ARLINGTON, Texas — Eli Manning stood on the New York Giants’ sideline in disbelief when it looked as if the Dallas Cowboys had scored a go-ahead touchdown with 10 seconds to play.
What was encouraging was what he didn’t see: a replay on the giant videoboard that hangs above the field at Cowboys Stadium, where the Giants still have never lost following a wild 29-24 victory Sunday.
Officials reviewed and overturned Dez Bryant’s apparent 37-yard touchdown catch, ruling his hand hit out of bounds, and the Cowboys couldn’t get into the end zone after the overturned reception.
“I couldn’t quite believe they were able to hit a touchdown in that situation. I kind of kept looking for the replay,” Manning said. “You know the game was not going to be over until that clock hit zero.”
It was the 20th time in Manning’s career that the Giants rallied in the fourth quarter to win. And this comeback came after New York blew an early 23-0 lead.
“It speaks about our resiliency. We know how to win these games,” receiver Victor Cruz said. “We’ve been in a bunch of them.”
After their sixth win in seven games since a season-opening home loss to Dallas, the Giants (6-2) hurriedly cleared out of Cowboys Stadium trying to get home as quickly as possible with Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the East Coast.
The Giants are 4-0 in Arlington since Jerry Jones’ football palace opened in 2009 with a New York victory.
“I’m very disappointed right now,” Jones said. “I thought after all that, our defense played well enough, our offense kept going and I thought we were going to get a chance to pull one out.”
Coupled with Sunday losses by Philadelphia and Washington, the Giants strengthened their hold on the NFC East lead halfway through their schedule.
New York led 23-0 just 2 minutes into the second quarter when defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown. That was the third of four interceptions thrown by Tony Romo. Dallas (3-4) finished with six turnovers.
But the Giants didn’t score again until Lawrence Tynes made a 43-yard field goal with 10:20 to play for a 26-24 lead. He kicked a 37-yarder with 31/2 minutes remaining in the fourth for his fifth of the game.
Stevie Brown set up Tynes’ last field goal with a fumble recovery and also had two interceptions.
“We have good leadership, good people,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “They’re fighters in that locker room. … Sometimes it comes out differently than it was designed.”
Dallas got to the Giants’ 19 on one of its last drives. On a fourth-and-1 play with 1:03 remaining, Romo scrambled and was picked off by Brown.
After New York failed to get a first down on three running plays and Dallas used all three of its timeouts, the Cowboys got the ball back with 44 seconds to go at the 30. They got to the Giants’ 37 before Bryant’s catch between two defenders in the back of the end zone was overturned.
“We scratched and scraped,” Giants defensive lineman Chris Canty said. “At the end, we still had to have a little luck to pull that one out.”
Manning completed 15 of 29 passes for 192 yards with an interception.
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