’Boys win built team

It was in Week 14 in Texas that the groundwork for Sunday’s Super Bowl win was laid down.

New York had lost four straight games and were coming off an absolute embarrassment at the hands of New Orleans.

The team would lose only one game for the rest of the season.

“When you lose four in a row that can really test a team,” quarterback Eli Manning said. “But we played a lot of those games tough. We recognized that and still knew we were a good team. We weren’t playing our best at that time, but we weren’t playing terrible. We were a couple plays away from winning those games against great teams. [We said] we’ve got to keep working. And sure enough that’s what we did.”

The Giants’ backs were against the wall not just at the start of the game against Dallas, but in the fourth quarter as well. The post-mortem was already being written on a season that might’ve been Tom Coughlin’s last.

“To come back down 12 in the fourth quarter, go score two touchdowns and get a blocked field goal to win the game. That was an emotional win,” Manning said. “That locker room was fun. Everyone got that winning feeling again. We had to ride that momentum.”