By Christine Brennan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 12, 1987; Page C1

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., JAN. 11 -- From the moment the coin toss came up heads, to the final, fan-induced snowstorm of shredded newspapers and programs, the New York Giants did a Super Bowl tap dance today on the Washington Redskins.

Giants-Redskins III turned out to be no different than I and II.

The score was New York 17, Washington 0, with the following footnote: the only thing more dominating than the Giants was the wind, which gusted up to 30 mph.

There will be no return trip to Pasadena, Calif., for the Washington Redskins (14-5), who were hoping to go back to the site of the franchise's only Super Bowl victory four years ago. The Redskins' two-week joy ride through the NFL playoffs ended abruptly at Giants Stadium as their offense deserted them in front of a raucous crowd of 76,633 that had almost as much fun taunting Washington defensive end Dexter Manley ("Dex-ter, Dex-ter") as it did cheering its Giants.

The Giants (16-2) won the National Football Conference championship game to qualify for their first Super Bowl, to be played Jan. 25 in the Rose Bowl against the Denver Broncos (13-5). The Giants beat the Broncos, 19-16, Nov. 23 at Giants Stadium.

The Giants jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game and then watched the Redskins slowly self-destruct. Quarterback Jay Schroeder, who had the worst game of his pro career a month ago against the Giants, gave another poor performance today (20 of 50 for 195 yards) -- and left the field with a mild concussion suffered when his head hit the artificial turf on the Redskins' next-to-last play of the game. He was expected to be fine and flew home with the team tonight.

Raul Allegre's 47-yard field goal gave New York a 3-0 lead with 11:38 remaining in the first quarter; Lionel Manuel's 11-yard touchdown catch made it 10-0 six minutes later. Finally, Joe Morris scored on a one-yard run midway through the second quarter. The Redskins, meanwhile, could move no closer to the end zone than the Giants 23-yard line, and that happened with two minutes left in the game.

It can safely be said the Redskins never made a big play today. In fact, it was as if they never really started playing. "You've got to have something ignite you," said quarterbacks coach Jerry Rhome. "We never did."

So total was the devastation wreaked by the Giants -- and the wind -- that the Redskins never kicked off. They also were shut out for the first time in Coach Joe Gibbs' six years in Washington. The last time the Redskins didn't score in a game was Nov. 16, 1980, in a 24-0 home loss to Philadelphia.

After the game, the Redskins recited a list of errors that did them in: wide receiver Gary Clark's drop of a certain 35-yard reception (and possible touchdown catch) inside the New York 30 in the first quarter; punter Steve Cox's terrible first quarter, when he averaged 25 yards on three kicks; center Jeff Bostic's bad snap on a 51-yard field goal attempt; and Schroeder's overall erratic effort.

But none loomed more important than the coin toss that opened the game. The Redskins called tails and heads it was, so the Giants kicked off with the wind.

The Redskins, in what became a futile attempt to establish a ground game, showed the Giants a new twist in the first half. They inserted guard Raleigh McKenzie as a 262-pound wingback to block for running back George Rogers.

The idea sounded good, but it was jettisoned when the Redskins fell behind and had to throw. Rogers never played in the second half and ended the game with nine carries for 15 yards, which is almost exactly what happened in Washington's 24-14 loss to New York Dec. 7 at RFK Stadium.

The Giants plainly were too good to allow the Redskins to benefit from any of their strategic changes.

When the Redskins had to punt after gaining four yards on their first three plays, they knew they were in trouble. When Cox punted 23 yards and the Giants started at the Redskins 47, they barely had a hope. And the game was less than two minutes old.

The Giants gained only one first down, that on Morris' 14-yard run to the 33, but that got them close enough for Allegre's wind-assisted field goal and the lead.

Soon it was 10-0, thanks in large part to a Redskins' decision to accept a 10-yard holding penalty on center Bart Oates after Giants quarterback Phil Simms threw incomplete on third and 10 at the Washington 26.

Instead of allowing Allegre to try a 43-yard field goal attempt that likely would have made the score 6-0, the Redskins chose to push the Giants back to third and 20 at the 36.

"I felt another 10 yards would force them into a long field goal and give us a chance for better field position," Gibbs said. "It was a gamble there."

Out of the shotgun, Simms, with good protection, fired 25 yards downfield to Manuel, who latched onto the high pass with his fingertips in front of cornerback Vernon Dean.

It was Manuel's first catch since Week 3 of the regular season; he missed 12 weeks on injured reserve with a bad knee.

Moments later, on third down from the 11, Simms looked for Manuel again. This time, he waited until Manuel, bumped early by cornerback Darrell Green, found a hole in the Redskins' zone defense on a crossing pattern, and drilled a touchdown pass to him with 5:32 left in the first quarter. Free safety Todd Bowles was in zone coverage on the play.

The Redskins wouldn't normally play zone defense in that situation, which is why they did it. "It was a great change of pace," said strong safety Ken Coffey. "At least it should have been."

On the Redskins' next possession, Clark dropped Schroeder's perfectly thrown, third-down pass into the wind. Clark said he simply blew it.

"That could have made our day," Gibbs said.

Two possessions later, after a 48-yard catch by wide receiver Art Monk, Bostic's snap for the 51-yard field goal try skidded along the turf and through Schroeder's hands, giving the Giants the ball at the Washington 49.

That mistake set up New York's final touchdown -- with a little help from tight end Mark Bavaro.

On second down from the 47, Bavaro beat middle linebacker Neal Olkewicz for a 30-yard gain. "He basically ran right past me," Olkewicz said.

Morris and Simms then had consecutive eight-yard gains, Simms' on a naked bootleg that caught the Redskins by surprise, before Morris easily scored over the right side of his line. With 6:56 left in the half, the game was all but over.

The Redskins had one last legitimate opportunity, but, like everything else today, that failed too. Strong safety Alvin Walton forced Morris to fumble and free safety Curtis Jordan recovered and returned the ball two yards to the Giants 37.

The Redskins moved to a fourth down and one at the 28 with 54 seconds remaining. They chose to go for the first down and put Rogers back into the game.

He took the handoff from Schroeder and bounced off linebacker Lawrence Taylor's back before running into linebacker Pepper Johnson and some of his teammates, who tackled Rogers at the 29.

That was how the half ended, with the Redskins behind by 17 -- the same amount they trailed by in their first game here in October, when they rallied to tie the game, 20-20, before losing, 27-20.

But there was no comeback today, for several reasons. The wind was the largest factor.

"You had no control over the ball after 12 to 15 yards," Schroeder said. He threw 34 times in the second half (the Redskins ran only once), but completed just 14.

The Giants had the luxury of sitting on the ball. They showed no imagination on offense, then again, they had no reason to experiment. Simms, who was seven of 14 for 90 yards all day, threw only two times in the second half, and both passes were incomplete. It didn't matter. The Giants had enough offense in the first 10 minutes to get them to Pasadena.

"They just whipped our tail," said Rhome.

"Sometimes people are better than you," said linebacker Rich Milot. "They were better than us today."