#Giants one step closer to NFL playoffs after thrilling win

So, you’re saying there’s a chance.

The Giants and their fans are in for an anxious late night of waiting until the end of “Sunday Night Football” to see if they can steal the NFC East title and a playoff berth — but it sure beats the alternative of watching the Cowboys in that same position.

The best offensive half of the season and a 14-point lead were enough to overcome a slew of mistakes Sunday and beat the Cowboys, 23-19, in a winner-stays-alive regular-season finale. If the Eagles upset Washington later, the Giants will become the NFL’s first-ever 10-loss playoff team and host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a NFC wild-card game.

Even if Washington wins to go to the playoffs, the Giants will enter the offseason with good vibes after reaching six wins for the first time since 2016 under first-year coach Joe Judge and breaking a seven-game losing streak against the rival Cowboys.

The Giants survived two dropped interceptions, an interception negated by penalty, two unforced giveaways and a near-Miracle at the Meadowlands heartbreak moment. But Leonard Williams picked up his teammates with a career-best three sacks, upping his season total to 11.5 — the most by a Giant since 2014.

The last sack put the Cowboys in an impossible third-and-goal situation and forced quarterback Andy Dalton to float a pass toward the end zone that was intercepted by rookie Xavier McKinney. The Giants needed only to gain a first down to run out the clock, but Wayne Gallman fumbled fighting for extra yards after running past the chains.

Gallman amazingly sat on the ball and recovered it in the scrum, and it was upheld on replay review.

Graham Gano’s 50-yard field goal — his franchise-record 30th consecutive conversion — extended the lead to 23-19 with 6:29 left and forced the Cowboys into needing a touchdown to win.

Jaylon Smith sought out Austin Mack to talk trash after the opening kickoff and it seemed the Cowboys were more interested in a fistfight. The after-the-whistle headbutts and pushing backfired with two unnecessary roughness penalties, one of which breathed life into a listless Giants offense.

The Giants led 20-9 at halftime thanks to three touchdown drives to the Cowboys’ three field-goal drives.

The near-comeback started with a 57-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein on the final play of the half but it was an all-too-familiar scene for the Giants that flipped the script.

A pass deflected off tight end Evan Engram’s hands — a seemingly weekly occurrence for the surprise Pro Bowler — for an interception. Engram later had another pass zip through his hands for an incompletion. He has been targeted on six interceptions thrown by Giants quarterbacks this season.

Daniel Jones threw his 10th and 11th touchdowns of the season in the second quarter, connecting with Sterling Shepard and Dante Pettis. That’s the longest-tenured Giant — Shepard is the only active player to appear in a playoff game in the uniform — and one of the newest Giants, claimed off waivers and considered a returner-first.

Bothered by ankle and hamstring injuries for more than a month, Jones was able to extend plays and even employ some of his run-pass-options.

The Giants gained at least 7 yards on each of their first six plays and capped an opening touchdown drive with a 23-yard end-around run by Shepard. Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett had been aggressive and creative in his first game against his former team and didn’t stray to start the rematch.

But the Giants squandered opportunities to build on a 6-3 lead by punting from midfield on three straight possessions — once after strangely trying back-to-back runs with Alfred Morris to get out of a first-and-15 hole. Morris was in the game as Gallman sat on the bench following a fumbled handoff exchange.

Maybe that’s where he thought up the idea to sit on the ball — and set up the Giants for a possible playoff berth.