Giants-Redskins final score: Giants end season with 18-10 victory

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants on Sunday avoided posting the lowest 16-game season win total in franchise history. The Giants’ 18-10 victory over the Washington Redskins left them with a 3-13 record, tying the 1983 team (3-12-1) for fewest victories by a Giants team in a 16-game season.

With the Indianapolis Colts defeating the Houston Texans on Sunday, the Giants will get the second overall selection in the 2018 NFL Draft.

The Giants also avoided another piece of unwanted history. They needed at least nine points to tie the franchise-low for points in a 16-game season of 237. They got 18.

The game may have marked Steve Spagnuolo’s last as head coach. The Giants went 1-3 after he took over from Ben McAdoo on an interim basis.

Eli Manning played in his 216th game as a Giant, tying Michael Strahan for most in franchise history. Manning completed just 10-of-28 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown. Unofficially, Giants’ receivers dropped eight of Manning’s passes.

The Giants led at halftime, 15-10. They scored on a 75-yard run by Orleans Darkwa, a 16-yard pass from Manning to Hunter Sharp and a 23-yard Aldrick Rosas field goal.

Darkwa ran 20 times for a career-high 154 yards. His previous career-best was 117 yards, which he got earlier this season in a victory over the Denver Broncos. Rookie Wayne Gallman ran 15 times for 89 yards. As a team, the Giants ran for a season-hgih 260 yards.

Moments that mattered

• This one actually happened on Saturday, as new GM Dave Gettleman cut right tackle Bobby Hart after Hart had apparently said he did not want to play in the season finale.
• Ereck Flowers, a 2015 first-round pick by deposed GM Jerry Reese, was inactive. Flowers, who was close with Hart, had also apparently expressed reluctance to play.
• The reports that the Giants will interview Jim Schwartz, current defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, for their head-coaching vacancy.
• We learned that GM Dave Gettleman will not hire a replacement for deposed VP of Player Evaluation Marc Ross. He will run the Giants’ 2018 NFL Draft himself.
• Eli Manning’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Sharp with 12:48 left in the first quarter gave the Giants a 12-0 lead. It also gave them 240 points on the season, meaning the Giants will not set a franchise record for fewest points scored in a 16-game season. Their lowest-ever point total in a 16-game season is 237 in 1979.
• Rhett Ellison had five catches for catches yards. Ellison set career highs in receptions (24), yards receiving (235) and touchdowns (2) this season.

What’s next?

An intriguing offseason that is sure to bring a tidal wave of change.