Giants Game 7 Recap - "The Close One"

Victor Cruz scored a game-winning 77 yard touchdown with just over a minute left.

What a game, almost a huge let down loss to the Washington Redskins, but the Giants did escape with a 27-23 victory that was way too close for comfort. Either way, the Giants now have more than a 1 game lead over the rest of the NFC East, and they finally got their first divisional win.

That could have easily gone the other way if we didn't have Eli(te) at quarterback. Manning had an abnormally bad game in his stellar season up to this point, and almost gave the 'Skins the game with his two costly picks. Everyone forgets all of that though since Eli unleashed a 77-yard bomb to Victor Cruz, when trailing by 3 with 1:20 left in the game, to steal back the win.

Yesterday's game was also the first taste that the Giants got of the new franchise quarterback of the Redskins, Robert Griffin III. RG3 looked efficient for most of the game, but he is the definition of a system quarterback. Like Alex Smith in San Francisco, RG3 has an offense tailored to his strengths and it was obvious in the formations that head coach Mike Shanahan have drawn up. Griffin spent most of the day in shotgun formation, with a tailback behind him and fullback to his side. He then read the defense in an option-styled matter and would either give a handoff, pitch to the tailback or pull the handoff and fire a strike down the middle of the field.

Even though a lot was done to put Griffin into a position to succeed, you can see that he will break out of all of the catering and be a star in a few years. He has a big time arm, and made a clutch through late in the game in what would have been the game winning touchdown. RG3 also used his legs to scramble for numerous first downs, and keep plays alive while keeping his eyes down field. He and Eli will have many more of these nail biting showdowns over the next few years.

One Last Thing: The Giants defense is really starting to come together now, despite giving up 23 points. If it was any other quarterback besides Griffin or Philadelphia Eagles Michael Vick, the Giants would have had close to six or seven sacks, but with Griffin's elusiveness they only had three. Still, Griffin was running around all game and the defense forced four turnovers, a lot of them in big situations. This is a very good sign since up until the 49ers game last week, the D looked like nothing like they have over the past few seasons.

Up Next the Giants will square off in Dallas with the rival Cowboys for the last time this year. This is a big game on more than just a personal level since the Giants are 1-2 in their division, with one of those losses coming to the Cowboys in Week 1.