In every phase of the game, the New York Giants who play in New Jersey dominated

Dominating doesn’t always win games, neither do impressive statistics, only the W counts.

And there were the surging New York Giants at the depleted Cincinnati Bengals Sunday on a modest 2-game win streak and trying to leap into first place in the dismal National Football League’s NFC East. They had lost their first five games but were now 4-7 in a sub. 500 division where all four teams had a chance to finish first and host the first-round game of the playoffs as a fourth seed.

Except that Cincinnati, with few limited fans in the stands at Paul Brown Stadium, hung in there with thoughts of springing the upset, and if it did, the huge advantage that the Giants had held wouldn’t bring this important triumph.

To get to the chase of what turned into a tight 19-17 win, New York got away to a quick 7-0 lead when quarterback Daniel Jones connected with Evan Engram on a 59-yard pass down the sidelines. Two plays later, running back Wayne Gellman bolted in from the 1. But the ensuing kickoff quickly brought a tie when Justin Wilson gathered in the ball in the end zone and sped a franchise-record 103 yards.

That was the bulk of the Bengals offense, though, as they accounted for only 11 first downs, 40 rushing yards and 115 through the air behind back-up quarterback Brandon Allen filling in for injured lost-for-the-season starter Joe Burrow. But with the Giants putting together 19 first downs, in possession 37 minutes to Cincinnati’s 23, and piecing together 528 total yards (Bengals had 155) via 142 on the ground and 386 through the air, could not shake the fired-up home team.

Fortunately, they had kicker Graham Gano who had been in quarantine last week when he tested positive for COPID-19, and he was good for four field goals to extend his consecutive streak to 25 in a row. His first was for 49 yards to bring a 10-7 lead, but back came Cincinnati via its own field goal for a 10-10 tie before Gano was good for a 39-yarder and it was 13-10. New York was moving the ball, but had to settle for field goals, and Gano’s next one of 37 yards upped the lead to 16-10. His last was for 32 yards and it was now 19-10.

But the Giants were now playing without Jones, who injured his hamstring late in the third quarter, and had to call on 15-year veteran Colt McCoy after Jones tried to stay on the field, but couldn’t as he limped around. But his defense was aggressive, at one time stopping Cincinnati’s possession four-straight times. And with time ticking down, a New York punt by Gano landed on the Bengals’ 15-yard line, and with the scoreboard clock showing 3:38, Allen took his team downfield with a trio of first downs via the pass. Then, on 4th and 3 on Cincinnati’s 46, Allen ran wide for the first down at midfield.

Now the clock was down to 1:14 and the Giants were looking at a possible field goal that would not only the game, but hurt its hunt for the top spot in the division. One more run of 7 yards by Giovanni Bernard put the ball almost in field goal range at the 43, but on the next play, the Giants rushed Allen, and as he tried to squirm away, the ball was battled out of his hands by Jabrrill Peppers and teammate Blake Martinez pounced on it and the Giants’ sideline erupted. The Bengals had no more time outs and McCoy took two knees while his teammates sighed a collective breath of relief, as did New York Giants fans around the country, and they have a lot them.

“Whew, that was quite a finish,” said first-year New York head coach Joe Judge, “and I had said we can’t take this game lightly, but when it looked like we were going to see a game-winning field goal, our defense came through again. As for Daniel, I’m optimistic. He’s overcome other injuries, is a strong individual, and we will see how it goes.”

Tonight, the Philadelphia Eagles are home to the Seattle Seahawks, and if they win, it would put them back in first place again at 4-6-1 (the tie against Cincinnati), while the Washington Football Team, who the Giants defeated twice, are 4-7, and the last place Dallas Cowboys are 3-8, with a upcoming meeting at the Giants on tap. New York is 0-1 versus Dallas and split 1-1 against Philly.

Engram caught six passes for 129 yards, while Sterling Shepard reeled in seven throws for 64 yards, and Gallman carried 14 times for 119 yards and the touchdown. Jones, before being replaced, was putting together his third-straight game without a turnover and had passed 213 yards on 16 of 27 attempts, while McCoy, with his seventh different team, was good for 31 yards on 6 of 10 tries and employed his experience despite not having played much in actual games.

Defensively, New York got four unassisted tackles from Issac Yiadom, while Peppers and Martinez had three each, and Jae Crowder and Logan Ryan forced three sacks. This was all good until, just like that, it had to bail out of Cincinnati’s final drive to force the upset. And that’s what counts most, the W.

Next week, the Washington Football Team, the Giants and the Eagles hit the road for Sunday tough tasks, with Washington at the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers (10-0), the Giants at Seattle (7-3), Philly at Green Bay (7-3), and the scheduled Thursday nightcontest between the Cowboys at the Baltimore Ravens (6-4) has been switched to Monday night.

A “tanking” division is out of the question when the winner gets to play host to the first round of the playoffs as a fourth seed, and the others go home to watch on television.