Showdown in D.C. Giants-Redskins 25 Years Ago This Week
By Joe Tufaro
After three amazing weeks in a row The Giants (11-2) took a trip down to D.C. to face the Washington Redskins(11-2) with the NFC East up for grabs. Sounds a little bit like what’s happening this week in Dallas, except for the stellar records. So, on Friday that week I boarded the Trump Shuttle…leaving every 30 minutes to D.C. for $50. Ah, the good old days.
The Giants had two home games scheduled after this contest against the lowly St. Louis Cardinals and Green bay Packers. This game was clearly for all the marbles. The Giants had defeated the Redskins earlier in the year on a Monday Night in October, that being the night the New York Mets won the World Series. With Joe Morris being held to just 62 yards on 22 carries, much different than the 181 yards he had gained against them earlier in the year, it was up to Phil Simms and the Defense to take charge. And take charge they did. Lawrence Taylor had three of the four sacks recorded that day, and under heavy pressure, Jay Schroeder threw 6 interceptions, while fumbling once. Phil Simms completed TD passes to Mark Bavaro, Bobby Johnson, and Phil McConkey.
The TD to McConkey that put the icing on the cake was a memorable one. Fighting two defenders in the back corner of the end zone, below where we were sitting, Redskin players tried to knock the ball out of his hands even after he was down and it was ruled a TD. I remember the entire offensive line coming to his rescue, and as the Washington players got talky, they all pointed to the scoreboard in the corner of the stadium which showed the Giants up by 16 points. The final was 24-14, and the Giants were on their way to a Division Title. The famous quote from this game came from Coach Parcells who knew in his heart that the Giants and Redskins would face each other again that year in the playoffs, but the next time it would be in New Jersey. Parcells stated that the Redskins were in “their league”, and were “competition” for the Giants. He was correct in those days, they were good, but no one was much competition for this Giants team.