However, the lead would be short lived as Six-time Pro Bowl QB Drew Brees marched his Saints down the field, culminating in a 20-yard touchdown pass to star tight end Jimmy Graham.

However, fortunately for the Redskins, Brees' Hail Mary pass on the final play of the game fell short of the intended target and was intercepted by Reed Doughty to preserve the 40–32 upset win.

In the second quarter, Cincinnati continued to dictate the flow of the game, and things began to look grim for the Redskins in Robert Griffin III's home debut.

After squandering solid field position twice, and being out of timeouts with over twelve minutes to play in the fourth, Dalton found Jermaine Gresham for a 6-yard TD to put the Bengals back on top, 31–24.

Josh Freeman began to find open receivers, including bombs to Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams, to set Tampa Bay up in the red zone.

In the fourth, with an opportunity to take a 2-possession lead, Redskins kicker Billy Cundiff missed his third field goal of the day, this one from a mere 31 yards, and Washington all of a sudden was in a nail-biter.

This time, Cundiff delivered, squeezing the ball inside the upright for the 41-yard field goal with only 3 seconds to go, and Washington escaped, 24–22, when Tampa Bay's lateral drill was stopped short the end zone.

On Washington's ensuing possession, they were able to get to Atlanta's side of the field, but Cousins showed his rookie colors, stared down a receiver, and veteran cornerback Dunta Robinson made him pay, intercepting him.

In the fourth, the Vikings possessed the ball, but Ponder threw an interception straight into the waiting arms of Redskins free safety Madieu Williams, who returned it 24 yards to put the game nearly on ice, at 31–12 Washington.

With the win, Washington improved to 3–3, snapped an 8-game home losing streak, and will have an opportunity to take first place in the NFC East with a victory over the defending Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants next week.

Going into the game, the Redskins had lost to the last 8 rookie quarterbacks they faced, dating back to 2005, when they beat backup Ryan Fitzpatrick, filling in for an injured Marc Bulger for the St. Louis Rams.

In the first quarter, Philadelphia got the ball first, but on third-and-8, tight end Brent Celek could not catch Nick Foles' pass, it was batted in the air, and intercepted by DeAngelo Hall and returned to the Eagles' 9.

To save time, Dallas ran a no-huddle offense, and was able to march down the field, and find Felix Jones for a 10-yard touchdown, and a subsequent quarterback draw by Romo cut the lead to 35–21 with just under 10 minutes remaining.

With his mettle about to be tested, Robert Griffin III led an efficient, clock-chewing drive that concluded with a Kai Forbath 48-yard field goal to extend Washington's advantage to 38–28 with just under three minutes remaining.

Coming off a big Thanksgiving Day win over the rival Cowboys, the Redskins returned home for a Monday Night Football duel against the NFC East-leading New York Giants, who beat them in Week 7 27–23.

The Giants then again marched down the field on Washington's much-maligned secondary, and 2-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning found tight end Martellus Bennett for a 4-yard score to retake the lead at 10–7.

However, the Redskins porous secondary again got picked on, as Manning led a drive into field goal range, and Tynes connected from 40 yards out, and the Giants sent the game to halftime 13–10.

The Redskins possessed the ball first, and struck first, as quarterback Robert Griffin III found wide receiver Josh Morgan in the end zone for a 7–0 lead.

In the second, both teams continued to exchange possessions, and eventually scores, in a tit-for-tat manner, as Kai Forbath connected from 44 yards out to give Washington a 10–7 lead.

In the fourth, Washington capitalized on a second Weeden interception, this time by London Fletcher, and capped off the drive with an Evan Royster 4-yard touchdown run to take a 31–14 lead.

Not to be outdone, Cousins led a clock-chewing, 5 minute drive that culminated with Morris' 2nd Touchdown run of the day, this time from 8 yards out, to effectively put the game away, taking a 38–21 lead.

Most importantly, however, the New York Giants' 34–0 loss to the Atlanta Falcons put Washington in first place in the NFC East, meaning, if they win their final two games, they will be division champions for the first time since 1999.

In the first, Philadelphia got the ball first, and subsequently got on the board first, as well, taking the opening kickoff and going on a drive in which they converted two fourth downs, and ended with quarterback Nick Foles finding wide receiver Jeremy Maclin for a 27-yard score and a 7–0 lead.

Washington turned Philadelphia's second turnover of the quarter into a Josh Morgan 13-yard touchdown pass from Robert Griffin III, back in after missing last week's game, for a 13–7 lead.

Coming off their win over Philadelphia, Washington returned home for the season finale, a rematch against their archrival, the Dallas Cowboys, whom they beat 38–31 earlier in the year with the winner of the game clinching the NFC East on NBC Sunday Night Football.

A 28-yard punt return by Dwayne Harris put the Cowboys in good field position early, but it proved to be irrelevant as Tony Romo threw an interception to Richard Crawford.

After a missed Kai Forbath field goal, the first of his season and professional career, Romo failed to capitalize again deep in Redskins territory, throwing a second interception to Josh Wilson.

Wilson's subsequent completions to Doug Baldwin and Zach Miller for gains of 33 and 22 yards set up Hauschka's second field goal, cutting the score to 14–13 at the end of the half.

While he was voted a Pro Bowler, Robert Griffin III did not play in the game after suffering ACL and MCL injuries during the regular season and during the Wild-Card Round of the playoffs.

And while Trent Williams was also voted in, he was removed from the game after an incident at a local nightclub in Honolulu, Hawaii occurred in which he was struck over the head with a glass bottle, receiving stitches in the process, thus not playing.