It takes many moments big and small for a team to finish a regular season at 11-5 and make it into the playoffs for the first time in five years. There were plenty of stops and starts along the way, far more ups than downs and more thrills than chills. Here’s a look at 10 defining moments for the 2016 Giants:
1. Comeback kids
Talk about a karma reversal. The team that turned the close, agonizing late loss into an art form in 2015 was thrust back into the belly of the beast right from jump-street. A year earlier, the Giants embarrassingly coughed up the opener to the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium and here they were again in the 2016 opener, trailing 19-13 in the fourth quarter when Victor Cruz finally got to salsa. Playing his first game in 700 days, Cruz scored on a 3-yard touchdown pass to put the Giants ahead 20-19. What followed was a true indicator that 2015 was purged from the system: Cowboys receiver Terrance Williams inexplicably cut inside rather than out of bounds as time ran out and the Giants had survived.
2. Cruz missile
Back in his Jersey stomping grounds, Cruz heard the long-lost “Cruuuuzzzzz’’ salute by the adoring home fans, many wearing his No. 80 jersey, after he sealed a 16-13 victory over the Saints in Week 2. Cruz out-muscled CB Ken Crowley for the ball on the sideline for a 34-yard completion, giving the Giants the yards and first down they needed to sit on the ball and send Josh Brown out for the 23-yard game-winning field goal as time expired. It was a memorable reminder of the way things were for Cruz, the undrafted underdog from Paterson, N.J.
3. Odell Files
On the first play from scrimmage in Week 6 against the Ravens, Odell Beckham Jr. fumbled the ball away. In the second quarter he suffered a painful hip-pointer. In the second half, Beckham devastated the Ravens. He had a 75-yard touchdown, merely the appetizer for what came next. Trailing 23-20, the Giants faced fourth-and-1 on their 34-yard line when Eli Manning found Beckham on a simple slant — that turned into a 66-yard game-winning catch-and-run, as it was a footrace with the defense and Beckham does not lose footraces.
4. Good riddance
The Giants touched down in London and left behind Josh Brown, their controversial kicker. Two days after returning from England, after a swirl of criticism for the way the organization stuck with Brown despite his history of domestic abuse — the Giants knew some of the details, but not the most unsavory details — the team finally admitted its mistake and cut him loose. It was a sad chapter for a franchise known for class as co-owner John Mara admitted, “Our beliefs, our judgments and our decisions were misguided.’’
5. A star emerges
The Giants did not show the London fans much of anything but they did unveil Landon Collins to the world. With the Giants actually trailing the moribund Rams 10-3, the second-year safety came up with a Defensive Play of the Year entry, turning an interception of Case Keenum into a tackle-breaking, zig-zag 44-yard touchdown return, with Collins looking more like a running back than a safety. The play earned Collins the first of two NFC Defensive Player of the Week awards and stamped him as a star in the making.
6. The McAdoo way
Down six and on the Bengals’ 3-yard line early in the fourth quarter, Ben McAdoo showed his true colors. He easily could have gone for a chip-shot field goal — that would have been the safe choice — but McAdoo opted to entrust Manning and his offense. The first-year head coach was rewarded when Manning hit rookie Sterling Shepard for a touchdown. “We were going to go for it,’’ McAdoo said. McAdoo going for it was not a one-time deal and his players learned to appreciate his faith in them.
7. Dead zone
It was almost impossible to do but somehow, the lousy Giants’ offense managed to do it. They reached the Steelers 9-yard line and 3-yard line and failed to come away with a single point. The first red-zone trip ended when Manning looked for Larry Donnell but instead found linebacker Lawrence Timmons for a momentum-killing interception. On the second empty trip, Manning failed to spot an open Paul Perkins in the flat and forced a pass to Will Tye that was broken up. “That was kind of the game right there,’’ Manning said of the missed chances. The Giant lost 24-14 and their offense once again displayed its soft underbelly when it comes to scoring points.
8. How ’bout them Giants
The Cowboys rolled into MetLife Stadium with an 11-game winning streak — the lone loss was to the Giants in the opener — but they left Jersey with a one-game losing streak, as rookie quarterback Dak Prescott was harassed into looking like the NFL novice he is. A swarming defense, with rookie Romeo Okwara subbing and excelling in place of injured Jason Pierre-Paul, shut out the Cowboys through the final three quarters and just enough offense was produced by Beckham, who turned a seemingly harmless slant into a 61-yard TD explosion, punctuated with a moonwalk in the end zone.
9. By a foot
Sometimes a team needs something extra and the Giants got it from Brad Wing, who dropped punts at the Detroit 4- and 3-yard lines on consecutive kicks. Tilting the field position and pinning the Lions deep in their own territory was the tipping point for a defense that neutered the dangerous Matthew Stafford and kept the Lions out of the end zone all game for a second consecutive victory over a first-place team.
10. Play to win
Having already clinched a playoff berth, McAdoo had the option of resting many of his starters in the meaningless regular-season finale at FedEx Field. No chance. McAdoo said all week he was playing to win and he did just that, keeping his front-line players on the field, risking injury, and it turned out to be a winning roll of the dice as the Giants beat the Redskins and no one got hurt.