Officials Erred in Mix-Up Near End of Giants Game The N.F.L. on Monday said officials erred at the end of the Giants" game with the Washington Redskins when they chose not to stop play after there was confusion about the down and the distance to go for a first down during the Redskins" final drive. With the Giants leading by the eventual final score of 24-17, a 4-yard completion to Washington wide receiver Pierre Garcon on second down was spotted short of a first down with less than two minutes remaining. Washington had used all its timeouts. The referee Jeff Triplette signaled third down. But with Washington hurrying to the line, another official - the head linesman, who believed a first down had been made - motioned for the crew maintaining the first-down chain and markers to move downfield. Washington Coach Mike Shanahan said he was also told by one of the linesmen that his team had picked up the first down. Thinking the Redskins were running a first-down play, Robert Griffin III threw a deep pass over the middle to tight end Fred Davis, who dropped the ball. Realizing the confusion, Triplette informed the Washington bench that it was actually fourth down and had the chains moved back. Garcon caught another pass but was stripped by safety Will Hill, who maintained possession. The Giants then ran out the clock. After the game, Triplette told a pool reporter that the chains were moved incorrectly. He said he did not stop play because with less than two minutes remaining and Washington out of timeouts, it would have given the Redskins an unfair advantage. But the N.F.L. officiating director Dean Blandino said Monday in a statement: "In this situation where there is obvious confusion as to the status of the down, play should have been stopped prior to third down and the correct down communicated to both clubs. This should have occurred regardless of the fact that Washington had no timeouts and it was inside two minutes. Griffin said: "We called a first-down play. Obviously, we would have done something different if we knew it was third down. Then we come back and we think it's second-and-10, and they're yelling out that it's fourth down. No explanation, no measurement. Giants Coach Tom Coughlin said on Monday that he would not have been happy if play had been interrupted to clear up the misunderstanding. "I knew it wasn't a first down, and we did think the markers were wrong, but we weren't letting that become a distraction," Coughlin said in a conference call. But we would have been upset if the clock had been stopped. Not that it would have mattered. Giants defensive end Justin Tuck was near the play and said he grasped the confusion. "I knew the call wasn't coming out the right way," Tuck said. But when the ball is being snapped that fast, it's hard for the referees to get all the calls right. I guess the outcome made it moot. A LIFT FROM HILLIS The Giants had the football in their own territory early in the second quarter but were trailing Washington, 14-0. The Giants" huddle was not brimming with confidence and hope. So far the offense had gained 6 yards on three carries, and Eli Manning had completed only two passes and been sacked once. It was at this juncture that the Giants turned to Peyton Hillis, a running back who had not even suited up for the previous two games. Hillis, discarded by three teams in the last four years, had also been out of football for more than a month earlier in the season. But on his first rushing attempt Sunday night, Hillis wedged through a sliver of a gap in the middle of the line and rumbled forward for 8 yards. On the next play, he burst through the right side of the line, juked past two defenders and ran over another Washington player for a 27-yard gain to the Redskins" 30. Two plays later, the Giants scored a touchdown. They ran to their sideline buoyed by their quick success, and outscored the Redskins by 17-3 the rest of the game. After the game and again on Monday, several Giants pointed to Hillis's second-quarter contribution as the turning point. "Once Peyton got that big run, I think it kind of woke everyone up," Victor Cruz said. It was such a Giants kind of play, just run right at them and over them. I think we understood exactly where we could beat this team. Manning said, "It was the kind of play where we said, "Hey, we can make plays, too." " And Tom Coughlin said he was not surprised Hillis was ready after sitting out two games. "To his credit, his attitude remained great, and he stayed involved," Coughlin said. He's a solid player. That run was a big play for us. It gave us a spark. TUCK'S BIG NIGHT Tom Coughlin had no update on the condition of defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who missed the victory over Washington with a shoulder injury. With Pierre-Paul out, Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka played every defensive snap. Tuck had a career-high four sacks.