Notes and statistics from the Giants’ 18-10 victory over the Washington Redskins: *The Giants broke a five-game losing streak and won their season finale to finish the season 3-13. The 13 losses are a franchise record. The three victories are the team’s fewest since 1983, when the Giants were 3-12-1 in Bill Parcells’ first season as head coach.
*The Giants finished 2-6 in MetLife Stadium, their fewest home victories since they were 1-7 in 2003.
*The Giants finished 1-5 in NFC East games and 1-11 in games vs. NFC opponents.
*The Giants were 1-3 under interim head coach Steve Spagnuolo.
*The Giants scored 246 points, their lowest total since they scored 243 in 2003.
*The Giants and Redskins split their season series for the third consecutive season.
*The Giants rushed for 260 yards, their highest total since Dec. 21, 2008, when they ran for 301 yards in an overtime victory against Carolina.
*The Giants’ 121 net passing yards was their third-lowest total of the season. They threw for 86 yards at Washington on Nov. 23, and 118 in a victory at Denver on Oct. 15.
*Washington finished with 197 yards and 10 first downs, the lowest totals by a Giants opponent since Dec. 13, 2010, when the Minnesota Vikings had 164 yards and 10 first downs in a 21-3 Giants victory.
*The Giants took a 6-0 lead when Orleans Darkwa took a handoff, stepped through a hole in the center of the line, and ran 75 yards for a touchdown just 17 seconds into the game. It was the Giants’ longest run from scrimmage since Nov. 16, 2008, when Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 77 yards vs. Baltimore.
Bradshaw was tackled at the two-yard line. Darkwa’s score was the Giants’ longest touchdown run since Bradshaw’s 88-yarder in Buffalo on Dec. 23, 2007.
*The Giants scored within the game’s first 17 seconds for the first time since Dec. 18, 2004, when Willie Ponder returned the opening kickoff (15 seconds). Sunday’s game was the first since the 1970 merger that the Giants scored a rushing or passing touchdown in the first 17 seconds of a game.
*The Giants also scored on their second possession when Eli Manning threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Sharp just 2:42 into the game. It was the first time since the merger the Giants scored two touchdowns in the first 2:42 of a game.
*The touchdown was the first of Sharp’s career, on his third reception. Sharp picked up his first two career catches last week in Arizona. Sharp is the 50th different receiver to catch a regular-season touchdown pass from Manning.
*It was the second time in as many home games the Giants scored touchdowns on each of their first two offensive possessions. Two weeks ago against Philadelphia, Darkwa scored on a one-yard run and Manning threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Tavarres King. That was also the only other game this season in which the Giants scored a first-possession touchdown.
*Sharp’s touchdown was set up by Kelvin Sheppard’s first career interception on Washington’s opening offensive series. It was the Giants’ first takeaway on their opponent’s opening possession since Dec. 14, 2015 at Miami, when Landon Collins forced a fumble by tight end Dion Sims that was recovered by Jason Pierre-Paul.
*Aldrick Rosas added a 23-yard field goal to give the Giants a 15-7 lead after one quarter. It was the Giants’ highest-scoring first quarter since Dec. 7, 2014, when they scored 17 points at Tennessee.
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*Darkwa rushed for a career-high 154 yards on 20 carries. It was his second 100-yard game of the season; Darkwa ran for 117 yards at Denver. A Giants back has exceeded 100 rushing yards in each of the last three season finales. On Jan. 3, 2016, Rashad Jennings ran for 170 yards vs. Philadelphia (Darkwa’s 154 yards was the highest total by a Giants back since that performance). Last year, Paul Perkins ran for 102 yards when the Giants ended their season in Washington.
*Darkwa averaged 7.7 yards per carry. The last Giants back to average at least that many yards on at least 20 carries was Tiki Barber on Dec. 30, 2006, in Washington. Barber ran for 234 yards on 23 carries, a 10.2-yard average.
*Rookie Wayne Gallman had season-high totals of 15 carries for 89 yards, a 5.9-yard average. This was the first time the Giants had multiple players with 15+ rush attempts and 5.9+ yards-per-attempt in the same game.
*Manning played in his 216th regular-season game. He shares the franchise record with Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan.
*Manning completed 10 of 28 passes for 132 yards, the touchdown to Sharp, and one interception. The 10 completions were his fewest in a full game since Nov. 4, 2012, when he completed 10 of 24 passes in a loss to Pittsburgh.
*The Giants lined up for their first offensive play with three wide receivers, each of whom made his first career start: Travis Rudolph, Sharp and Marquis Bundy (who also made his NFL debut). Sharp caught three passes for 29 yards, Rudolph had a season-long 29-yard catch, and Bundy did not have a reception.
*Tight end Rhett Ellison led the Giants with career-high totals of five receptions for 63 yards.
*The Giants intercepted three of Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins’ passes, two by Sheppard and one by cornerback Ross Cockrell. Sheppard’s interceptions were the first of his seven-year career. He was the first Giants linebacker with two interceptions in a game since Dec. 7, 1997, when Jessie Armstead picked off two passes in Philadelphia. Sheppard also had six tackles (five solo).
*Cockrell intercepted his third pass in two games.
*Olivier Vernon had 1.5 sacks of Cousins and finished his second Giants season with 7.0. Jason Pierre-Paul had a half-sack and finished with a team-high 8.0 sacks.
*Linebacker Devon Kennard had the Giants’ third sack. He had 4.0 sacks, his highest total since he had 4.5 as a rookie in 2014.
*The Giants’ two longest consecutive starting streaks ended today – and the player holding No. 3 didn’t make it to the second quarter because of injury.
When Manning’s 210-game regular-season streak ended on Dec. 3, Collins assumed the longest streak, which reached 47 straight games last week in Arizona. But Collins suffered a fractured forearm in that game and was placed on injured reserve last Tuesday. That moved Ereck Flowers and his 44-game streak into the top spot. But Flowers was inactive because of a groin injury and was replaced at left tackle by rookie Chad Wheeler. It was the second game Flowers has missed in his three-year career, and both of them were against Washington; on Sept. 24, 2015, he sat out a Thursday night game vs. the Redskins with an ankle injury.
The team’s longest starting streak now belongs to guard John Jerry, who started his 39th consecutive game vs. Washington. But Jerry suffered a concussion in the first quarter and was replaced by John Greco.
*Defensive tackle Damon Harrison started his 32nd consecutive game on Sunday. After Harrison, the next-longest streak is shared by the three players who started every game this season: Pierre-Paul, safety Darian Thompson and rookie defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson.
*Wheeler, a rookie free agent, and Adam Bisnowaty, the Giants’ sixth-round draft choice this year, were the starting tackles. Wheeler started for the first time at left tackle after previously starting three games on the right side. Bisnowaty, who was signed yesterday after spending the season on the practice squad, made his NFL debut at right tackle.
This was the second time since the 1970 merger the Giants started two rookie offensive tackles. On Dec. 6, 2015, Flowers and Bobby Hart started at left and right tackle, respectively, against the Jets. Hart was released yesterday.
*The Giants’ offensive line for most of the game had Brett Jones at center, Jon Halapio and Greco at guard and Wheeler and Bisnowaty at tackle. Of those players, only Jones and Wheeler were on the opening-day roster, and none of them started a game until Week 5, when Jones replaced Weston Richburg (concussion) at center.
*Tomlinson became the third consecutive Giants second-round draft choice to start all 16 games as a rookie, joining Collins (2015) and wide receiver Sterling Shepard (2016). The 2014 second-round selection, Weston Richburg, played in all 16 games, but started “only” 15.
*Tomlinson is the first Giants rookie defensive lineman to start 16 games since Barry Cofield in 2006.
*Defensive tackle Jay Bromley did not play in the second half after injuring his ankle.
*Defensive end Romeo Okwara played for the first time since Oct. 8 against the Chargers. He was credited with a quarterback hit.
*Linebacker Derrick Mathews, signed off the practice squad last week, made his NFL debut on special teams. Tight end Ryan O’Malley, signed off the squad yesterday, made his Giants debut.
*Cousins scored Washington’s first touchdown on a 12-yard run. He joined San Francisco’s C.J. Beathard as quarterbacks who ran for touchdowns against the Giants this season. Cousins’ touchdown run was the longest by an opposing quarterback since Oct. 15, 2006, when Atlanta’s Michael Vick scored on a 22-yard run.
*The Giants’ inactive players were Flowers, tight end Evan Engram (rib), wide receiver Sterling Shepard (neck), defensive end Avery Moss, linebacker Akeem Ayers, offensive lineman Damien Mama and quarterback Geno Smith.
Engram, the Giants’ first-round draft choice this year, played in each of the season’s first 15 games, starting 11. He finished the season with team-high totals of 64 receptions and six touchdown catches, and his 722 yards were second on the team.
Shepard missed his fifth game of the season. He previously sat out two with an ankle injury, and two because of migraine headaches. Shepard had a team-high 731 receiving yards and was second to Engram with 59 receptions.
*The Giants secured the second selection in the 2018 NFL Draft when the Indianapolis Colts defeated Houston. It will be the Giants’ highest selection since they chose Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor with the second pick in 1981.
*The Giants’ 2018 opponents are set. The NFC East will play the NFC South and the AFC South next season. Because they finished fourth in the NFC East, the Giants will face the fourth-place teams from the NFC North and NFC West.
In addition to their home-and-home series against division rivals Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington, the Giants will host New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, Tennessee and Chicago. Their non-division road games will be at Atlanta, Carolina, Houston, Indianapolis and San Francisco.
