The 5-10 Giants are somehow still catching up with the NFC East if there is one week left.
The late-NFC East matches on Sunday broke the giants the right way to keep their hopes alive on the division. Reversal-prone Dwayne Haskins was at stake when Washington squandered a chance to clinch the East with an ugly 20-13 defeat to Carolina.
The Giants also needed the Cowboys to defeat the Eagles, and Dallas won an early 14-3 hole to secure a 37-17 victory at AT&T Stadium.
The Giants must defeat Dallas (6-9) in Week 17 and beat Philadelphia (4-10-1) Washington (6-9) this coming Sunday night to create a three-point tie at 6-10. In that case, the Giants would win the break-even point on the basis of a 4-2 record. Washington will still win its first division since 2015 with a win over the eliminated Eagles.
Washington wasted its first chance to clinch another eliminated opponent at FedEx Field on Sunday as Teddy Bridgewater and the Panthers (5-10) took a 20-0 lead in the first half and did not give up.
“What was frustrating was that we just did not play championship-level football,” Washington coach Ron Rivera said. “We still control our destiny. This is the truth.
“We have one more game to play, and it’s a very important game.”
Haskins, who last week imposed a $ 40,000 fine for partying without a mask in violation of the COVID-19 protocols, was a mess in his second consecutive start in place of Alex Smith (calf ).
Washington’s first-round pick in 2019 was intercepted twice, stumbled once and finished 14-for-28 for 154 yards before favoring fourth-player Taylor Heinicke in the fourth quarter, with Washington 20-6.
“We just did not click. Very disappointing, ‘Haskins said, calling last week’ the hardest ‘of his life. “I wish I could go back and change something, but it’s over now.”
Heinicke, an Old Dominion product who appeared in six games (one start) for Carolina in 2018, lured Washington within 20-13 with a 29-pass to JD McKissic with 1:50 to go, but the kick from the side was restored by the Panthers.
Meanwhile, the loser of the game in Philadelphia / Dallas faced elimination, and it turned out to be the Eagles (4-10-1).
The Eagles grabbed a quick 14-3 lead, but Andy Dalton (377 passing yards) paired with Michael Gallup twice and once with rookie CeeDee Lamb for touchdown for a 27-13 turnaround advantage in the third quarter.
Hurts, who finished with 342 passing yards and 69 on the ground, was intercepted on Anthony Dallas’ goal line with 6:42 left – his first of two picks in the fourth quarter. He also lost a whisper in Cowboys area with 3:54 left.
Lamb again scored a 19-run lead with 1:53 left to secure Dallas’ third straight victory and complete Sunday’s clash with the Giants at MetLife Stadium.
“If you had given up five or six weeks ago, we would not even want you on our side,” said Ezekiel Elliott. “We are competitors. The whole team is. We were not out there. We need to win next week and need some help from the guys we just played. ”