might be fired this week, Turner said: “You’re asking the wrong guy.”

Owner Dan Snyder has said the Redskins must repeat as division champions for Turner to keep his job, which would require winning the last three and getting unlikely help from other teams. Both Philadelphia and the Giants hold the tiebreaker edge over the Redskins.

The 44-year-old Murray, Washington’s fourth kicker of the season, hit the upright from 39 yards in the second quarter and was short with the game on the line for the second consecutive week.

“I gave it my best shot,” Murray said. He summed up his future with the team by saying: “We’ll wait and see tomorrow.”

Johnson, making his first start after missing three games because of a knee injury, completed 14 of 29 passes for 126 yards. He had two passes intercepted and had seven consecutive incomplete passes at one stretch.

Virtually every Giant defensive starter made an impact, from the interceptions by Garnes and Emmanuel McDaniel to sacks by Mike Barrow and Cornelius Griffin.