EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — After losing their first six games of the season, the Giants attacked the next several weeks knowing there was little margin for error.
For the next four games, the Giants skirted major blunders and escaped with four victories.
But in the first quarter of their game Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, wide receiver Victor Cruz lost the football and his fumble was returned for a touchdown. The Giants committed 11 penalties, including three costly late hits that directly contributed to 10 Dallas points. And twice, the Giants' offense had the football inside the Dallas 10-yard line and came away with only field goals.
With no room left for bungling play, even a spirited late rally could not save the Giants, who fell to the Cowboys, 24-21, when Tony Romo led Dallas to a winning field goal on the game's final play.
"We had some momentum," cornerback Terrell Thomas said. "And then we didn't."
It was a statement that could have described the last month for the Giants, as well as the end of Sunday's game.
The defeat, clinched with Dan Bailey's 35-yard field goal, was a serious setback to the Giants' scanty playoff chances since it leaves them with a 4-7 record and two games behind Dallas and the Philadelphia Eagles, who each have 6-5 records atop the N.F.C. East.
The Giants vowed to fight on since they could still achieve a 9-7 record that could, in a long shot, win the division.
"Maybe somebody else will help us out if we win our last five games," Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul said.
The bad karma and poorly timed ineffective play that have dogged the Giants throughout the season were evident in the pivotal sequence of the game when Dallas took control of the football with 4 minutes 45 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Giants had just put a charge in the MetLife Stadium crowd with an eight-play scoring drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Louis Murphy. A 2-point conversion run by Andre Brown had tied the game, 21-21.
But before the final series, the Giants lost cornerback Trumaine McBride to a groin injury. It was the third time this season the Giants lost a starting cornerback to injury and underscored the Giants' lack of depth with Corey Webster, the original starter at the position, and Aaron Ross, his replacement, already sidelined.
With McBride out, the Giants' secondary, which had held Romo in check in the second half, was rotating safeties into key press coverage roles. Safety Antrel Rolle several times found himself in one-on-one coverage on the Cowboys' top receiver, Dez Bryant.
Three times during the final drive, the Giants forced the Cowboys into third-down plays where they had to pick up 7 yards or more for the first down. Each time Romo completed a pass to pick up the first down with a Giants safety — not a cornerback — in pursuit but unable to stop the reception.
The last of those third-down pickups led to the winning field goal. Before that last completion, the Cowboys would have had to attempt a 46-yard field goal into the wind.
"That last third-down pickup was key because that long field goal was going to be no gimme — not in this wind and cold," Giants Coach Tom Coughlin said.
And Coughlin rued the loss of McBride.
"It did hurt us because you saw the shuffling that took place," he said.
For most of the game, it did not appear it would ever be as close as it was. Down by 7-0 after Cruz's fumble was returned for a touchdown, the Giants came back with a steady drive that moved the ball to the Dallas 9-yard line. But two plays yielded just 2 yards and a pass on third down to Brown was short of the goal line. The Giants settled for a field goal.
The Cowboys came right back, driving 65 yards and scoring on a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jason Witten, who ran unobstructed down the middle of the field as he split between Thomas and safety Will Hill for a 14-3 Dallas lead. It would not be the last time the Giants essentially ignored Witten, the Cowboys' Pro Bowl tight end, who is also Dallas's most dangerous threat near the goal line.
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