1. Victor Cruz’s 99-yard TD vs. Jets
Dec. 24
Not only did Cruz’s record-tying catch and run start the Giants’ turnaround, but it also started the Jets’ downward spiral. Big Blue were trailing 7-3 near the end of a dreary first half when Cruz hauled in a short pass from Eli Manning and outmaneuvered a host of Jets for a back-breaking touchdown that propelled the Giants to a 29-14 win. They haven’t lost since.
2. Jason Pierre-Paul’s blocked field goal at Cowboys
Dec. 11
Given a second chance after coach Tom Coughlin iced Dallas kicker Dan Bailey with a last-moment timeout, Pierre-Paul capped a huge night by deflecting Bailey’s last-second, 47-yard attempt that would have sent the game into overtime. Instead, the Giants escaped with a 37-34 win that snapped a four-game losing streak.
3. Hakeem Nicks’ Hail Mary at Packers
Jan. 15
Green Bay apparently thought Manning was going to play for a field goal with six seconds left in the first half of the divisional playoff at Lambeau Field, because the Giants caught the Packers flat-footed — literally. Manning heaved a perfectly arched 37-yard floater into the left corner of the end zone that Nicks snatched out of the air for a touchdown. That gave Big Blue a 20-10 halftime lead, and the Giants never looked back.
4. Jacquian Williams strips Kyle Williams in OT at 49ers
Jan. 22
Kyle Williams’ earlier muffed punt had enabled the Giants to take the NFC Championship into overtime, and Jacquian Williams’ strip of San Francisco’s fill-in returner midway through the extra session set up Lawrence Tynes’ 31-yard field goal and sent Coughlin’s team back to the Super Bowl for the second time in five years.
5. Cruz’s 44-yard, David Tyree-like spin catch vs. Cowboys
Jan. 1
Facing a win-or-go-home game with their arch-rivals in Week 17, the Giants got a clutch play in the fourth quarter from Cruz that looked a lot like Tyree’s famous grab in Super Bowl XLII. Boxing out Dallas cornerback Orlando Scandrick, Cruz came down with a 44-yard pass over the middle to set up a Lawrence Tynes field goal and send the Giants on their way to the playoffs after the Cowboys had cut their deficit to 21-14.
6. Tony Romo’s missed throw to Miles Austin at Cowboys
Dec. 11
Leading the Giants 34-29 with 2:25 left, Romo had a golden chance to put the Giants away — and most likely end their playoff hopes — when Miles Austin got wide open behind their secondary on a fly pattern down the right sideline. But Romo’s third-down throw was too strong, missing Austin’s outstretched hands by inches and allowing the Giants to complete their furious rally for the win.
7. Kenny Phillips forces fumble by Ryan Grant, at Packers
Jan. 15
The Giants were holding a fragile, 23-13 lead midway through the fourth quarter when Aaron Rodgers found Grant, the former Giant, with a short pass to the left side that Phillips alertly stripped. The fumble led to Chase Blackburn’s 40-yard return to the 4-yard line and a Manning touchdown pass to Mario Manningham that sealed the playoff win.
8. Lawrence Tynes’ 31-yard FG sends Giants to Super Bowl, at 49ers
Jan. 22
Just as he had done four years ago at frigid Lambeau Field, the reliable Tynes punched the Giants’ ticket to The Big Game with a picture-perfect overtime field goal. Tynes’ effort may have been more impressive this time because Zak DeOssie’s snap was low, forcing holder Steve Weatherford to scramble to get the ball in place on the soggy Candlestick Park turf just in time for Tynes’ foot to make contact.
9. Jake Ballard’s DIVING 1-yard TD catch at Patriots
Nov. 6
Tom Brady hadn’t lost to an NFC opponent at home in nearly a decade until Ballard’s clutch scoring grab of a Manning pass with 15 seconds left rallied the Giants to a stunning victory at Gillette Stadium. Considered little more than a blocking tight end at Ohio State, the undrafted Ballard looked like Mark Bavaro while extending for Manning’s throw.
10. Cruz’s 28-yard catch vs. Nnamdi Asomugha at Eagles
Sept. 25
This game was Cruz’s coming-out party. He got it started with his first pro touchdown — a 74-yarder that stunned perennial All-Pro Asomugha and the Eagles, but the big play came in the fourth quarter when he beat Asomugha again. After the Eagles came back from down 14-0 to take a 15-14 lead, Cruz outleaped Asomugha for a 28-yard score. And the legend was born.