Best rushing attack: The Redskins ran the heck out of the ball on a fourth-quarter drive. No, I’m serious, they did. With two starting linemen out. And Matt Jones as the lead running back. Down by one, they did the methodical march-down-the-field eat-up-the-clock thing that this team has so rarely done. The drive went 10 plays — eight on the ground — lasted more than six minutes and ended with Washington in the lead. Like I’ve always said, this Redskins team will rely on its running game and its defense. Definitely. Was just saying that yesterday.

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Best rookie: Washington’s first-round pick has struggled with injuries and was inactive Sunday. The team’s third-round pick wasn’t active, either. The rookie class has been pretty much invisible through three games. Except for Cravens, who already appears to be the team’s second-most dynamic defender, and who managed to save a season in his third NFL game. Pretty good celebration, too.

Best character: The jokes were flying early in that fever dream of a game, as the Redskins fell behind by two touchdowns while their defense looked outclassed and all their players got injured and their head coach kept making us scratch our heads. To rally in those circumstances — in a building where they so often have flailed, and with their season seemingly on the line — should at least stop all those “same old Redskins” comments*. (*Unless they lose to the Browns.)

Best guts: Through two weeks — and one half — Jay Gruden’s decision-making was repeatedly questioned, as he seemed to guess wrong on every 50-50 choice. That finally changed in the third quarter Sunday, when the Redskins ran a fake punt on fourth and 12 near midfield. Tress Way gave Quinton Dunbar a chance, the former receiver did a terrific job coming back to the ball and the Redskins had a game-changing 31-yard conversion. Can you imagine the conversation if that play had failed and the Giants took over near midfield? Instead, the Redskins wound up with a field goal and the lead. (Don’t worry about the chronology too much here. Basically every other play resulted in a crazy momentum change. This should be felt, not explained.)

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Worst follow-up: After that bit of special-teams mastery, Washington’s next punt was blocked. But because everything in this game was insane, there were two penalties on the play: one for illegal batting on the Redskins and one a personal foul on the Giants, and so the punt got a do-over, which wound up costing the Giants 52 yards. Just to warn you: There were about 16 similarly insane plays in this game. I would just stop reading now. It’ll save you a headache.

Best hands: It could be Jordan Reed or Jamison Crowder, but nah, it’s got to be Dunbar again. His one-handed interception in the fourth quarter snuffed out a Giants drive that seemed destined to give New York yet another lead. Dunbar was only playing because 14 other defensive backs had been injured, but he made his time on the field count. (It helped that Eli Manning threw the ball to no one. Well, to Dunbar, I guess.) Anyhow, Dunbar became the first Redskins player since Champ Bailey in 2000 to have a catch and an interception in the same game.

Worst hands: Manning was desperate to throw another interception later in the fourth quarter, and he lobbed one to David Bruton and Cravens. But they couldn’t decide who should catch it, and so they both tried to, but neither did, and the Giants wound up keeping the ball and kicking a field goal. After Cravens’s game-saving interception, though, you can’t really criticize his hands.

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Best job kicking: For all the jokes about settling for field goals, give Dustin Hopkins credit for this: He made them all. Washington’s kicker was 5 for 5 on the day, hitting from 49, 33, 45, 25 and 37 yards. Any misses in a game like this would have been deadly.

Best job knocking a kicking net into your own head with a helmet: Not clear if this is a best or a worst, but one of Odell Beckham’s tantrums involved hitting himself in the head with a metal bar.

Worst all-around goat stampede: Washington’s two-minute drill to end the first half was a model of incompetence. Just one self-inflicted wound after another. First, the Redskins declined to take their only timeout after a long completion with about 23 seconds left, allowing 12 seconds to disappear into space. One throw into the end zone took five seconds, so the Redskins had just six seconds left. They could have kicked a field goal, but instead chose to try again, leading to a sack and a fumble and probably guys on the sideline wandering around punching themselves in the face as the half ended. At least they took an extra timeout into the locker room. It would be extremely hard to bungle that operation more completely. And the correct move was clearly to call the timeout with 23 seconds left and throw the ball into the end zone three times.

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Second-worst all-around goat stampede: On one play, the Redskins defense picked up a penalty for 12 men on the field, gave up an 18-yard catch and added a roughing-the-passer penalty for good measure. Three terrible things on just one snap. Two plays later, the Redskins gave up a touchdown.

Best individual excellence: Crowder, both for his brilliant punt return (see below) and his 55-yard touchdown catch in the second half, which involved Crowder avoiding several tackles, including one in the open field as he approached the end zone. Crowder’s catch and run gave the Redskins their first lead of the game. Bonus point to left guard (!) Trent Williams, who showed exactly why he would be an amazing guard, blocking two men downfield during Crowder’s run.

Also this was super good: Jordan Reed, everyone.

Worst optics: A week after Ricky Jean Francois publicly questioned why the Washington defense cannot make adjustments, Chris Baker was shown in a sideline shouting match with defensive coordinator Joe Barry. With Barry’s unit showing all the resistance of a bowl of hummus through three weeks, this was not a promising sight.

Worst traction: Why did Robert Kelley keep falling? The undrafted rookie got his chance to spark Washington’s offense when Matt Jones was being evaluated for a concussion, and then Kelley slipped and fell, and slipped and fell again. Did he request the special grease-smothered cleats? Did a saboteur make it onto Washington’s sidelines with a stick of butter?

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Worst ruling: Only losers complain about the officials, but since the Redskins won, this is fine. When Bruton grabbed the ball in the corner of the end zone midway through the third quarter, his left elbow sure seemed to be good and down before he rolled out of bounds. After the Redskins challenged, Fox officiating expert Mike Pereira said it should be an interception. So did Troy Aikman. I’m not quite sure why it wouldn’t have been an interception. But it wasn’t; the Redskins lost the challenge and a timeout, and the Giants got a field goal to go ahead.

Best takeover: Down 12 points late in the first half, the game appeared to be slipping away. Then Cousins found DeSean Jackson on consecutive plays: once for 31 yards, and once for a 44-yard touchdown. That drive went 75 yards in two plays and 32 seconds; it was Washington’s quickest player making something happen extremely quickly, and in the process putting the Redskins right back in the game.

Worst injuries: Washington’s secondary was already a weak spot entering this week. Then Bashaud Breeland and DeAngelo Hall both exited in the first half with leg injuries and didn’t return. Can you imagine where this secondary would be if the Redskins hadn’t imported Josh Norman during the offseason?

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Worst injuries, continued: Meanwhile, the offensive line also lost two starters, with Shawn Lauvao and Kory Lichtensteiger both leaving in the second half. That meant Ty Nsekhe at left tackle, Trent Williams shifting to left guard and backup guard Spencer Long at center. Got all that?

Best special-teams play: Crowder has been iffy as a punt returner this year, and his decision not to field a first-quarter punt led directly to a miserable turnover (see below). But Crowder made some amends in the second quarter; he appeared willing to let another punt roll to a stop, before fielding it, breaking a tackle, dancing a jig, reversing fields and then recording a startling career-long 50-yard return. The assist goes to Duke Ihenacho, who sprung Crowder with a crushing blind-side block. It was Washington’s longest punt return in almost four years.

Worst job taking advantage: What did the Redskins do after that thrilling return that gave them unexpectedly great field position? They got one first down, then decided it was time to mix two penalties with an incompletion and a two-yard run, leading to their third field goal of the day. That punt return deserved better than two penalties, an incompletion and a two-yard run. It deserved better than a seven-play, nine-yard drive.

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Worst underthrow: Cousins had Rashad Ross wide open in the end zone in the second quarter. The ball came up maybe two yards short. Although Troy Aikman thought maybe he was trying to throw the ball to Jordan Reed, in which case the ball would have been maybe two yards too far. Either way, the play was called back due to a hold. Just good times all around on that one.

Best mid-game weightlifting: Josh Norman and Odell Beckham earned all the headlines in the run-up to this matchup, after what Norman described as a “bloodbath” the last time they met. There weren’t many fireworks this time around, but in the first quarter Norman managed to give Beckham a ride around the end zone, lifting him up and carrying him a few strides. It was the jolliest bloodbath I’ve ever seen.

Worst gaffe: After the Redskins forced an immediate punt, Dunbar inexplicably reached down to touch the football as he was falling over, with the ball seemingly destined to be downed. It should have been a totally normal, harmless, boring special teams play, until Dunbar transformed it into a momentum-altering disaster. And yes, Dunbar was pushed on the play, but he still reached down to swipe at the ball. Three plays later, the Giants scored to go up 7-0. Meanwhile, Breeland also injured his ankle on that series and didn’t return. Just an all-around boner, and it felt like a bad omen. (It wasn’t though!)

Worst timing: On New York’s very next series, Manning found Sterling Shepard in the slot for a 23-yard touchdown. Shepard was covered by Dashaun Phillips on the play, who has struggled thus far this season. Breeland in the slot was going to take Phillips off the hook this week. Breeland on the sidelines meant Phillips was on the wrong end of another huge play. Phillips was later injured, too, because everyone was injured.

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Best play that could have been more: Just before Shepard’s touchdown grab, Norman made a tremendous break on the ball to break up a pass to Beckham. It was a fine play, but it could have been more: Norman was clearly frustrated with himself for not intercepting the pass. A turnover there would have saved a touchdown and possibly reversed New York’s momentum. Not that Norman has to do everything for this defense, but … actually, he probably has to do everything for this defense.

Best game summary: The game had to be paused because two players had their helmets stuck together, and it wasn’t even in the top 10 weirdest things that happened. Probably not the top 20, either.

Best proving people wrong: Cousins took a lot of heat during the week. He took a lot of heat during the pregame shows, with Terry Bradshaw saying “the pressure’s getting to him and he’s not playing free and he’s not playing easy.” He took a lot of heat at the end of the first half, when he mangled that two-minute opportunity. And yet he wound up 21-for-35 passing for 296 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers. Manning, meanwhile, turned it over twice. People delighted in pointing out that Cousins had been outplayed in both of Washington’s first two games; he got the better of Manning in this one.

Worst discipline: After the Redskins struggled with penalties in their first two games, the Giants took over Sunday. They committed 11 penalties for 128 yards, several of which saved Washington from dire circumstances. The Giants receive a huge amount of the credit for this win.