EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Eli Manning and the New York Giants were just happy to celebrate a victory again. It had been six frustrating weeks, not that they were counting or anything.
“It’s been a long time, 42 days since our last win,” Manning said. “It felt like it too.”
Lawrence Tynes kicked a 36-yard field goal 3:54 into overtime to make up for an earlier miss and lead the Giants past the Atlanta Falcons 34-31 on Sunday.
The win snapped a four-game skid and came after the defense blew a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter.
Manning threw for a career-high 384 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Kevin Boss, as New York (6-4) kept pace with NFC East-leading Dallas, which beat Washington to maintain a one-game division lead.
The Giants can’t savor this one for long, though: They play the Broncos on Thanksgiving in Denver.
“There are not many better feelings than in a locker room after a win,” Manning said. “It was good to see the high-fives and the smiles, especially when you haven’t had that feeling for a while.”
Manning set up Tynes’ winning kick when he connected with Mario Manningham for a 29-yard pass that put the Giants at the 23. New York hadn’t won since beating Oakland 44-7 on Oct. 11, but this one didn’t come easily.
The Giants’ defense — without injured linebacker Antonio Pierce indefinitely — couldn’t hold a 31-17 lead against Matt Ryan and the Falcons.
Ryan threw a 4-yard scoring pass to Eric Weems with 6:01 left in regulation, then found Tony Gonzalez for 11 yards with 28 seconds remaining to tie it.
“We had a lot of great contributions and great efforts from a lot of guys in the second half to come back from 14 down,” Ryan said. “But with that said, there are no moral victories.”
Atlanta (5-5) has lost four of five after a 4-1 start.
