The game was a two-hour, 49-minute microcosm of the Giants season.
Their 24-20 win over the Raiders Sunday at MetLife Stadium began so poorly and was followed by such an assortment of self-inflicted gaffes you could not help but wonder if the Giants would recover — the same way you had a difficult time believing they would survive their 0-6 start to the season.
But now a six-game losing streak has methodically been followed by a three-game winning streak and suddenly that speck of light at the end of the long tunnel is burning a bit more brightly for the Giants.
Suddenly they are back in business. As inconceivable as this might sound given the 0-6 start, there is a not-so-implausible scenario that could have the Giants playing the Cowboys at home for first place in the NFC East in two weeks.
The Cowboys, 5-5 after Sunday night’s 49-17 loss to the Saints in New Orleans, have a bye next week. The 5-5 Eagles play the Redskins Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, where they have lost 10 in a row, dating back to last season.
The 3-6 Giants next play a Packers team that lost its backup quarterback to injury Sunday and will be starting third-string quarterback Scott Tolzien next week at MetLife Stadium. So a Giants win over the Aaron Rodgers-less Packers and an Eagles loss to the Redskins and the Giants will be 4-6 playing the 5-5 Cowboys for a piece of first place on Nov. 24.
“Oh-and-six has not been done,’’ linebacker Jon Beason said of a team making the playoffs. “Why not be the first to do it? Once you win, you know you can. We’re 3-0. That’s how we look at it.’’
It hasn’t exactly been a smooth ride to 3-6 from 0-6 and it surely has not been artistic — much like Sunday’s game, which could not have started any worse for the Giants with Jerrel Jernigan fumbling away the opening kickoff and gifting the Raiders a 7-0 lead just 53 seconds in.
The terrible start, however, was followed with no panic — as has been the case all season — and that led to an eventual methodical breaking down of a mediocre Raiders team.
“We couldn’t even fathom starting the game off the way we did,’’ coach Tom Coughlin said. “There were a lot of outstanding plays and a lot of bad plays. We certainly don’t make it easy on ourselves.’’
The Giants haven’t looked anything like Super Bowl contenders during their three-game winning streak. Quite the contrary. The fact is the Giants have survived the last three games more than they have gone out and seized them.
Win No. 1, the baby-steps, a 23-7 victory over Minnesota, was thanks much in part to the Vikings quarterback Josh Freeman, who had joined the team only days earlier, had limited knowledge of the offense and should not have been playing.
Win No. 2, the 15-7 victory over the Eagles, was helped in large part by the Eagles’ inexplicable ineptitude at home.
Win No. 3 featured the Giants handing the Raiders 17 of their 20 points off turnovers — the fumbled opening kickoff, an Eli Manning pick-six and a lost fumble by running back Peyton Hillis at the Giants’ 21-yard line.
“We’re finding ways to win and that’s nice, but we still have to figure out some things,’’ Manning said.
As bad as the Giants looked losing the first six and as shaky as they’ve looked winning the last three, they should be credited for not allowing themselves to fall into an emotional abyss when things looked bleakest.
“No one was in the tank, nobody was looking at the problems, everybody was looking for solutions,’’ guard David Diehl said.
“I don’t see much of a difference in the guys from when we were losing all those game and now that we’re on a three game [winning] streak,’’ safety Ryan Mundy said.
In Mundy’s words lie the key to the Giants’ mini-turnaround — staying even-keel and clinging to hope even when it did not seem like there was any.
“When we got that first win it felt like a different team,’’ receiver Victor Cruz said. “We’re bonding in a different way in our locker room and on the practice field. I think this team is able to do some special things this year. We’re excited about what’s to come.’’
Who could have predicted those words coming from any player in the Giants locker room three weeks ago?