LANDOVER, Md. — Daniel Jones was prime time on Thursday night.
He used his legs, setting a new franchise record for rushing yards for a quarterback. And he scored both on the ground and through the air.
It wasn’t enough. A disappointing defense and Dexter Lawrence’s lack of discipline devastated the Giants in a heartbreaking 30-29 defeat.
Washington kicker Dustin Hopkins missed a 48-yard field goal attempt to lose the game as time expired. The Giants thought they had the win.
But Lawrence was flagged for jumping offsides, and Hopkins retried and made his kick from 43 yards to set the fireworks off at FedEx Field.
The Giants fell to 0-2 for a fifth consecutive season. Washington improved to 1-1.
Taylor Heinicke, the Washington QB who said “F--- ‘em” of the Giants to his teammates at Tuesday’s practice, led the game-winning field-goal drive to redeem himself after a costly interception.
Giants corner James Bradberry, in the middle of a second straight bad game to open the season, jumped and intercepted a pass intended for Terry McLaurin with 2:16 to play and the Giants trailing, 27-26. It gave the Giants the ball at the 20-yard line.
Graham Gano’s fifth field goal of the game from 35 yards had lifted the Giants into a temporary 29-27 lead with two minutes remaining. Jones did his part contributing to the loss there, though, by failing to score a touchdown with such golden field position.
The offense gained just three yards on three plays and took only 16 seconds off the clock.
It looked like the Giants were on their way to winning despite losing captain and offensive lineman Nick Gates to a gruesome left leg fracture in the first quarter.
Jones completed 22 of 32 passes for 249 yards and a TD and added nine rushes for a franchise-record 95 yards plus a TD. Jones’ previous high rushing total had been his 92 yards against the Eagles last season — also in a heartbreaking loss.
The Giants’ 391 yards of offense on Thursday were the most since Jason Garrett took over as offensive coordinator. Their previous high was 386 in last season’s Week 12 win at Cincinnati when Jones and Colt McCoy split time.
It still didn’t translate to a win.
Heinicke took Washington 75 yards in two plays for a 27-26 lead with 4:33 to play just when the Giants defense hoped to stiffen and hold a late six-point lead.
He hit running back J.D. McKissic for a 56-yard gain down the right sideline over linebacker Tae Crowder. Then he delivered a 19-yard TD pass to tight end Ricky Seals-Jones on Adoree Jackson.
Wide receiver Darius Slayton had caught a 33-yard TD pass from Jones down the left sideline with 4:41 left in the third quarter for a 20-14 Giants lead.
But late in the fourth quarter, up 23-20, Slayton dropped a wide open touchdown pass that would have put the Giants up 10 points.
After consecutive false starts by Nate Solder and Andrew Thomas, Jones at least got 11 yards back with his legs. Gano’s fourth field goal of the game from 55 yards gave the visitors a 26-20 lead, setting the table for Heinicke’s quick score.
The Giants trailed 14-10 at half because for a second straight week, Pat Graham’s defense surrendered the lead in the final minute of the first half.
McKissic scored on a two-yard run with 21 seconds left on third down and Washington out of timeouts. Heinicke encountered little resistance on the 12-play, 84-yard drive that took only 3:48 off the lock.
He hit tight end Logan Thomas for a big 24-yard gain up the seam and finished the first half 17 of 21 for 162 yards passing and a TD.
The Giants had an argument for the game being tied at half.
With 6:19 to play and the score knotted at 7 apiece, Jones had scored on a blistering 58-yard run down the left sideline. But it was called back as a 46-yard run to the Washington 22-yard line due to a late holding penalty on wide receiver C.J. Board.
Gano booted a 23-yard field goal for a 10-7 Giants lead, only to watch Heinicke take Washington’s offense nearly the full length of the field.
The Giants defense had forced a three-and-out to open the game, and then Jones came out firing on his first drive to take an early 7-0 lead.
Jones was 4-of-4 passing for 45 yards on the opening drive, with three rushes for 23 yards and a 6-yard TD run. The 11-play, 79-yard drive ate up six minutes and was aided by a questionable personal foul call against Washington’s Chase Young.
The touchdown marked the first time in Jones’ career that he has scored on rushing TDs in back to back games.
Gates fractured his left leg on the first play of the Giants’ second drive, however. And despite a 41-yard run by Saquon Barkley on the first play after the stoppage for Gates’ injury, Washington’s D-line put the Giants’ offense on its heels and pushed them out of field goal range.
Heinicke then tied the game on an 11-yard TD pass to McLaurin with 11:16 to play in the second quarter.
Bradberry was in coverage on the 11-yard TD and the preceding 16-yard completion to McLaurin. The Giants’ top corner was having a rough night, including two penalties — one for defensive pass interference and another for holding.
It marked the second straight tough outing for Bradberry to open the season — at least until his fourth quarter interception.
