2012 New York Giants season The New York Giants season was the franchise ' s 88th season in the National Football League , the ninth under head coach Tom Coughlin and the third playing their home games at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford , New Jersey . The Giants began the 2012 season as defending Super Bowl Champions for the fourth time in their history , by virtue of their 21 – 17 victory in Super Bowl XLVI over the New England Patriots . The Giants finished 9 – 7 for the second straight year , but failed to make the playoffs . Personnel changes . On February 10 , quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan was hired as the new offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . Sullivan was with the Giants since the beginning of Tom Coughlin ' s tenure as head coach of the Giants , serving as the wide receivers coach from 2004 – 2009 and as quarterbacks coach from 2010 – 2011 . No replacement has been announced yet . The Giants offensive staff suffered another loss three days later ( February 13 ) when assistant offensive line coach Jack Bicknell , Jr . was hired by the Kansas City Chiefs to be their offensive line coach . Bicknell was with the Giants the past three seasons . Roster changes . 2012 draft class . NOTES : Schedule . Preseason . The Giants ' preseason schedule was announced on April 4 , 2012 . Regular season . The team ' s schedule was announced on April 17 . The Giants have the toughest schedule in the league , with opponents having a combined record of 140 - 116 ( . 547 ) in 2011 . Game summaries . Week 1 : vs . Dallas Cowboys . With their Super Bowl XLVI title to defend , the Giants began its 2012 campaign at home in the Annual Kickoff Game against their NFC East foe , the Dallas Cowboys . After a scoreless first quarter , New York struck first in the second quarter with a 22 - yard field goal from kicker Lawrence Tynes . The Cowboys would close out the half with quarterback Tony Romo completing a 10 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kevin Ogletree . Dallas added onto its lead in the third quarter as Romo completed a 40 - yard touchdown to Ogletree . New York struck back with running back Ahmad Bradshaw ' s 10 - yard touchdown run , but the Cowboys answered with kicker Dan Bailey making a 33 - yard field goal . Dallas came right back in the fourth quarter with Romo completing a 34 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Miles Austin . The Giants tried to rally as Super Bowl XLVI MVP quarterback Eli Manning completed a 9 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Martellus Bennett , but the Cowboys ' offense ran out the clock and preserved the win . With the loss , New York began its season at 0 - 1 and became the first defending Super Bowl Champion team to lose a regular season opener since the Broncos in 1999 . Week 2 : vs . Tampa Bay Buccaneers . After a season - opening home loss to the Cowboys , the Giants were looking to win their first game of the season . Although Tampa Bay led the Giants 24 - 13 at halftime , the Giants rallied in the fourth quarter to score 25 points and win their first game , improving to a 1 - 1 home record and a 1 - 1 overall record . A mild controversy erupted on the Giants ' final kneel in the closing seconds of the game when Tampa Bay head coach Greg Schiano ordered his defensive linemen to blitz Giants ' quarterback Eli Manning , presumably in the hope that this would lead to a forced fumble and subsequent touchdown to steal the victory . However , this did not happen . Week 3 : at Carolina Panthers . The Giants ' first road game came against a Carolina Panthers team led by second - year quarterback Cam Newton . It was both teams ' only Thursday Night Football appearance of the season . The Giants had no trouble with the Panthers , leading 20 - 0 at halftime and 36 - 7 at the end of the game . With the win , the Giants improved to 2 - 1 and reclaimed a share of the NFC East title with the Philadelphia Eagles , who they would play the following week . Week 4 : at Philadelphia Eagles . The Giants traveled to Philadelphia for a Sunday Night Football showdown against the Eagles . After a defensive first quarter in which neither offense scored any points , the Eagles took a 7 - 3 lead into halftime . The Giants came back with two touchdowns in the second half , but ultimately lost by two points after a failed long field goal by Lawrence Tynes in the closing seconds of the game . With the loss , the Giants fell to 2 - 2 , the Eagles claimed sole possession of the NFC East title , and the Giants record against the Eagles worsened to 1 - 8 in their last nine meetings , dating back to the 2008 NFL Season . Week 5 : vs . Cleveland Browns . After a disappointing loss to the Eagles , the Giants returned home for an afternoon game against the Cleveland Browns . Led by rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden , the Browns quickly amassed a 14 - 0 lead early in the first quarter . However , the Giants retook the lead before halftime and did not sacrifice it again . With the win , the Giants improved to 3 - 2 and began what would ultimately be a four - game winning streak throughout October . Week 6 : at San Francisco 49ers . The Giants traveled to San Francisco for a rematch of last season ' s NFC Championship game , in which the Giants won in overtime to advance to Super Bowl XLVI . The San Francisco 49ers were looking to avenge their playoff loss against the Giants , and had just come off back - to - back landslide victories against the Jets and Bills . However , the Giants defense allowed only one field goal and the Giants ultimately won the game 26 - 3 , sending the 49ers to their first and only home loss of the season . With the win , the Giants improved to 4 - 2 . Also , with the Eagles ' loss to the Lions earlier in the day , the Giants gained sole possession of first place in the NFC East . Week 7 : vs . Washington Redskins . The Giants returned home for another divisional battle , this time against the Washington Redskins . Washington had swept the Giants last year , and drafter quarterback Robert Griffin III with the second overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft . The Redskins took a three - point lead late in the game , but a 77 - yard touchdown pass from Manning to Victor Cruz in the last minutes of the game allowed the Giants to claim the victory . With the win , the Giants improved to 5 - 2 and won their first NFC East game of the season . Week 8 : at Dallas Cowboys . The Giants visited the Dallas Cowboys , where they hoped to avenge their Week 1 home loss . Although the Giants quickly amassed a 23 - point lead , the Cowboys responded with 24 unanswered points to reclaim the lead before halftime . The Giants ultimately scored a pair of field goals and held on to win 29 - 24 . With the win , the Giants improved to 6 - 2 and continued to be unwelcome visitors at Cowboys Stadium , where they are now 4 - 0 . Week 9 : vs . Pittsburgh Steelers . At the time of this game , northern New Jersey ( and , indeed , a vast majority of the BosWash area ) was recovering from the widespread damage and power outages caused by Hurricane Sandy . Played just days after the storm made landfall on the east coast , the blackouts and flooding even affected the visiting Steelers ' travel schedule , and the team would be forced to fly into the area on the morning of the contest as opposed to the usual day beforehand . Both teams traded possessions through the first quarter before Steelers ' wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders caught a 4 - yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger three minutes into the second period . A Shaun Suisham extra point gave the Steelers a 7 - 0 lead . The hometown Giants answered , tying up the game with a 1 - yard run by Andre Brown . Shortly after , with around five minutes remaining in the half , New York ' s Osi Umenyiora was able to knock the ball from Roethlisberger ' s hand as the quarterback was attempting a pass . Giants linebacker Michael Boley took full advantage of the turnover , scooping up the fumble and giving the Giants a 14 - 7 lead on a 70 - yard touchdown return . The Steelers were able to put together a final drive of the half , and a 30 - yard field goal by Shaun Suisham narrowed the Giants ' lead to four points at the half . Seven minutes into the third quarter , Giants ' kicker Lawrence Tynes extended the home team ' s lead by three via a 50 - yard field goal . With a minute to go in the period , Tynes would successfully convert a 23 - yard attempt and give the Giants a ten - point lead with a quarter to play . A 51 - yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Mike Wallace would cut into the Giants ' lead less than a minute into the fourth . New York would fail to accumulate any further points in the contest and , despite a botched fake field goal attempt by the Steelers , a 1 - yard touchdown run by Pittsburgh back Isaac Redman gave the Steelers the lead and , eventually , the win . With the loss , the Giants fell to 6 - 3 . Week 10 : at Cincinnati Bengals . The Giants travelled to a cloudy Cincinnati to face the Bengals . The Bengals , who were in the midst of a losing streak , came out strong and handily defeated the Giants 31 - 13 . With the loss , the Giants fell to 6 - 4 and entered their bye week . Week 12 : vs . Green Bay Packers . The Giants hosted the Packers on Sunday Night Football , as quarterbacks Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers faced each other for the fourth time in three seasons . Although the Packers were expected to avenge their playoff loss from last season , the Giants took a 31 - 10 lead into halftime and ultimately won the game 38 - 10 , snapping a three - game losing streak and improving to a 7 - 4 record . Week 13 : at Washington Redskins . Coming off a huge victory over the Packers , the Giants traveled to Washington for their only Monday Night Football appearance of the season . Although the Giants led at halftime , the Redskins scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to take a one - point lead . The Giants ' offense failed to score any points and the Redskins held on to win 17 - 16 . With the loss , the Giants fell to 7 - 5 and 2 - 3 within the NFC East . Coincidentally , the Giants lost to the Redskins last December after a statement victory on Sunday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys . Week 14 : vs . New Orleans Saints . The Giants returned home to face Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints , in a game that would turn out to be a breakout game for rookie David Wilson . The first - round draft pick ( 32nd overall ) rushed for a touchdown on a kickoff return and ran for two more scores in a huge win over the Saints . The Giants won 52 - 27 , handing the Saints their eighth loss of the season . With the win , the Giants improved to 8 - 5 and secured their eighth consecutive non - losing season . Week 15 : at Atlanta Falcons . The Giants traveled to Atlanta to visit the Falcons in their third and final rematch of last season ' s playoffs . The game took place only two days after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting , just an hour ' s drive from the Giants ' practice facility . The Giants honored the victims by wearing " SHES " decals on their helmets , and wide receiver Victor Cruz played in honor of six - year - old Jack Pinto , one of the victims . The Giants ultimately lost 34 - 0 and fell to 8 - 6 overall . However , the loss did not eliminate them from either playoff contention or the NFC East title . Week 16 : at Baltimore Ravens . The Giants visited Baltimore , where they were defeated by the Ravens 33 - 14 . With the loss , the Giants fell to 8 - 7 and were eliminated from contention for the NFC East title . The Giants can still obtain a wild - card berth with a victory against the Eagles and Week 17 victories by the Packers , Lions and Redskins . Week 17 : vs . Philadelphia Eagles . Despite the win , The Giants were eliminated from playoff contention due to the Bears 26 - 24 victory over the Lions . Also this marks the first time since 2006 that the Giants started this season 6 - 2 and finished 2 - 6 ending with a record of 8 - 8 , although the Giants made the playoffs that year in 2006 as a Wild Card Contender , but only this time around they started off 6 - 2 , wind up finishing 3 - 5 but fail to make the playoffs this season finishing 9 - 7 , and thereby became the eighth consecutive team to be dethroned from their World Championship . However , they took their current trend against their longtime rivals to 2 - 8 in the last 10 games between the teams . Statistics . League rankings . Stats correct through week 14 .