Giants force six turnovers in win over Commanders
Giants cornerback Darnay Holmes, left, celebrates his interception with teammate Deonte Banks against the Commanders during the second half of an NFL game Sunday in Landover, Md. Credit: AP/Andrew Harnik
LANDOVER, Md. — In the 11th week of the season, the Giants played their best game.
They looked like the team they were supposed to be. Better late than never probably doesn’t fit. But this does: These Giants do have the capability to play complementary football.
They proved that Sunday in a 31-19 win over the Washington Commanders.
Tommy DeVito, making his second NFL start, earned his first win by going 18-for-26 for 246 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Two of those scoring passes went to Saquon Barkley, who also ran for 83 yards on 14 carries.
It also was a big group effort on defense for the Giants, who forced six turnovers, including one on special teams. The turnovers set up 24 of their points.
Nick McCloud, Darnay Holmes and Isaiah Simmons intercepted Washington quarterback Sam Howell. The Simmons pick was the one that sealed the deal, as he returned it 54 yards for a touchdown with 16 seconds remaining.
Brian Daboll told his players after the win: “We’re a good football team. Make no mistake about it, we’re a good football team.”
Against the Commanders, the Giants were opportunistic, determined and the better team. That hasn’t always been the case this season. Actually, it hasn’t been the case very often at all.
And yet, even this game — one in which the Giants led 14-9 at halftime and 24-12 midway through the fourth quarter — featured some harrowing final moments.
After Randy Bullock’s 36-yard field goal gave the Giants a 12-point lead with 6:48 left, the Commanders made it a game. They cut it to 24-19 with 2:16 left as Jahan Dotson’s 8-yard TD catch capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive.
When the Giants went three-and-out on their ensuing possession, Washington was very much alive. Howell drove the Commanders from the 19 to midfield, but under heavy pressure, he threw a short pass to the right side of the field that was intercepted by Simmons. That secured the Giants’ second win over the Commanders in what has been a challenging season.
The Giants are 3-8, with two matchups against the Eagles still looming. But after Sunday’s game, the locker room showed a collection of players who still care and have vowed to play hard.
The fan base may be thinking about draft positioning, but the players aren’t.
“It was big,” said Barkley, who, after losing two yards on his first six carries before the final snap of the third quarter, ran for 36 yards on that play and added a 31-yard gain in the fourth quarter. “Any time you win in the NFL, it’s big. Especially the way the season’s going. Against a divisional opponent, to come out with a win, it’s big. I’m excited. The defense played great, Tommy played great, got his first win as a starter. Hopefully we can build on this.”
Barkley also had praise for the defense, which for the second time this season had a big effort against the Commanders.
“They’ve been playing great all year, to be honest. Dallas wasn’t [indicative of] what they’ve been,” he said of last week’s 49-17 loss to the Cowboys. “We have to do a better job of capitalizing on those turnovers. At the end of the day, we got the win.”
DeVito threw touchdown passes of 24 and 5 yards to Barkley and also fired a 40-yard touchdown pass to Darius Slayton, who left the game with an arm injury. In all, eight Giants caught at least one pass. That represented progress from some of the more recent game plans.
This was, as you would expect, a happy Giants locker room.
The defense continues to play well. Second-year linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux became the first player under defensive coordinator Wink Martindale to have at least 10 sacks in a season.
“Pressure breaks pipes,” Thibodeaux said. “We just needed to stop the run, and when we stopped the run, we knew it was going to be a throwing situation and we had to take that away, too.”
He added: “You work your whole life to be in the NFL. You work every day to get sacks, that’s why they drafted me. So being able to deliver for this team and get a win gives me no better feeling. We’ve always kept our spirits high and we’ve always stayed together as a team. That’s what helped us get this win today.”
For defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, maybe it was a little too exciting.
“Yes, the last drive of the game was nerve-wracking,” he said with a laugh. “But there’s a chance this defense would have it no other way.
“Honestly, I’m excited and tired at the same time. It’s positive to see us get those plays and capitalize on those opportunities. So that’s just big for us in our growth.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.