Dave Johnson, wtop.com

My 12-year-old son Pierce emerged from the downstairs man cave and asked, “Did the world just come to an end?” He has his father’s sarcasm, with his question connected to the Redskins’ surprise 23-10 win over the Giants.

It was the second win over the Giants this season and the first series sweep of their NFC East rivals since 1999. The sweep was impressive because the Giants had so much to play for on Sunday, and this was a different Redskins’ team than the first meeting.

For starters, the Redskins had three different starters on the offensive line from the season opening win over the Giants. Quarterback Rex Grossman had time to work, but also was not mistake-free and had two interceptions on the Redskins’ first three  possessions.

Turnovers at the wrong time haunt Grossman, but he also shows an amazing ability to play through and stay the course. Grossman doesn’t fold in the face of failure and by the second quarter he helped guide the Redskins to a 17-0 lead. Playing with the lead — there’s a novelty.

With the Redskins enjoying the advantage on the scoreboard, the defense preyed on that and the Giants were forced into a passing attack. In recent weeks that had worked, but this time Eli Manning, who had passed for 1,100 yards the previous three weeks, was forced into three interceptions.

The win over the Giants amplified the simple NFL fact that the team that wins the turnover ratio usually wins the game. Sunday was the first time all season that the Redskins committed fewer turnovers than their opponent. Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan says his team’s -13 turnover ratio is the worst he has ever been around.

The Redskins still have the longest active turnover streak in the NFL at 28 games. This is not all about Grossman. The change to John Beck at quarterback  and the uncertainty it created along with injuries stunted the offense’ s progress

Considering the turbulence it has been through however, the Redskins offense now looks remarkably good.  At least 20 points  have been produced in four of the last five games. Players like Santana Moss link the Redskins’ increased production ” to just playing and having fun.” Moss added that their minds are clear.

One day it would be nice if the Redskins’ minds are cluttered with playoff position. For now there is the encouragement of a team that could have checked out, but instead has checked in and remains committed to squeezing something out of these last few weeks.

Clearly, Shanahan still has the team.  Amid the frustration of losing games and losing players like Trent Williams and Fred Davis to suspension, the Redskins have not lost control.

The start to the season was encouraging. The finish might even be better. In the middle of the season there was a switch in quarterback. That should never have happened.

Rex Grossman is not the Redskins quarterback of the future. Instead, Grossman  is the best of the present. In many ways this season was lost when Grossman lost his job for three games.

This is not to blame it all on John Beck, but timing is everything. The middle of the season is when teams start to make their move, not start over.

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