Giants rescue their season . . . barely

ARLINGTON, Texas

Season on the brink. Starting running back in trouble and on the sideline for the first half after violating team rules. Trailing the Cowboys by 12 points with less than five minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

A loss here, and the Giants can just about say goodbye to any realistic hopes of salvaging their season and getting to the playoffs. Five straight losses dating back more than a month, and Tom Coughlin's tenure as the Giants' coach would be even more precarious.

This was it, and the Giants knew it.

And then, suddenly, in a matter of minutes, the Giants pulled out a victory that ranks as one of the most improbable in the long and storied history of the franchise. They beat the Cowboys 37-34, as Eli Manning pulled off yet another remarkable comeback with two fourth-quarter touchdown drives and a two-point conversion. He threw for 400 yards and two touchdowns, pulling the Giants back from the abyss with one of the signature moments of his career.

And after it was over, he made certain to send the message that the victory will have been in vain unless more wins come in its aftermath.

"It's a big win, no doubt," Manning said. "It's been a while since we have had that winning feeling. It's good to have it in the locker room, good to see a lot of smiles. Obviously, it won't mean anything if we don't finish the season strong and win these next games. That's the mind-set. We can't relax now. We can't start feeling great about ourselves now. We've still got three games to go."

Three massive games to go before they know if they'll be in the playoffs for the first time since the 2008 season. Home against Washington. At MetLife Stadium in a home game for the Jets. And then home against the Cowboys in a rematch on New Year's Day that could decide the NFC East title and who gets to keep playing deeper into January.

Had the Giants not pulled out Sunday night's win, there surely would have been talk of yet another second-half collapse, and perhaps a coaching change for the first time since 2004. Had those last five minutes not unfolded as they did, the gloom surrounding this team would have been even more ominous than the previous month, when they failed to win a game and saw a 6-2 record and a two-game lead evaporate.

Instead, Manning's magic, coupled with a remarkable performance by second-year defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who had a sack that led to a safety in the first quarter, a forced fumble that gave the Giants a field goal in the third and a blocked field goal at the end to preserve the win, breathed new life into a team that was in danger of staggering to the finish.

"It puts us back on track, everything that we set out to do in the very beginning, and that is to win the division," Coughlin said. "Last week was a frustrating and difficult loss. To bounce back and get a win under these conditions and to play the way we did, I thought it was very important."

It wasn't just the Cowboys the Giants were battling. Coughlin had his own in-house issues to deal with and decided to bench tailback Ahmad Bradshaw for the entire first half after he violated team rules. Neither Coughlin nor Bradshaw would specify which rule was broken, but NBC, which broadcast the game, said it was a curfew violation.

"Strictly in-house," Coughlin said. "Violation of team rules. That is all I am going to say."

Bradshaw, who wound up with only 12 rushing yards, said he apologized to his teammates. Asked if he agreed with the punishment, Bradshaw replied, "Yeah, I followed the rules . I violated team rules. That's what happened."

He declined to elaborate.

Fortunately for Bradshaw, his teammates rallied despite his first-half absence. Brandon Jacobs finished with 101 yards and two touchdowns and Manning engineered the passing attack with a clutch effort that rivals any regular-season performance in his career.

It wasn't on the same level as his upset win over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, but it surely was one of his biggest non-playoff performances.

The Giants trailed 17-15 at the half and fell behind 34-22 after Tony Romo's 50-yard touchdown pass to Dez Bryant with 5:41 to play. But Manning drove the Giants to consecutive touchdown drives -- the first ending with an 8-yard scoring pass to tight end Jake Ballard and the second on a 1-yard run off right tackle by Jacobs -- to go ahead 37-34.

Dallas had nearly a minute to drive the field, and got in position for a 47-yard field-goal attempt by Dan Bailey. Last week, Bailey nailed a 49-yarder that would have beaten the Cardinals at the end of regulation, but Cowboys coach Jason Garrett had called timeout just before the kick because he was concerned about the team having enough time to make the attempt. Bailey missed on his next try, and the Cardinals wound up winning in overtime.

When Bailey nailed his attempt against the Giants, the game appeared headed for overtime. But Coughlin had called a timeout just before the snap, and Bailey had to make another attempt. This time Pierre-Paul stuck both hands in the air and deflected the ball off the outside part of his left palm.

Game over.

For the Giants, season back on.