Saquon Barkley fumbled the game away, but Tommy DeVito won it back.
A fourth-quarter Barkley fumble gave the Green Bay Packers a late go-ahead touchdown Monday night at MetLife Stadium.
But DeVito, the undrafted rookie, captained the Giants’ two-minute drill to set up a 37-yard Randy Bullock field goal to beat the Packers, 24-22.
A 32-yard pass to Wan’Dale Robinson got the Giants into field goal range. Robinson led the team with six catches for 79 yards. Barkley had two touchdown runs.
The Giants defense and special teams forced three turnovers. And DeVito had 158 passing yards, 71 rushing yards and a touchdown pass.
The Giants (5-8) have won three straight with DeVito at quarterback. This was a big one with Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll taking the risk of naming DeVito the starter over a healthy Tyrod Taylor coming out of the bye week.
Barkley almost fumbled the game away with a chance to ice it late.
At the end of a 34-yard run with the Giants up five points, he fell to the turf, the ball squirted out, and Packers corner Carrington Valentine returned the fumble to the Giants’ 36-yard line with 3:34 remaining.
It was Barkley’s third career lost fumble in 1,413 touches.
Packers QB Jordan Love eventually hit receiver Malik Heath for a 6-yard touchdown pass to go up one with 1:33 remaining. But Bobby Okereke stopped Packers receiver Jayden Reed on the two-point try.
And then DeVito completed 4-of-4 passes for 53 yards, including the big one to Robinson, to set up the game-winning kick. In the process, he snapped a three-game win streak for the Packers (6-7) and handed Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur (16-1) his first-ever loss in the month of December.
The Giants have four games remaining now in the regular season, starting with a visit to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
Monday night, the Giants took their first lead of the game early in the third quarter thanks to a muffed punt by Packers returner Keisean Nixon.
Darnay Holmes forced the fumble, Benton Whitley recovered at the Packers’ 31. And a 26-yard DeVito run to the 1-yard line set up Barkley’s second touchdown run for a 14-10 lead with 11:22 to play in the third quarter.
The Giants’ Bobby McCain then muffed a punt, unaware the short kick was about to hit him in the left arm. The Packers recovered at the Giants’ 14-yard line and got a 32-yard Anders Carlson field goal with 7:31 left in the third.
A tough 25-yard catch by the Giants’ Robinson set the stage for a nice 8-yard TD pass from DeVito to Isaiah Hodgins for a 21-13 lead with 1:28 left in the third quarter.
Then the Packers’ Carlson missed a 45-yard field goal but made from 48 with 5:30 remaining to draw within 21-16. Barkley had the ability to close the game out on the Giants’ ensuing drive before fumbling and putting it in the hands of the defense.
That allowed the Packers to take their late 22-21 lead with 1:33 to play and force a late Giants offensive drive to win it or fall.
The Giants trailed, 10-7, at halftime despite the defense forcing two Love turnovers and the special teams unit earning favorable field position.
Daboll’s offense couldn’t score from Green Bay’s 32-yard line after a first quarter Packers interference penalty on Giants punt returner Gunner Olszewski. The offense gained only two yards before kicker Randy Bullock missed a 48-yard field goal attempt.
The Packers then opened the scoring with a 16-yard jet sweep touchdown by rookie receiver Jayden Reed at 1:01 of the first. They moved the ball with help from a controversial fourth-down conversion by Dontayvion Wicks, who was ruled short until the call was overturned.
DeVito and the Giants’ offense answered with an 8-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at seven apiece with 12 minutes left in the second quarter on a 5-yard Barkley TD run.
A 14-yard DeVito pass to Hodgins, and a 10-yard DeVito scramble, set up a 32-yard Robinson run into the red zone. Robinson took a handoff from Barkley out of the Wildcat, and Barkley faked a fumbled exchange to freeze defenders at the line.
The Giants wouldn’t score again in the half, however, despite the defense forcing a Love fumble and interception. The offense converted neither turnover into points.
Kayvon Thibodeaux stripped the ball from Love as Jason Pinnock tackled him, and Xavier McKinney recovered the ball, giving the Giants the ball at their own 27-yard line with 7:41 to play. Daboll had to challenge an initial ruling that Love was down to earn the takeaway.
But the offense turned the ball over on downs at midfield. Daboll initially intended to punt until the fans booed, he used a timeout with the play clock running down and put the offense back on the field for an unsuccessful Barkley run.
Pinnock intercepted Love on Green Bay’s next possession, returning the pick to the Giants’ 44-yard line. But the offense went three and out and punted again. And the Packers drove downfield for a Carlson 36-yard field goal before half to take a three-point lead.