East Rutherford, NJ (My Sportsbook) - Derrick Ward gained a career-high 215 yards on 15 carries and Brandon Jacobs had three touchdowns -- including the game-winner in overtime -- as the New York Giants clinched home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs with a 34-28 victory over the Carolina Panthers at Giants Stadium.

Carolina, which has already clinched a postseason berth, can still clinch the NFC South and the number two seed in the NFC playoffs with an Atlanta loss to St. Louis next Sunday.

Jacobs finished with 87 yards on 24 touches for the Giants (12-3), who close out their regular season next Sunday in Minnesota. Eli Manning tallied 181 yards with a TD on 17-of-27 passing. Domenik Hixon logged 71 yards on four catches and Kevin Boss had a touchdown catch in the win as the Giants snapped a two-game slide.

Jake Delhomme threw for 185 yards on 11-of-19 throws for the Panthers (11-4), who close out their regular season next Sunday at New Orleans. Muhsin Muhammad racked up 80 yards on four grabs for Carolina, which saw its three-game win streak halted.

"We did some decent things, came close at the end but give them credit, they came through at the end," said Delhomme. "Disappointing would be putting it mildly, but that's part of it. The road to the Super Bowl goes through New York. We had a chance, we didn't get it done. We gotta go back to work and get ready for New Orleans."

DeAngelo Williams ran for 108 yards and four touchdowns on 24 carries. Williams now has 18 rushing scores this season which is good for the league lead.

In the extra session, the Giants won the coin toss and chose to receive the ball first, but both teams punted on their first possessions.

New York started at its own 13 and Ward broke a 51-yard run up the middle on first down. The next two plays didn't net much yardage and on 3rd-and-7 Ward gained another 14 yards to move it down to the Carolina 19.

Following a Carolina timeout with 10:31 left in the extra frame, Ward rushed for 17 yards down to the two. Jacobs then plowed through the pile and into the end zone on the next play to end the game.

"Outstanding football game," said Giants head coach Tom Coughlin. "I told the guys tonight that one of the really good things about it is I think we played ourselves back into playing good football again. We certainly did play Giants football with the running game."

Both teams scored on their first possessions, as John Carney nailed a 32-yard field goal and Williams ran off the right guard for a 13-yard score on the ensuing Carolina drive.

The Giants then embarked on a drive that bridged the first two quarters. Starting from their own 26, the home team moved the ball all the way down to the Panthers two-yard-line. Jacobs then punched it in on the 13th play for a 10-7 lead.

The Panthers answered with a 10-play, 66-yard drive that Williams capped with a five-yard TD scamper with just over eight minutes left in the half for a 14-10 lead for the visitors.

New York was held to a three-and-out and Carolina capitalized again. On the first play, Delhomme threw a long pass to Muhammad that Aaron Ross had in his grasp but let slip through his fingers. Muhammad came up with the 60-yard catch that made it 1st-and-goal from the five.

Three plays later, Williams ran off the left guard and across the goal line from a yard out for the 21-10 Panthers lead with just under five minutes left in the half.

Carney split the uprights on a 35-yard kick with late in the second, and the G-Men trailed 21-13 at the half.

The first three drives of the second half all resulted in punts, and the Giants got the ball with 9:35 left and made the most of the possession.

Starting from its own 16, New York's drive was highlighted by Ward's 22-yard run down to the Carolina 33 and capped as Manning hit a wide open Boss for a four-yard score. The 12-play, 8 1/2-minute trek brought the home team within 21-20 with 59 seconds left in the third.

The Panthers then started a drive from their own 37 and moved the ball well. Facing a 3rd-and-9 from the Giants 49, Delhomme hit Dwayne Jarrett for a 19- yard gain down to New York's 30-yard-line. On the next play Williams broke a run off right tackle for a 28-20 Carolina lead with 12:50 left in the game.

After holding the Panthers to a three-and-out, the Giants had great field position -- starting at Carolina's 44. Manning converted a pair of third downs on the trek and a pass interference call on Ken Lucas set the Giants up with a 1st-and-goal from the one. Jacobs then punched it in from there and it was 28-26.

The Giants opted for the two-point conversion and Manning hit Hixon to tie it up with just over three minutes left in regulation.

Carolina embarked on a drive from its own 38 with 3:15 left to play. Jonathan Stewart gained 13 yards on a catch-and-run from Delhomme on first down. Moments later, on 3rd-and-6 from New York's 33, Williams was stopped and the Panthers called a timeout with nine ticks left. John Kasay's 50-yard boot looked good at first, but the wind took it wide left and the teams headed for overtime.

Game Notes

Williams has a rush TD in team-record eight straight games...Carolina fell to 13-2 when Williams rushes for 80-plus yards...Boss has a TD catch in five of the last nine games...Manning has made 70 straight starts at quarterback for the Giants, which is a franchise record.