Giants-Commanders final score: New York, Washington tie, 20-20, in OT

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants and Washington Commanders played to a tie on Sunday in their fight to reach the NFC playoffs. The overtime game ended with a 20-20 score.

The Giants are 7-4-1. The Commanders are 7-5-1. The tie does keep the Giants in front of the Commanders in the NFC playoff standings. The Seattle Seahawks, seeded No. 8 in the NFC, entered Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams at 6-5.

Coach Brian Daboll wasn’t sure what the tie would do to the Giants’ playoff chances.

“We’ll figure it out,” he said. “There’s a long way to go. Better than if it was a loss, not as good as if it was a win.”

The Giants had a chance to win on the game’s final play, but a 58-yard Graham Gano field goal attempt fell well short. The tie was the first for the Giants since a 7-7 tie with Washington in 1997.

On their previous overtime possession, the Giants had reached the Washington 45-yard line, but punted after a botched third-and-3 play led to a run for no gain by Jones.

The Giants punted rather than going for the first down with 1:42 left in overtime. Daboll said he “potentially” might have gone for the first down on fourth-and-1, but punted on fourth-and-3, playing for another possession. The Giants got that possession at their 43-yard line with :28 to play, but only reached the Washington 40-yard line. That was not get close enough to give Gano a realistic chance to make a game-winning field goal.

“We were about five yards away from it,” Gano said. “We knew that going in but at the end of the game you got to take a shot at it.”

The teams play again in Landover, Md. in two weeks. Washington has a bye, while the Giants face the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles next week.

The Giants, leading 20-13 in the fourth quarter, were in position to clinch the game after a Daniel Jones to Darius Slayton completion gave them a first down at Washington’s 35-yard line with 5:57 to play, but a taunting penalty on center Jon Feliciano pushed them back and they punted to Washington with 3:43 to play.

“He [Feliciano] was flexing. He was going out to Slayton. I’m saying hey, good job, strong run. But it was close. It was in all those players,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “Again, how the guy looks at you know, interprets it. I don’t think he can hear what Jon’s saying to Slayton, so he ended up calling it. Absolutely, we shouldn’t even be in that situation. We get the ball there. It’s going to be a first right at the 35, probably made it a two-score game. Those are things we can’t even make it close.”

Feliciano insisted he was just flexing in Slayton’s direction.

“It sucks when you play two teams,” he said. “I’m probably gonna get fined for that,”

Following that sequence, Washington went 90 yards in eight plays for the tying score, a 28-yard Taylor Heinicke to Jahan Dotson pass with 1:45 to play. Heinicke kept the drive alive by completing a 20-yard pass to Curtis Samuel on fourth-and-4 from the Washington 27-yard line. The touchdown came three plays later. Joey Slye’s extra point tied the game.

First half

The teams went to the locker room tied, 13-13. The Giants trailed, 10-0, after the first quarter, but a 13-yard run by Saquon Barkley and a pair of Graham Gano field goals sandwiched around a 42-yard Joey Slye field goal for Washington knotted the score.

Game highlights

Injury news

Giants’ defensive lineman Leonard Williams left the game in the third quarter with a neck injury. He did not return.

Stats

• Daniel Jones completed 25 of 31 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown.
• Jones ran 12 times for a team-leading 71 yards.
• Saquon Barkley ran 18 times for 63 yards.
• Darius Slayton had six receptions for 90 yards for the Giants, including a 55-yarder.
• Azeez Ojulari had a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pair of quarterback hits.

Starting lineups

These are noteworthy because of the ever-changing Giants’ roster:

Offense

QB — Daniel Jones; RB — Saquon Barkley; TE — Daniel Bellinger, Nick Vannett; ; OL — Andrew Thomas (LT), Nick Gates (LG), Jon Feliciano (C), Mark Glowinski (RG), Evan Neal RT); WR — Darius Slayton, Isaiah Hodgins

Defense

DL — Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams; Edge — Kayvon Thibodeaux, Jihad Ward; LB — Jaylon Smith, Micah McFadden; CB — Fabian Moreau, Nick McCloud, Zyon Gilbert; S — Julian Love, Jason Pinnock

My Cause My Cleats

Sunday was ‘My Cause My Cleats’ day around the NFL. Some of the pre-game footwear sported by the Giants:

Giants inactives

OL Joshua Ezeudu (neck)
OL Shane Lemieux (toe)
CB Adoree’ Jackson (knee)
WR Kenny Golladay (illness)
Edge Elerson Smith
TE Lawrence Cager
CB Darnay Holmes

What’s next?

The Giants are back at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 11 to face the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles. The game will be at 1 p.m. with the broadcast on FOX.

Remaining schedule

Week 14 — vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Dec. 11 | Time: 1 p.m. | TV: FOX)
Week 15 — @ Washington Commanders (Dec. 17 or 18 | Time: TBD)
Week 16 — @ Minnesota Vikings (Dec. 24 | Time: 1 p.m. | TV: FOX)
Week 17 — vs. Indianapolis Colts (Jan. 1 | Time: 1 p.m. | TV: CBS)
Week 18 — @ Philadelphia Eagles (Jan. 7 or 8 | Time: TBD)