Giants clear final hurdle, oust Cowboys from playoff picture

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Eli Manning and Victor Cruz made sure that the all-or-nothing game for the Giants was all New York and nothing but frustration for the Dallas Cowboys.

Manning threw three touchdown passes, including a momentum-grabbing 74-yarder to Cruz early, and the Giants claimed the final spot in the NFL playoffs, beating the Cowboys 31-14 on Sunday night to win the NFC East.

"I knew we were going to fight and keep playing until the end. I feel good about the way we're handling the ups and downs, and it comes down to finishing," Manning said after throwing for 346 yards and no interceptions.

New York (9-7) won three of its final four games for 65-year-old coach Tom Coughlin and earned a wild-card home game next Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons (10-6).

"We've had a lot of ups and downs, but when our team needed it most, we responded," said the up-and-coming Cruz, who has capped his team-record setting season with six catches for 178 yards. "We were able to keep level-headed when we were on the four-game skid."

The Cowboys (8-8) lost four of their final five games in their first full season under coach Jason Garrett.

Dallas was its worst enemy with the season on the line. It missed tackles on all three of the Giants' three first-half touchdowns, failed to recover two fumbles within its grasp in the half and failed to convert on a Tony Romo sneak on fourth-and-1 at the Giants 10 while trailing 21-7.

"It's extremely painful, and it's a damn shame," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "We have a good team, and I thought we would be going to the playoffs, but that didn't happen. We have to be able to take some of the good with the bad and move on. We did a lot of good things this year, but to point to one thing why this happened would be subjective. We're 8-8, and we have to be better than that."

Romo, who played with a bruised right hand, moved the Cowboys in the second half, but all he could generate were touchdown passes of 34 and 6 yards to wide receiver Laurent Robinson.

"You can't make excuses,' said Romo, who finished 29 of 37 for 289 yards and one interception. "Either you win or you go home. Give them credit for coming in here and being ready. This is not going to sit well with me or anyone else on this team. It should fuel the fire to come back, but right now, it hurts."

The shorter touchdown pass to Robinson got Dallas within 21-14 with 10:15 to play, but Cruz, the second-year pro from nearby Paterson, N.J., who has become a fan favorite with a big plays and salsa celebrations, came through again.

Cruz boxed out cornerback Orlando Scandrick on 44-yard, third-down, jump-ball catch and caught another for 20 yards to set up a 28-yard Lawrence Tynes field goal. Manning iced the game with a 4-yard TD pass to wide receiver Hakeem Nicks with 3:41 to play.

Manning finished 24 of 33 as the Giants beat the Cowboys for the second time in four games and ended a regular season marked by inconsistency on a high note. Cruz, who set a Giants single-season record for yards receiving, averaged 29.7 yards on the night, and of course, he did his touchdown salsa after the first score.

The Giants sacked Romo six times, including twice by defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who returned to the lineup for the first time since spraining an ankle late last month. Dallas' final possession ended with Romo being sacked by defensive end Justin Tuck and losing a fumble.

"We needed this win," Umenyiora said. "This is the biggest win we've been a part of for a while."

The Giants haven't won a postseason game since beating the-then unbeaten New England Patriots in the Super Bowl in 2008, and the one thing that seemingly is apparent is that this team is peaking.

Coming off a 29-14 win over the rival Jets in Week 16 in what might have been the Giants' best game of the season, Coughlin's team put together another outstanding 30 minutes in jumping to a 21-0 halftime lead.