Pierre-Paul, Cruz have come a long way

If you'd been told before the season that the Giants' year might come down to their regular-season finale against the Cowboys, no surprise there, right? And it certainly would stand to reason that Eli Manning would be the most important player in determining the Giants' playoff fate.

But if someone had said that second-year players Jason Pierre-Paul and Victor Cruz would be the second and third most important players for the Giants . . . ridiculous, right?

Despite having only one year of major-college experience after not even playing football until his senior year of high school, Pierre-Paul entered the season off a promising rookie year in which he had 4½ sacks in a part-time role. But with incumbents Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora the featured pass-rushers for the Giants, the hope was that Pierre-Paul would simply continue to develop.

Cruz? After a rookie year in which he had zero catches, the free-agent walk-on from Division I-AA Massachusetts was just hoping to earn a roster spot.

Well, here the Giants are with a win-and-you're-in opportunity against the Cowboys, and Pierre-Paul and Cruz will be major factors in whether the Giants reach the playoffs or spend a long offseason wondering what if.

It is a stunning turn of events. The two unlikely second-year players will have nearly as big a role as Manning, who has carried the team most of the season.

Taking advantage of increased playing time because of Umenyiora's injury problems, Pierre-Paul not only has become the Giants' best pass-rusher but has joined the ranks of the league's elite defensive players. Oh, and it's his birthday Sunday. Just turned 23, which tells you there is plenty more upside where that came from.

Think of it this way: If Pierre-Paul puts together the kind of game he had the last time the Giants played the Cowboys, there is a reasonable chance he will be named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year. Pierre-Paul had two sacks, including one for a safety, and a blocked field-goal attempt in the Giants' season-saving 37-34 comeback win over the Cowboys on Dec. 11 in Texas. With 15½ sacks, he's three behind NFL leader Jared Allen of the Vikings. And Pierre-Paul has been named the NFC's defensive player of the week after two of the last three games.

"I go out there every week and give 120 percent," Pierre-Paul said. "I'm always going to give it my all. It's not like I'm playing to be player of the week or player of the year. I'm just playing."

It has been a stunningly swift emergence, even for a first-round pick. Pierre-Paul, who grew up playing basketball but switched to football in his final year of high school, played only one season at the University of South Florida after two years of junior-college ball. His raw talents and impressive physique were promising enough to make him a first-round pick as the Giants took him at No. 15 overall.

If scouts knew the production would be this good this quickly, he would have been a top 10 prospect. And maybe, just maybe, the first overall pick. Teammates already are mentioning Pierre-Paul in the same breath as Lawrence Taylor, the greatest pass-rusher who ever lived. And although it may be premature to elevate him into that stratospheric category, the mere fact that the people who play alongside him are willing to mention LT is remarkable.

"He doesn't even realize how good he is," Tuck said. "He's still just playing a lot off instinct."

In a way, Cruz's ascent is even more remarkable. Undrafted -- undrafted! -- in 2010, he caught everything in sight in training camp and had three touchdowns against the Jets while playing with the backups in the third preseason game. Cruz, who wore No. 3, made a huge impression on Rex Ryan, even though the Jets' coach didn't know his name. While shaking hands with Tom Coughlin after the game, Ryan cracked, "Hey, I don't know who No. 3 is, but holy ---- ."

And now? Cruz, who wears No. 80, has set the Giants' single-season record for receiving yardage with 1,358 and has scored eight touchdowns. One of those TDs was a 99-yarder off a short pass in last week's 29-14 win over the Jets, a play that turned the momentum of the game in the Giants' favor and again had Ryan muttering afterward.

Cruz and Pierre-Paul. It's an unlikely partnership as the Giants await their make-or-break moment. "We came here in different ways, we've got two different stories, but the same kind of outcome," Cruz said. "It's definitely a great story between the both of us."

They're hoping the next chapter isn't the last.