Giants win second straight game

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants are 2-2 after a 24-3 victory on Sunday over the Washington Redskins. This is the first time the Giants have been at the .500 mark since the 2016 season, when they finished 11-5.

“There certainly wasn’t any panic amongst the team or in our building at 0-2. I think we understood who we had. I think we understood the team,” said quarterback Daniel Jones. “Getting back to 2-2, you feel good about it. But at the same time, if we’re going to keep winning, we have to address a number of things. We have to improve a number of things as a team if we want to keep it going. I think it’s important that we understand that and like I said, keep moving forward.”

Coach Pat Shurmur was especially happy that his defense, giving up 31.3 points per game entering play on Sunday, played as well as it did.

“It’s good to win a game and do it the way we did,” Shurmur said. “I think our defense did a terrific job. We made a few tweaks, I don’t think we made a lot of massive changes, but we made a few tweaks this week that I think settled our guys down, helped them be more comfortable, they were more disruptive, (and) we got pressure on the quarterback.

“All of those turnovers — my goodness. I’m not sure I’ve been around a game with that many. They did just a really, really terrific job. They were about their business this week, they kept the noise out, and I watched it. I watched their preparation this week and I really felt like we on defense this week made improvements on the practice field that then showed up in the game.”

Game-changing play

Safety Jabrill Peppers returned an interception of Dwayne Haskins 32 yards for a touchdown to give the Giants a commanding 24-3 lead with 1:19 left in the third quarter. That came two plays after rookie running back Jon Hilliman, making his NFL debut, fumbled at the Redskins 5-Yard line.

“That pick-six, that makes it a three-score game,” Shurmur said. “That’s good and that’s important. We got bogged down with those turnovers, and we were kind of grinding it out there for a while, so that was a big boost for us.

Haskins era begins in Washington

Trailing 14-0 in the second quarter, Washington replaced Case Keenum at quarterback with Haskins, the 15th pick in the draft, thus beginning the Haskins vs. Daniel Jones era.

Taking over an interception of Jones gave Washington the ball at New York’s 37-yard line, Haskins led a

Keenum had gone 6-of-11 for 37 yards and an interception, and had twice missed Trey Quinn on deep balls that should have resulted in Redskins touchdowns. Haskins ended up 9-of-17 for 107 yards and three interceptions.

Daniel Jones day

Jones completed 23-of-31 passes for 225 yards. He threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Gallman, but threw the first two interceptions of his career on back-to-back second quarter possessions.

Jones ran three times for 35 yards, including a crowd-pleasing 16-yard scramble on a third-and-13 in the third quarter to keep a Giants drive alive.

Saquon who?

Replacing the injured Saquon Barkley, Wayne Gallman had a productive game. He ran 18 times for 63 yards and a touchdown, and caught 6 passes for 55 yards and another score. The negative for Gallman was that he lost a fumble with 3:40 to play.

“I think he did a hell of a job,” Shurmur said. “Everybody out there had a few bad plays, but he stepped in with a heavy load and did a really nice job. I’m pleased with what he did.”

As team, the Giants ran 37 times for 164 yards (4.4 yards per carry).

More stats

Sterling Shepard caught 7 passes for 76 yards and had one carry for 23 yards.

David Mayo had a team-high 8 tackles.

The Giants had four interceptions. Janoris Jenkins had two, Ryan Connelly had one and Peppers had one.

The Giants held the Redskins, playing without wide receiver Terry McLaurin and a number of starting offensive linemen, to just 176 yards of offense. Washington got only 8 first downs.

Washington committed 12 accepted penalties for 58 yards.

The Giants held the ball for 36:09 to 23:51 for Washington.

In his return to New Jersey, former Giant Landon Collins had 9 tackles, but really little impact on the outcome of the game.

Injury news

• Connelly went down with 12:24 left in the game and was carted off with an apparent right leg injury. His leg appeared to buckle as he tried to make a play on a scrambling Haskins. Connelly, who had taken over as the Giants defensive signal caller after an injury to Alec Ogletree, had an interception, a sack and five tackles on Sunday. [Full story]
• EDGE Lorenzo Carter suffered a neck injury in the second half.

Scoring

First quarter

Giants 7, Washington 0: The Giants go 32 yards in eight plays after a Ryan Connelly interception of Case Keenum. The score came on a 6-yard pass from Daniel Jones to Wayne Gallman. Key play: 5-yard pass from Jones to Sterling Shepard on fourth-and-2 at the Washington 24.

Second quarter

Giants 14, Washington 0, 12:01: Giants go 13 plays, 94 yards in 6:59. Wayne Gallman scores on a 1-yard run.

Giants 14, Washington 3: Redskins go 34 yards in 11 plays for a 21-yard field goal by Dustin Hopkins with 2:14 left in the half. The drive came after Washington intercepted Daniel Jones for a second straight possession.

Giants 17, Washington 3: Aldrick Rosas hits a 30-yard field goal as the half expires. That capped a 10-play, 63-yard drive.

Third quarter

Giants 24, Washington 3: Jabrill Peppers returns an interception of Dwayne Haskins 32 yards with 1:19 left in the third quarter.

What’s next?

The Giants will be back at MetLife Stadium to host the Minnesota Vikings next Sunday. That will be another 1 p.m. ET start.