They may be the only real threat to the Giants, the only team capable of standing in the way of a second consecutive NFC East crown. When Victor Cruz takes a look at the Redskins he sees a team that is "definitely on the rise, for sure.'' But Cruz doesn't see a team on the level of his Giants.
"I think they're still a couple of pieces away from actually being contenders and legitimate talks for playoffs and things like that,'' Cruz said yesterday of the Giants' next opponent. "They're still a few pieces away, whether it be defensively or whatever they're missing. They've got a good team, they play good football, they hold the ball for a long time and they really do some good things. I'd definitely put them in that conversation, for sure.''
Reuters
HALL OF A PLAY: It may not have been rocket science, but Victor Cruz torched DeAngelo Hall (23) and the Redskins' secondary for a 77-yard, game-winning touchdown during the teams' game last month.
Of course, Cruz not only puts the Giants in the conversation, he puts his team right where it ended up a year ago: at the top.
"I think we're still the same team from last year, we have the same pieces in place,'' Cruz said. "We have the same mindset. We have the same coaching, the same type of development and I think we're in a prime position to make another push for the playoffs and another push for the Super Bowl.''
That push gets a huge boost Monday night at FedEx Field if the first-place Giants (7-4) dispose of the Redskins (5-6), a team riding a two-game winning streak and enlivened by the play of precocious rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III, who has turned skeptics into believers in the nation's capital. The Redskins are in the hunt but would be in much better shape had they been able to finish the job back on Oct. 21 at MetLife Stadium.
It certainly looked as if RG3 and the Redskins had completed a marvelous comeback — and the Giants had staged a late collapse — when Griffin hit Santana Moss for a 30-yard touchdown with only 1:32 remaining. The Redskins were ahead 23-20 and to that point Eli Manning had thrown two interceptions and no touchdown passes.
It took only 19 seconds off the game clock for the Giants to secure the winning points. When Cruz bolted through a gaping hole in the Redskins secondary, Manning hit him in stride and 77 yards later Cruz was doing his salsa in the end zone and the Giants had a three-game winning streak.
Cruz says that play is one of his career highlights.
"It's definitely pretty high up there,'' he said. "To have a game-winning touchdown of 70-plus yards, it's just what you dream of.''
Cruz was supposed to be double-teamed. He lined up in the slot, stayed inside and easily ran by cornerback Josh Wilson. Safety Madieu Williams stayed too far outside and, once Wilson got beat, Williams could not slide over quickly enough to prevent Cruz from hauling in the pinpoint pass at the Washington 43-yard line and racing untouched the rest of the way.
Afterward, cornerback DeAngelo Hall was not impressed.
"I don't feel like he made that play,'' Hall said of Manning. "I feel we gave him that play. I could have thrown that ball and he would have scored. It wasn't something where he was a rocket scientist and he figured something out.''
Hall didn't back off his initial assessment yesterday, saying, "I could have made that throw.'' He also said, "Eli's made a lot of great throws in his career, but like I said, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the guy was wide-open.''
As for the blown coverage that set Cruz free, Hall added, "We won't blow that this time, that's for sure.''
Cruz said he doubted Hall's slight will carry much weight this week as far as motivational fodder because it wasn't all that belittling to himself or Manning.
"We feel like what he's saying isn't that detrimental to what we did,'' Cruz said. "It didn't take a rocket scientist to throw the ball or me to catch it, or whatever it was.''
Asked if he has a newfound respect for actual rocket scientists, Cruz said, "Exactly. I mean, rocket scientists are pretty smart people, I gather. They have to be doing something, some good things if it wasn't as easy as me catching that ball. I have a lot of respect for rocket scientists now.''
paul.schwartz@nypost.com
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