By Art Stapleton, The Record (Hackensack, N.J.) –
ARLINGTON, Texas — John Mara seemed to be going in every direction but the one he wanted, scrambling for some semblance of calm near the entrance of the visitors’ locker room of Cowboys Stadium.
Workers were hastily rolling large skids of football equipment to idling buses outside following Sunday’s 29-24 victory over the Cowboys, several nearly clipping Mara as he tried to regain his composure after one of the most emotionally-draining regular-season finishes in franchise history.
In one moment, the Giants’ team president and co-owner was left incredulous.
Somehow Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant got behind the secondary and caught a 37-yard pass from Tony Romo that was ruled what would have been a go-ahead touchdown.
A crowd of 94,067 erupted and Mara figured Big Blue’s fate was sealed.
Disbelieve and exasperation followed as the Giants were able to survive and leave here with a riveting triumph for the second consecutive season thanks to the fortunate placement of a hand, this time by virtue of instant replay.
Last year it was the left hand of Jason Pierre-Paul that blocked a last-second field goal to preserve the win. This time it was Bryant’s right hand on a potential game-winning touchdown with 10 seconds remaining that allowed the Giants to survive. Bryant was initially granted the scoring reception with Corey Webster and Michael Coe in coverage in the back of the end zone, setting off a raucous celebration. But after review, officials correctly ruled that, although Bryant made the catch, his left hand touched out of bounds before he could establish possession in the field of play.
“Incomplete pass. Long foul ball. It’s over. The Giants win. Going home,” Webster said. “You know hit those balls at the park and they go the other side of the little yellow pole? It looked like a home run, but he’s gotta stay up there and keep batting.”
The Cowboys (3-4) had three more chances as Romo completed a pass to Jason Witten, then misfired inside the 5 to Miles Austin, off his fingertips. That left one second on the clock and, after a timeout, Romo threw out of the back of the end zone intended for Austin as time expired.
Of course, all of the post-game attention went back to Bryant and the play that nearly devastated the Giants before providing them with reason to exhale.
The Giants (6-2) have won four games in a row with their second consecutive NFC East victory and they now hold a commanding 2 ½-game lead atop the divisional standings with losses also by the Eagles and the Redskins Sunday.
“Listen, it’s a great win for us, to be 6-2 at the midpoint,” Mara said. “Sometimes you have to win games by an inch or two, and this one’s literally by an inch, fortunately his hand was on that end line. This would have been a brutal ride home had that call not been reversed.”
He paused briefly before adding with a chuckle: “And it still may be a brutal ride home.”
The Giants hustled out of the stadium expecting to board a waiting charter flight from the Dallas/Fort Worth airport bound for Newark, but were also at the mercy of Hurricane Sandy, which was barreling toward North Jersey late Sunday night.
“They told us that we’re gonna get home,” Mara added. “But you know, it just depends on the direction the storm takes.
“But the airline has told us that they expect us to get home in Newark.”
Safety Stevie Brown’s second interception of the game appeared to have ended a wild and back-and-forth game, saving the Giants from a collapse during which Dallas erased a 23-0 deficit.
Lawrence Tynes kicked five field goals and the Giants forced six turnovers, including two late in the fourth quarter, ultimately denying what would have been the biggest comeback in Cowboys history.
Eli Manning (15-of-29, 192 yards, INT) ended up getting credit for the 25th fourth-quarter comeback victory of his career, but the game came down to the Giants hoping what they saw – officials signaling what would have been a crushing touchdown for Bryant – did not actually happen.
It did, but then it didn’t, and just like that the Giants survived.
“We earn our victories,” Chris Canty said. “But this one kinda just feels like we escaped a little bit.”
