The ' 2016 season began with a lo s Ezekiel Elliott Jersey to the . Twelve weeks later, Dallas, on an 11-game winning streak, headed into MetLife Stadium as the NFL's best team to wrap up their regular-season series with the Giants. The last four months -- not to mention New York's no-show performance last week -- suggested the Cowboys would cruise to win No. 12. Except that the Giants' defense dominated for most of the evening, and Rookie of the Year favorite looked more like just a rookie trying to find his way through his first season of profe sional football. He struggled from start to finish, and while his counterpart, , wasn't any better, Manning was the beneficiary of that aforementioned defense. When it was over, the Giants had won, . The good news for the Cowboys: They're now 11-2, still the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and remain the favorites to win the division. The bigger news is that the left-for-dead Giants are now 9-4 and are the No. 5 seed in the NFC.Here are six takeaways from the Giants' win.1. Things getting dicey in Dallas So here's the deal: With three weeks left in the regular season, what seemed set in stone is instead a note written in pencil with a huge eraser at the ready. Behold: The Cowboys host the red-hot and and travel to Philly, while the Giants have the Lions, before ending the season in Philly and Washington. Should Dallas drop two of three and New York win out ... then the Giants win the NFC East.For Dallas, that means no first-round bye, no home-field advantage, and more important, the Cowboys will have to win three road games to get to the Super Bowl. That's a huge difference from getting Wild Card Weekend off before playing host to a divisional playoff, and if all goes well, the conference championship.This po sible reality is made all the more amazing because of just how poorly the Giants offense has looked. Yet despite the ineptitude, here we are. 2. Dak Prescott isn't perfect It was bound to happen: Prescott -- a fourth-round pick who was the eighth quarterback selected in the 2016 draft -- would sooner or later turn into a pumpkin. It's not a slight against his talents, or an indictment against the team's decision to keep him as the starter, even after got healthy. It's the laws of probability, and on Sunday night they caught up with him. Prescott finished 17 of 37 for 165 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Coming into the game, he had 19 touchdowns and just two picks. He Tyler Smith Jersey looked out of sorts all evening -- and some of the credit has to go to the Giants' defense -- but it was no doubt a worrisome sight for owner Jerry Jones, who originally hedged at the idea that Romo wouldn't return to the starting lineup before finally relenting in the face of overwhelming evidence.But any hiccup could cause the sometimes impetuous Jones to rethink his plans, which explains this tweet from CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora: Dak is playing rookie ball tonite. We're about to find out how patient Jerry is. They get stifled by the Bucs and I bet it's Romo Time Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) This is the second straight week a defense has had succe s against the Cowboys' pa sing game. Last NFL Dallas Cowboys Jersey week, it was the , but on Sunday, the Giants took discombobulating Dak to another level.So what happened? When ESPN analyst and former NFL safety Matt Bowen describes it, it sounds simple:Blitz Collins & play the sticks in the secondary. You know the ball has to come out. Don't back-pedal. Sit on the route. Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) The truth is, you need a tenacious front four and a just-as-tenacious secondary, both of which the Giants have, even with the absence of . If we were to offer Jones a reason for optimism (and perhaps a reason to step away from the ledge), it would be this: The Cowboys still have the league's best offensive line, they still have , and there's also this little nugget.Wanna know how bad QB was today?Ru sell Wilson, Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger combined for 1 TD, 11 interceptions. Adam Pfeifer (@APfeifer24) 3. The Dallas line stands tall yet again Remember, in 2014, when Jerry Jones admitted that he wanted to use the Cowboys' first-round pick on ? But thankfully, someone (everyone?) in the organization talked him into right guard ? Martin is a two-time Pro Bowler and Manziel is out of football. Martin is also a part of an offensive line that Dallas Cowboys Kids Jersey includes former first-rounders left tackle and center , who are also two-time Pro Bowlers. Seeing a pattern here? Smith is probably the best of the bunch, and the ninth pick in 2011 is still just 25. That means he could still grow. In related news: Tyron Smith used Eli Apple for the Sage Northcutt Challenge Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) 4. Winning in spite, not because, of Eli Manning was only slightly better than Prescott, and you could even make the case that he was worse. Some of his throws ranged from "inexplicable" to "unconscionable," and twice the results were interceptions. This one was particularly egregious because it came early in the fourth quarter, on the Giants' best drive of the game:Clutch.Anthony Brown dives in front for the INT! ball. NFL (@NFL) But even in an offense as inept as New York's, it only takes one play to turn things around when you have Odell Beckham Jr. running routes. This came after a Prescott interception, late in the third quarter:There goes !No one can catch him.61 yards and the have the lead! NFL (@NFL) My word. And that brings us to this ...5. Keep It Simple, Stupid Look, the Giants' offensive line is a hot me s. There isn't much of a running game as a result, and Manning looks more frightened than ever when he drops back to pa s. It explains why he chucks the ball in the general direction of his receivers as soon as po sible (that goes some way in explaining the mind-bending decisions that lead to interceptions), even if it's to the detriment of the unit's ability to Dak Prescott Jersey consistently move down the field. But instead of complicating things, why not simplify them? This is a rhetorical question, but it occurred to us after seeing this:61-yard TD to Beckham was the 7th 50+ yard TD pa s by Manning vs Cowboys in his career. Rick Go selin (@RickGo selinDMN) That's Eli Manning's 5th interception when leading in the 2nd half this season, 2 more than any other player ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) And while this was meant to be a joke, it's not really a joke at all. It should be the Giants' offensive game plan for the rest of the season:ok i etch a sketched ben mcadoo Mina Kimes (@minakimes) Because remember, Eli ain't carrying this team on his back like he did in 2011. It's just not built that way.Eli Manning could have easily had 6 turnovers tonight. 2 fumbles, 1 interception, and 3 dropped interceptions. Nathan Jahnke (@PFF_NateJahnke) 6. Next up The Giants host the Lions (9-4, second in the NFC) while the Cowboys host the Buccaneers (8-5, sixth in the NFC) right back here on . In the meantime .