Now we know why.
With their season in danger of slipping away, the Giants came up with one of their finest performances of the year Sunday and turned the division into what could be a wild, three-team race. They got a big game from their new-look defense, a huge play from Brandon Jacobs, and a remarkable punt return for a touchdown by Domenik Hixon as they beat the Cowboys at the Meadowlands, 31-24.
The big play was a 74-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Brandon Jacobs, who ran about 70 of those yards after catching a short pass near the end of the third quarter, giving the Giants a 21-17 lead into the fourth. And Hixon's 79-yard punt return for a touchdown with 5:33 remaining put the game away.
But the real heroes were on the revamped defense, where with three new starters - Mathias Kiwanuka, Chris Canty and Jonathan Goff - they shut down a Cowboys rushing attack that had ripped through them for 262 yards back in Week 2. Cowboys running back Marion Barber was barely a factor as the Giants (7-5) forced the game into Tony Romo's hands.
But Romo couldn't get anything done against the Giants' defense in the second half. And after a dangerous three-and-out midway through the fourth quarter, he opened the door for the Hixon return that sealed the Cowboys' fate.
The win was just the Giants' second in the last seven games, but it saved their season and moved them within one game of both the Cowboys (8-4) and the Philadelphia Eagles (8-4), who earned their share of the division lead with a 34-7 win over the Atlanta Falconsearlier in the day. The Giants, who now have the tie-breaker advantage over Dallas after beating them twice this season, face the Eagles at the Meadowlands in a huge showdown game next Sunday night.
This was exactly what the Giants had in mind when they tried to manufacture a spark by shaking up their defensive lineup on Friday. As expected, they started Kiwanuka at defensive end for Osi Umenyiora, Canty at defensive tackle for Fred Robbins, and Goff at middle linebacker for Chase Blackburn. Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridanalso feverishly rotated players in and out, almost down-to-down all-game long.
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