The capacity MetLife Stadium crowed roared as Jabrill Peppers dashed towards the end zone after intercepting Redskins rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins, but the Giants safety couldn’t even hear the cheers as he scored his first career touchdown.

Peppers’ laser-like focus on the interception wouldn’t allow him to bask in the fan’s joy, but it was the same attention to detail during film-study last week that put him in a position to make the play.

“I recognized the set,” Peppers said afterwards. "I knew they like over-routes from that formation. I trusted my gut, switched direction, tried to get it out, saw nothing but daylight in front of me, it had to be six.”

Peppers’ interception return for a touchdown extended the Giants’ lead to a decisive 24-3 lead with 13:41 remaining in the third quarter.

The only thing that wasn’t quite perfect from Peppers jumping the route to returning the interception for a touchdown was his celebration.

“I tried to do the wall hop, but I didn’t quite make it,” Peppers joked. “It was great that we could make a big play like that on defense, help the offense out, spread the point margin up a bit, and we played some phenomenal defense after that.”

Long before the ball left Haskins’ hand, Peppers says that he had all the motivation he needed to have a big game.

“I watched extensive film, because I wanted to take the challenge of going against Vernon Davis really personal,” Peppers said.

Davis only managed one catch for five yards on four targets, primarily drawing Peppers in coverage.

There had been plenty of questions about Peppers’ ability in coverage in recent weeks, and some even questioned his effort after he was blocked out of the way on a shovel-pass touchdown against the Buffalo Bills two weeks ago. Through the defense’s struggles, Peppers’ confidence was never rattled.

“I knew the chances of me making a big impact play was coming eventually," Peppers said. "We were cleaner this week. We still had a couple of busted coverages, but they didn’t capitalize on them.”

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Peppers and his teammates made life miserable for Haskins, who appeared overmatched at times when he didn’t seem to see receivers that were breaking open, held onto the ball for what felt like an eternity in the pocket, and tossed three interceptions.

The Giants defense held Washington to 176 yards of total offense and three points.

“I think the interceptions are overshadowing the job the front-seven did all day,” Peppers said. “They got pressure on him all day. That makes our job easier on the back end. We just have to study the film, break it down and build on it for next week.”

Matt Lombardo may be reached at MLombardo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardoNFL