Robert Griffin III leads rally as Redskins edge Giants

• RGIII hits Pierre Garcon for an 8-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter
• Griffin passes Cam Newton as the new record holder for rushing yards by a rookie quarterback
• Redskins now 6-6, just one game behind 7-5 Giants for NFC East lead

LANDOVER, Md. – It was a weekend of fourth-quarter comebacks for rookie quarterbacks. And Robert Griffin III capped it with one of his own.

One day after the Indianapolis Colts' Andrew Luck and the Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson led comebacks in dramatic late fashion, Griffin got his very early in the final period with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon that gave the Washington Redskins a 17-16 victory over the New York Giants on Monday night.

Unlike the teams' first meeting in October, the Super Bowl champs had no answer this time, even though they had a pair of chances to do so. And now, with the final quarter of the season to play, the Giants (7-5) have only a one-game lead over the Redskins and Dallas Cowboys, both 6-6.

Griffin, who passed Cam Newton as the new record holder for rushing yards by a rookie quarterback, hit Garcon for the game winner on a rollout to his right with just over 11 minutes to play. It was a much less tricky touchdown than the one the Redskins got in the first quarter when he fumbled just before he hit the ground, only to have the ball pop into Josh Morgan's hands. Morgan ran 13 yards into the end zone for the score.

Griffin was as slippery as the ball on that play and frustrated the Giants with his ability to get outside of the pocket. He was even too quick for the officials, who gave him a first down on the game-winning drive even, though replays showed he had stepped out of bounds at least a yard short of the stick.

It was one of many questionable calls by the officials, who nearly lost control of the game when Redskins center Will Montgomery kicked Giants defensive tackle Linval Joseph after Joseph yanked Montgomery out of a scrum for a loose ball. Joseph appeared to want to stomp Montgomery, which would've been an ejection, but stopped himself at the last moment.

If only Jim Cordle had stopped himself from holding.

The Giants' backup lineman was flagged for holding on the return after the Redskins' go-ahead touchdown, negating a return for rookie David Wilson to midfield. It was the second holding call on Cordle on as many kick returns, and it backed the Giants up to their own 8-yard line, where they promptly went three-and-out.

They got the ball back, thanks to a questionable pass-interference call on Redskins tight end Logan Paulsen that turned a third-and-4 at the Giants' 38-yard line into a second-and-20 at their own 46. But the Giants then had a costly penalty of their own, with left tackle Will Beatty being called for holding linebacker Rob Jackson.

An 11-yard pass to Martellus Bennett to convert a third-and-10 was no more. The Giants punted and never got the ball back.

Credit rookie running back Alfred Morris, now the Redskins' rookie rushing record holder, with running through the arms of Chris Canty on a third-and-3 to seal the game.

And for making this divisional race and the Giants' title defense much tighter than it should've, and could've, been.

The Redskins were motivated by a quote from Giants president John Mara saying the team was lucky to not lose draft picks for their alleged salary-cap violations a few years ago. That quote was posted in their locker room last week, along with the league-high number of penalties the officials called against the Redskins through 12 weeks.

Now, the Giants might need a little luck to fend off these upstart 'Skins and their rookie phenom quarterback.