NEW YORK _ The Giants beat the Cowboys, but here's the real shocking part:
They did it in spite of Eli Manning.
The quarterback used to be the one to carry the team to big December wins and into the playoffs, but on Sunday night against NFC East-leading Dallas, it was the team's defense _ plus a single explosive offensive play _ that forged a 10-7 win at MetLife Stadium.
Manning fumbled the ball away twice in the first half and threw an awful interception as the Giants were driving with 9:40 left in the game, but the defense allowed the Cowboys to convert only 1 of 15 third downs. When the Cowboys finally did appear to convert one late in the fourth quarter, on the first completion of the game to Dez Bryant, cornerback Janoris Jenkins forced a fumble that was recovered by Landon Collins to give the Giants the ball with 2:13 remaining.
The defense held the Cowboys to a four-and-out in the final minute to seal the victory.
Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. combined on a 61-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter for the Giants' only TD of the game.
Regardless of how it happened, it was the biggest win of the season for the Giants, who remain the only team to beat the Cowboys this year. They swept the season series from them for the first time since 2011, having won the opener in Dallas.
The Giants (9-4) secured their first winning season since 2012. The Cowboys (11-2) remain in first place in the NFC East and, with three games left, still are likely to win the division title, but the Giants did improve their playoff standing by remaining a game ahead of the Bucs (8-5) and staying two wins ahead of the three seven-win teams vying for a wild-card spot: the Redskins, Vikings and Packers.
No matter how poorly the Giants' offense is functioning, they're always one Beckham play away from the end zone. They proved that when the star receiver woke up the MetLife Stadium crowd as well as his own moribund unit with a 61-yard scoring play that gave the Giants a 10-7 lead with 1:07 left in the third quarter.
Beckham caught a short slant over the middle, stepped past a tackle attempt by Barry Church, then beat Brandon Carr in a footrace to the end zone. It was Beckham's 10th career TD reception of at least 50 yards and was the 34th time he has caught a touchdown pass from Manning, now the most common scoring connection in team history.
The touchdown was set up when cornerback Leon Hall intercepted Dak Prescott and returned it to the Giants' 39. It was the second pick of the game for the Giants and only the fourth of the year for Prescott.
About the only thing that went right for the Giants in the first half was that it ended with them trailing only 7-0. Beckham dropped a sure touchdown late in the first quarter and then, two plays later, Manning dropped a fumble when the ball slipped from his hands without contact from a Cowboys defender. It was one of two fumbles given up by Manning, the second one coming on a sack from behind as Benson Mayowa blew past left tackle Ereck Flowers to dislodge the ball.
The Giants managed only 84 yards of total offense in the first half. Cowboys rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott had 86 rushing yards in the same timeframe.
Beckham dropped a second pass that would have been close to a first down on third-and-8 from the Dallas 21 midway through the third quarter. The Giants had to settle for a 39-yard field goal from Robbie Gould that cut the deficit to 7-3.
For all the flaws on offense, the defense actually did well. They were one blown coverage away from holding the Cowboys scoreless in the first half. That play came late in the first quarter when Prescott faked a toss to Elliott to the left, rolled to his right and found a wide-open Terrance Williams for a 31-yard scoring play. It appeared that rookie safety Andrew Adams was the player lured up by the action in the backfield, allowing the receiver to be open.
Meanwhile, Janoris Jenkins had an interception, Romeo Okwara had a sack starting in place of Jason Pierre-Paul (core muscle) and Devon Kennard had a sack and forced fumble for the Giants defense. The offense could do nothing with those gifts.
Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey's 55-yard field-goal attempt to end the first half hit the crossbar and bounced back toward the field.
