PRO FOOTBALL : Schroeder Gets Hot and Burns the Giants : His Three Scoring Passes in Second Half Give Redskins 23-19 Win

WASHINGTON —  Jay Schroeder, benched two weeks ago because of ineffectiveness, threw three second-half touchdown passes to lead the Washington Redskins from a 16-point deficit to a 23-19 victory over the New York Giants Sunday.

Schroeder’s 28-yard scoring toss to Ricky Sanders capped a 4-play, 45-yard drive and gave Washington the lead for the first time with 4:56 left.

The game ended with the Giants’ Tony Galbreath catching a pass from Phil Simms and making it to the two-yard line.

“A loss is a loss, but this one hurts worse than any of them,” Galbreath said. “A lousy two yards was the game.”

Washington (8-3) leads the NFC East by three games.

The Redskins were still smarting from three losses the Giants pinned on them last season, including one in the NFC championship game.

“This was a very big game for us from a pride standpoint,” Washington Coach Joe Gibbs said. “You don’t like to get beat three times in the same year by the same team.”

Schroeder got the start because of a back injury to Doug Williams. Despite being sacked 6 times, he completed 28 of 46 passes for 331 yards, including 17 of 25 in the second half.

Schroeder, who threw for 4,109 yards last season, entered the game having completed only 41% of his passes this season. He was yanked in favor of Williams on Nov. 15. Now he may have earned his job back.

“I would expect to (start),” Schroeder said. “The team is getting in a groove now, and we’ve got to keep it going.”

The Giants led, 16-0, at halftime and, 19-3, late in the third quarter before the Redskins rallied in a steady rain.

“It was like two different ballgames between the first half and the second half. You never relax when you’re in this business,” New York Coach Bill Parcells said.

“That’s a tough one to take. We did a couple of dumb things, had some individual breakdowns.”

Washington drove 73 yards, with Gary Clark catching 34-yard touchdown pass from Schroeder in the left corner of the end zone to make it 19-9.

The Redskins made it 19-16 on a six-yard pass from Schroeder to Keith Griffin with 10:27 remaining, and drove 45 yards in their next possession for the winning score. Sanders’ fake at the line forced New York cornerback Perry Williams to slip, and Schroeder lofted the game-winner into Sanders’ hands on the left sideline.

“We had some tough luck,” Parcells said. “Perry just slipped.”

Simms threw a 30-yard, first-quarter touchdown pass to Mark Bavaro and Raul Allegre kicked four field goals for the Giants (3-8).

“They were cocky and overconfident,” Redskin defensive end Charles Mann said. “It showed in the second half when they just sat on the ball.”

New York played without linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who did not make the trip because of a strained hamstring muscle. Taylor had not missed a football game in high school, college or as a professional.