WP:Redskins Get Grip on Giants

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43005-2003Dec7.html

Redskins Get Grip on Giants

Smith Breaks NFL Career Sacks Record

By Mark Maske

Washington Post Staff Writer

Monday, December 8, 2003; Page D01

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Dec. 7 -- The Washington Redskins found a team worse off than them. They added to the misery of the New York Giants and got themselves back into the win column by crafting a lead and finally holding on to it, easing to a 20-7 triumph Sunday on a windy, blustery afternoon at mostly empty Giants Stadium.

Giants quarterback Kerry Collins is knocked out of game by Bruce Smith after throwing a pass. Collins left with high ankle sprain having completed just 5 of 14 passes for 62 yards.

Bruce Smith made it a memorable day when he broke the NFL's career sacks record with a fourth-quarter takedown of Giants backup quarterback Jesse Palmer. But mostly, it was an afternoon of forgettable football between two teams suffering through highly disappointing seasons. The Redskins weren't complaining, though, as they ended a three-game losing streak and improved their record to 5-8 with only their second victory in their past nine games. They pulled a game ahead of the Giants (4-9) in the tussle to stay out of the NFC East basement.

"It's a start," Redskins linebacker Jessie Armstead said. "We needed something good to happen. Maybe we can build off that. Maybe we can go 8-8 and head into the offseason feeling better about ourselves."

Teammates congratulate Bruce Smith after he claimed the title of NFL sack king after downing Giants quarterback Jesse Palmer in the fourth quarter.

Coach Steve Spurrier won for only the second time in 10 games against division opponents in his two-year Redskins tenure. He stuck with his running game on a day when temperatures in the twenties and a 15-mph wind dropped the wind-chill factor into the low teens. The Redskins rushed for 150 yards on 48 carries, and fill-in quarterback Tim Hasselbeck threw only 19 passes in his first victory as an NFL starter. Hasselbeck was efficient, with 13 completions for 154 yards and touchdowns to wide receivers Darnerien McCants and Rod Gardner.

"It was a game where you hoped to run enough and hit a few [passes] here and there," Spurrier said.

Tailback Trung Canidate ran for 69 yards on 19 carries before exiting the game in the third quarter with a sprained foot. Chad Morton did the bulk of the work from there, rushing for 56 yards on 13 carries. Place kicker John Hall added field goals of 28 and 41 yards, although he also missed from 34 yards even after being given a second chance by a Giants penalty. It was a hazardous day for kicking, as Redskins punter Bryan Barker had punts of 16 and nine yards.

The Redskins defense did its part after surrendering fourth-quarter leads in each of the club's previous three games. Smith knocked Giants starting quarterback Kerry Collins from the game with a sprained ankle after Collins completed only 5 of 14 passes for 62 yards and threw an interception. Palmer did only marginally better, connecting on 7 of 11 throws for 83 yards. Dorsey Levens dragged Smith into the end zone on a five-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and fellow running back Tiki Barber had 99 of the Giants' 120 rushing yards. But Barber also fumbled on his second carry for the first of the Giants' three turnovers, to none for the Redskins.

"Our defense has played well most of the games," Spurrier said. "But we haven't finished them."

The Giants remained winless at home since their opening game (save for a triumph over the Jets in which they were listed as the visiting team). A season that began with Super Bowl aspirations for them just continued to get bleaker. Their only consolation Sunday was that the blandness of the game and the storm that dropped more than a foot of snow on this area kept their fans from booing them too much. The stadium was less than half full in the first half, and significantly emptier than that in the second half.

"I don't think anybody can prepare for the situation that we are in right now," Giants center Chris Bober said.

The game's only truly captivating moment came when Smith, after several near misses, slipped inside left tackle Ian Allen and pulled down Palmer by his legs for his 199th career sack, moving him past Reggie White for the NFL's career lead.

"I know I'm not in second place any longer," Smith said. "When they print up the football cards, they won't say, 'Second place.' . . . I was rushing outside pretty much all day. He overstepped. That's the cardinal sin because I have a very good inside move. The quarterback was sitting right there, and I tried to lunge at him . . . . Good things happen to individuals when teams win."

It was one of six sacks on the day for a Redskins defense that began the afternoon with 16 sacks for the season. Armstead and fellow linebacker LaVar Arrington had two sacks each. Smith's teammates congratulated him while the game was stopped briefly to commemorate the moment.

"I can tell my kids I was on the field when the sack record was broken," Armstead said. "It's going to stand a long time."

When it comes to sacks, the Redskins' Bruce Smith is the one at the top. Smith reached 199 for his career in 20-7 win over the Giants.

The afternoon's biggest defensive play perhaps was made by middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, however, earlier on the same drive. Hall's second field goal just had made it a 13-point game with 10 minutes 42 seconds to play. The Giants still could win with two touchdowns, and Barber had nothing but open field in front of him when he caught a swing pass from Palmer on a first-down play from the New York 25-yard line. Trotter kept another defensive collapse from beginning, though, when he chased down Barber and dragged him out of bounds after a 36-yard gain, and the Giants ended up losing possession on a fourth-down incompletion by Palmer from the Redskins 12.

"I thought he was gone when I saw him come down our sideline," Spurrier said. "Jeremiah was our last hope."

Said Trotter: "I just wanted to go make a play. I didn't know I was the last line of defense."

That was one of the down moments in Barber's mixed-bag day. It began when he lost the ball on the Giants' second offensive play for his sixth lost fumble of the season. The Redskins took over at the Giants 27 and, aided by the pass-interference penalty, moved to the 1 but got stopped and had to settle for Hall's 28-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.

Barber ripped off runs of 19, 18 and 15 yards on the Giants' next drive, but the boos got going when place kicker Matt Bryant yanked a 26-yard field goal try wide left. The Redskins went three plays and out, and Barker's 16-yard punt put the Giants in business at the Washington 35. They cashed in this time, with Levens pulling Smith into the end zone.

The Redskins immediately reclaimed the lead with a short touchdown drive set up by Patrick Johnson's 50-yard kickoff return. McCants got open on a post pattern on a second-down play from the Giants 6, and Hasselbeck put his throw on target. Hall could have added to the advantage a few minutes later but sent a 39-yard field goal attempt wide left, then hooked a 34-yarder after the Giants were caught offsides.

The Redskins couldn't capitalize on a drive on which the Giants were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct -- safety Johnnie Harris kicked an official's flag in frustration, thinking an interference call had gone against teammate Frank Walker when, in fact, it went against Gardner -- and for roughing Hasselbeck. But a Collins pass went through the hands of wideout Tim Carter to Redskins cornerback Champ Bailey for a drive-killing interception just before halftime. The Redskins pushed their advantage to 10 points early in the third quarter when Hasselbeck made a quick throw to Gardner to victimize Harris on third and five from the Giants 7.

"I've had to beat myself up over certain plays the last two weeks," Hasselbeck said. "I heard people say, 'For as long as he's been here, that's a pretty decent job.' I didn't want to hear that."

Collins left the field on a cart with a high ankle sprain after being bent backward by Smith on a hit after releasing a throw on the continuation of a play on which the Giants were penalized for delay of game. Collins and Giants Coach Jim Fassel said the officials should have done a better job of halting the play before anyone could have gotten hurt. Palmer was sacked by Armstead to end that drive, and lost the ball on a sack by Arrington to end the Giants' next possession. Armstead recovered the fumble to set up Hall's final field goal.

Said Spurrier: "We've got a happy bunch of Redskins right now . . . . I think there's hope. There's light at the end of the tunnel . . . . We needed this win. Our guys played pretty hard and got nothing to show for it the last month.''