NFL

First-place Giants deliver Doomsday

ARLINGTON, Texas — All alone in first place in the NFC East, that’s where the Giants are after last night’s stunning display of resiliency, artistry and plain old brute force combined to overwhelm, embarrass and for all practical purposes end the Cowboys season.

What does it say about the Giants that they could combine glaring imperfection with bouts of incredible dominance and come away with a wild 41-35 victory that at first was improbable, then inexorable and finally a bit sticky before it was all over?

“Celebrate the wins, that’s all I can tell ya’,” an exhausted and relieved coach Tom Coughlin said afterward.

In a frenetic turnaround, the Giants found themselves down 10-0 less than six minutes into the game and trailed 20-7 early in the second quarter. With 91,375 witnesses at Cowboys Stadium, the Giants put Tony Romo out of commission, scored the next 31 points and by the second half Eli Manning and Company were absolutely and completely toying with a team many expected to not only finish atop the division, but also to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

What was a comfy 38-20 lead late in the fourth quarter turned uneasy after Jon Kitna — subbing for Romo, who was knocked out on a hit by Michael Boley — tossed two touchdown passes to rookie Dez Bryant. The Giants actually needed to recover two onside kicks in the closing minute, including one pounced on by Clint Sintim with 39 seconds left, to finish things off.

“You want to finish perfect, you feel bad about all of that,” Coughlin said. “I told them at times we were as good as it is in the NFL, in both phases.”

The Giants (5-2) unquestionably attained what they came here for and are now the top dogs, winners of four straight as they head into their bye week. They lead the Redskins (4-3) and Eagles (4-3) by a game and are far, far ahead of the dysfunctional Cowboys (1-5).

Manning overcame an awful start to fire four touchdown passes and throw for 306 yards, hitting Hakeem Nicks for two TDs and Steve Smith and Mario Manningham for one each. Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 126 yards and Brandon Jacobs scored on a 30-yard run.

This turned into a brutal beating. The Giants added injury to insult, a blitzing Boley flattening Romo to the turf with 12:07 left in the second and putting him out for months with what X-rays revealed was a fractured left clavicle. The Cowboys led 10-7 at the time.

Romo became the fifth quarterback the Giants have knocked out of a game, joining Matt Moore of the Panthers, Jay Cutler and Todd Collins of the Bears and Shaun Hill of the Lions as casualties of the Big Blue defensive frenzy.

“It’s not our goal to hurt people, it’s our goal to make plays, period,” Boley said.

The Giants won despite committing five turnovers (three Manning interceptions, lost fumbles by Bradshaw and Jacobs) because they overwhelmed the Cowboys, outgaining them 497-254 and blanking Dallas to the tune of 0-for-10 on third down conversions.

The comeback from a 20-7 deficit really got cooking as Manning began percolating. He finished up an 80-play drive with a bullet to Nicks — who simply stepped in front of Orlando Scandrick in the end zone — to make it 20-14. Kitna was sacked by Deon Grant for a three-and-out and a 22-yard run by Bradshaw helped set up Manning’s 14-yard touchdown lob to Smith, who also abused Scandrick. The Giants had their first lead, 21-20, with just 1:15 remaining in the first half, but didn’t settle for that.

Kitna actually completed a pass, but usually-reliable Jason Witten was hit by Barry Cofield, who forced a fumble that Deon Grant recovered on the Dallas 44. That led to a 53-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes and the Giants soared in at the half ahead 24-20.

The second half was an utter mismatch — until the final three minutes, when the Cowboys mounted a futile comeback try.

By the time Jacobs sprinted in for a 30-yard touchdown and a 38-20 Giants lead, it seemed the Cowboys had lost interest, until their rally, which fell short.

“We could have played better; we gave them too many breaks,” Justin Tuck said. “We could have won this one running away.”

paul.schwartz@nypost.com