Giants survive Bengals to nab NFC East lead from Washington originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
It was a quiet, but meaningful day in the NFC East with just one of the division's four teams taking the field Sunday.
The Washington Football Team and Dallas Cowboys faced off on Thanksgiving day, of course, with Washington dominating in a 41-16 blowout win to give itself first place in the division.
That lead didn't last long. The Giants took the field against the hapless Bengals on Sunday afternoon and held on for a 19-17 win after a wild sequence to end the game.
The Eagles (3-6-1) won't play until Monday night against the Seahawks. So the Giants' win gives them first place in the NFC East for the time being. New York and Washington are tied at 4-7 apiece, ahead of Philadelphia for now, but the Giants hold the tiebreaker thanks to their two head-to-head victories over Washington.
Washington hoped to receive help from the Bengals on Sunday afternoon. That's a tough place to pin your hopes, especially with rookie quarterback Joe Burrow out for the season. New York led most of the afternoon, but Cincinnati scored a late touchdown to cut the lead to 19-17.
Using all three timeouts to their advantage, the woeful Bengals actually pulled out a late stop and forced a punt. Alex Erickson, their punt returner, just barely missed breaking away for a potential game-winning touchdown return. He was tripped up after 29 yards right at midfield. There were still 57 seconds to go - plenty of time to get into field goal range.
It wasn't meant to be, however. The Bengals fumbled away their chance at a win on the very first play of their final possession when quarterback Brandon Allen - starting in place of Burrow, who was injured against Washington last week - was hit and stripped.
A Cincinnati victory would have kept Washington atop the NFC East for another day, at least, but instead they are even with the Giants after Week 12 with the tiebreaker already going New York's way.
Next week, Washington plays in the early afternoon on Sunday while New York and Philadelphia play their games in the late afternoon.
The Cowboys-Baltimore game is tentatively scheduled for that Monday night (Dec. 7) - though that could be moved again.
Originally scheduled for this Thursday night (Dec. 3), it had to be pushed back while the Ravens and Steelers still try to play their Thanksgiving Night game that has been postponed twice. For now, that contest remains set for this Tuesday (Dec. 1), but ongoing coronavirus cases have placed that in doubt yet again. Dallas is in last place in the NFC East at 3-8.
