EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - The New York Giants have lived on the edge the last two weeks. Now the fun really begins.
Fresh off a last-second 24-23 win over a Denver team that had won five games in a row, the Giants have little time to savor the moment: next up is Washington, which scored 52 points Sunday against San Francisco.
The Redskins, Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles are tied at 4-2 atop a suddenly crowded NFC East, but the Giants are 0-1 in the division while the Redskins are 1-0. Dallas trails the pack at 4-3, but is 2-1 in the division.
``All these games are very important,'' Giants coach Tom Coughlin said Monday. ``This is only our second game in the division and it's huge. Last night (against Denver) was huge. Being in such a tight race makes it even that much more exciting.''
Excitement has followed the Giants the last two weeks. On Oct. 16, they scored in the final minute to force overtime before losing 16-13 to the Cowboys.
On Sunday, they rallied from a 23-10 fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Broncos on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Amani Toomer with 5 seconds left in front of a delirious Giants Stadium crowd.
Both games showcased Manning's ability to keep his cool under pressure. Against Denver, he completed 9 of 13 passes for 74 yards on the final drive, including one on which he took a page out of Michael Vick's playbook and scrambled to his right, then twirled around and went to his left before finding Plaxico Burress for a first down.
``He certainly is a guy who keeps everything in perspective,'' Coughlin said. ``He does have the ability to put some of the bad things behind him and go on to the next play. He can pass that on to his teammates when the pressure's on. They can take strength from the fact that he is poised, calm and under control.''
The Giants opened the season with lopsided wins over Arizona, New Orleans and St. Louis sandwiched around a 45-23 loss at San Diego. Thanks in large part to Manning's grace under pressure in the last two games, they now have the confidence to know that they are never out of a game.
On the flip side, the last two weeks' heroics were made necessary by inconsistent play on both sides of the ball in the first three quarters.
Against Dallas, the offense began three possessions inside the Dallas 40 and managed two field goals. The defense allowed 191 yards rushing to Denver on Sunday before redeeming itself with a three-and-out series that set up the game-winning drive.
Coughlin knows he can't rely on late-game heroics every week, particularly against divisional opponents.
``As we move on and play games of greater significance, we're going to have to improve the quality of our play,'' he said. ``We have to get better. We're facing another team that has all kinds of firepower, and Washington uses some similar patterns to Denver. As the season goes on, our execution is going to have to improve.''
Notes: LB Carlos Emmons, who injured his right pectoral muscle in Sunday's game, had an MRI Monday, Coughlin said. A torn pectoral muscle sidelined DE Michael Strahan for the final eight games of the 2004 season ... Tests were also being done on Burress' right shoulder, which was sore Monday.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
