Game 12 Summary

Guess all those defensive changes worked. In fact, the energy they generated may have affected the entire team as they put it all together for a 31-24 win over Dallas.

They saved their season at 7-5, and completed their first sweep of 8-4 NFC East leaders since 2004. They now hold outright tiebreakers over the Cowboys and Falcons.

It couldn't have happened without their two longest plays of the season -- a 74-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown by Brandon Jacobs and Domenik Hixon's 79-yard punt return for a touchdown.

"That's the first time we've beat the Cowboys twice in a season since I've been here," Jacobs said. "I'm not scared of them.

"We're back to our old selves. We knew we could play better. I'm just hoping we can keep this going because we've got another big game next week against Philadelphia."

This couldn't have come at a better time. The defense, which Dallas had gashed for 250 rushing yards in Week 2, was in complete disarray until Bill Sheridan made changes at four positions. And each one of them -- Jonathan Goff at middle linebacker, Mathias Kiwanuka at defensive end, Chris Canty at defensive tackle, and Osi Umenyiora, who was taken out for Kiwanuka to shore up the run defense, made contributions.

The run defense wound up holding the Cowboys to 45 yards on 23 carries, with no touchdowns. The pass defense wasn't nearly as effective as Tony Romo went 41-of-55 for 392 yards and three touchdowns. Tight end Jason Witten caught 14 of those balls for 156 yards, and was open all day. But they did make key stops toward the end.

Whether they keep the momentum from this potential launching pad remains to be seen. But Justin Tuck, who got into it once again with Flozell Adams on the sideline at halftime, said he believes now.

"I have no choice," Tuck said. "We know we've got a tough road ahead. Philly embarrassed us down there, so we've got a lot to prove. I hope we have a repeat performance next week."

Here's the summary.

BIG PLAYS:

If not for Hixon's 79-yard touchdown return, the teams might still be playing. Once Hixon got the ball on Mat McBriar's fourth-quarter punt, the Giants up 24-17, he headed left and stopped on a dime, pivoting to the right and barely eluding a tackle. He found running room and moved into the open field where, sitting before him, he saw a wall of Giants blockers. "Once I got into the wall and saw all those blue shirts downfield, it was a great feeling," Hixon said. Dave Tollefson picked off a Cowboy midway through the return, and then Terrell Thomas and Derek Hagan landed blocks near the 15 that allowed Hixon to get into the end zone for a 31-17 lead with 5:33 remaining.

With the Giants down 17-14 in the third, Jacobs went out to the flat as a third passing option. Manning hit him in stride, and Jacobs turned upfield, shook a tackle by the sideline, and motored down the field as he got a partial block near the 8 that allowed him to dive over the goal line for a 21-17 lead with 3:39 remaining in the period. A replay challenge on whether Jacobs stayed inbounds at the top of the reception was upheld. "I wasn't worried," Jacobs said. "I knew I stayed inbounds. My foot went above the sideline, but it came down inbounds. A coach asked me if I was inbounds and I said, "That's all six! I was in."

As the Giants trailed 10-7 toward the end of the second quarter, the Cowboys appeared to be driving until Kiwanuka knocked a completion out of Marion Barber's hand. Osi Umenyiora recovered it and brought it back 24 yards , setting up Jacobs' first of two touchdowns and a 14-10 Giants lead.

THE VETS:

Eli Manning: He found receivers when he needed to, but he didn't have a tremendous day. He finished 11 for 25 for 241 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, the pick coming in the end zone as he threw off his back foot. The troublesome right foot appeared to bother him at times, as he floated several passes.

Steve Smith: He grabbed six passes for 110 yards, but couldn't handle an end zone throw that would have been a tough, but catchable ball.

Justin Tuck: The defensive end pressured Tony Romo into an intentional grounding call in the fourth quarter that forced the punt that Hixon returned for a touchdown.

Dave Tollefson: His stop for one-yard on Miles Austin's third-and-3 reception in the fourth quarter brought up a fourth-down try, a swing pass to Marion Barber that was foiled when safety Aaron Ross came up and dropped him for no gain. With the Giants up by two touchdowns, it was a key set of downs.

THE KIDS:

Clint Sintim: The second-round linebacker got a lot of time and was seen standing up at the line on several passing downs. He blitzed effectively, getting a sack on third-and-goal from the 9 to hold the Cowboys to a field goal and a 3-0 lead in the second quarter.

Hakeem Nicks: The first-round wide receiver made a great catch against Terence Newman, turning afterward and going into the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown to cut Dallas' second-quarter lead to 10-7.

THE UGLY STUFF:

For all the achievements of the defense, the secondary proved extremely vulnerable as Corey Webster was beaten twice, easily, on end zone passes to Roy Williams. The most serious of the plays came in the third quarter when the Cowboys lined up WR Miles Austin in the backfield and ran a play-fake to him, freezing Webster so that Williams was open by five yards for the easy throw to put the Cowboys up 17-14.

The offense had its problems, too, as Ahmad Bradshaw fumbled away his first touch and reliable tight end Kevin Boss was, again, nearly absent from the gameplan. The pass protection left something to be desired as Manning was under considerable pressure and barely eluded a couple of sacks.

THE BUMPS:

RG Chris Snee sprained his knee in the third quarter and did not return.

EP