EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Safety D.J. Swearinger intercepted two passes, Matt Ioannidis had 2½ sacks, and the NFC East-leading Washington Redskins rode their defense to a third straight win, a 20-13 decision over the offensively inept New York Giants on Sunday.
Adrian Peterson caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Alex Smith and ran for a season-high 149 yards, with the last 64 coming on a touchdown jaunt with 3:06 to play, as the Redskins (5-2) matched their best start since 2008.
Dustin Hopkins added field goals of 53 and 39 yards for the Redskins, who will finish the week with a 1½-game lead in the division. The three-game winning streak is their longest in two seasons.
The Redskins sacked a battered Eli Manning seven times, forced the two turnovers and made big play after big play in sending New York (1-7) to its fifth straight loss.
Aldrick Rosas kicked field goals of 37 and 21 yards for the Giants. Manning, 30 of 47 for 316 yards, hit Evan Engram on a 2-yard touchdown pass with :17 to play.
Engram also let a scoring chance slipped away at the Redskins 32 when a short fourth-down pass went through his fingers with New York down 10-3 early in the fourth quarter.
The Giants came into the game wondering whether the trades this past week of starting cornerback Eli Apple and 2016 All-Pro defensive tackle Damon Harrison would be a problem. New York's defense was fine. Its offense wasn't, and the Redskins' defense was very, very good.
A major difference was Washington capitalized in the red zone, especially in the first half. Smith (20 of 32 for 178 yards) capped a 10-play, 73-yard drive with a TD pass to Peterson, who stepped out of a tackle by backup linebacker Nate Stupar at the 4-yard line.
New York had two trips inside the Washington 20. Swearinger ended the first, stepping inside of Odell Beckham Jr., to intercept a slant pass at the 8-yard line.
Rosas kicked a 37-yard field goal on the second drive after passes of 11 yards to Beckham and 24 to Saquon Barkley, who was limited to 38 yards rushing, got New York in scoring position.
Beckham had seven catches for 125 yards.
Hopkins missed a 41-yard field goal after the Swearinger interception.
Washington never lost the lead in the second half as its defense kept Manning ducking most of the day.
INJURY REPORT
Redskins: T Trent Williams (thumb), RB Kapri Bibbs (shoulder), S Troy Apke (hamstring) and LB Ryan Anderson (knee) were hurt during the game. The extent of their injuries was not announced.
Giants RT Chad Wheeler left in the second half with an ankle injury and was replaced by Brian Mihalik.
UP NEXT
Redskins: host Atlanta on Sunday.
Giants: a much-needed bye. Return at San Francisco for Monday game on Nov. 12.
