The New York Giants did everything they could to lose.
They left points on the field, whether on a holding call that brought back a Daniel Jones touchdown run, or a missed pass from Jones to a wide-open Darius Slayton in the end zone. The real stunner was an offsides penalty on Dexter Lawrence with no time left on the clock, which gave Dustin Hopkins a second chance to attempt a game-winning field goal after a miss.
Hopkins' second try was good as time expired. Washington won 30-29. The offsides penalty brought it 5 yards closer and wiped out the miss that would have ended the game, and a Giants win.
The Giants have only themselves to blame. And Washington got a win it will remember for a long time.
Taylor Heinicke comes up big
Taylor Heinicke experienced practically every emotion possible in an NFL game.
He got just his second regular-season start, when he had to fill in for injured Ryan Fitzpatrick. He had to question if that chance was ever going to come a year ago, when he was taking classes at Old Dominion to finish his degree.
He looked like the hero on a great touchdown pass to Ricky Seals-Jones that gave Washington a lead with a little less than five minutes left. After the Giants punted, Heinicke almost blew the game with a stunning interception to James Bradberry with a little more than two minutes left. That led to a Giants field goal and a 29-27 lead.
Then in the end, Heinicke led a clutch drive that led to a field goal and a huge Washington win. Heinicke got a couple first downs. He hit several key passes to get into field-goal range. When he spiked the ball to stop the clock with five seconds left, Hopkins came on for a 48-yard field goal and the win. It looked like Washington lost on Hopkins' miss, but the offsides penalty gave Washington another shot.
Heinicke is all about second chances, and his own had a pretty good ending.
Giants let it slip away
The Giants will feel they should have won.
Jones played pretty well. He made multiple plays with his legs, including an 11-yard run that set up a 55-yard field goal with less than five minutes left. That gave the Giants a 26-20 lead. He had a long run that should have been a touchdown, but was called back due to a holding penalty. Still, it was a 46-yard gain and set up a field goal. Jones made several nice plays but will cringe when he watches his miss to Slayton in the fourth quarter. Slayton was wide open due to a Washington coverage miscue. A touchdown would have put the game away. The ball went just off Slayton's fingers. The Giants let Washington stick around the entire night.
The Giants came up with a huge play on Bradberry's interception. That should have been the highlight play in a win. But they settled for a field goal, then couldn't get a final defensive stop.
And when it looked like Washington missed a field goal to end the game, the Giants gave Hopkins another chance.
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