Giants Stage Comeback for Victory, 20-19 : NFC: Matt Bahr kicks a 40-yard field goal on the final play of the game to defeat Phoenix and keep New York unbeaten.

The New York Giants are off to their best start in franchise history because they are very good and, as Coach Bill Parcells said, very lucky.

That was Parcells’ evaluation Sunday after Matt Bahr kicked a 40-yard field goal on the game’s final play to give the unbeaten Giants a 20-19 comeback victory over the Phoenix Cardinals.

Bahr’s field goal capped a 10-point comeback by the Giants in the final four minutes.

“We can consider ourselves lucky and fortunate,” Parcells said. “I can’t recall us ever being down by that much with that little time to go and coming back like that.”

The Giants (6-0) looked like a defeated team after Al Del Greco kicked his fourth field goal, a 45-yarder with 5:38 left that put the Cardinals (2-4) ahead, 19-10.

“We struggled but we stayed together,” Giant center Bart Oates said. “As long as there was time on the clock we felt we had a chance.”

The Giants made good on their final chances because Jeff Hostetler, subbing for the injured Phil Simms, finally started figuring out the Cardinals’ 3-4 defense that had baffled him since he entered the game in the second quarter. Simms, the NFL’s top-rated quarterback coming into the game, hurt his left ankle late in the first quarter when he was hit by Cedric Mack and Ken Harvey while releasing a pass.

“I was a little discouraged,” Hostetler said. “They were covering us and playing good defense. But at the end everything seemed to come together. The defense held and the offense responded.”

Hostetler first drove the Giants 76 yards in eight plays, finishing the drive with a 38-yard scoring pass to a diving Stephen Baker with 3:21 left.

The Giants allowed the Cardinals one first down before getting the ball back with 58 seconds remaining.

With no timeouts, Hostetler started the Giants on a 71-yard drive by connecting with Mark Ingram on a 26-yard crossing pattern to the Phoenix 45. A holding penalty advanced the ball five yards.

Three plays later, Hostetler, who completed 11 of 21 passes for 180 yards, found little-used Lionel Manuel on an 18-yard completion with 13 seconds left.

The Giants rushed to the line as the clock kept running and Hostetler took a snap and grounded the ball with three seconds on the clock. Bahr then walked onto the field and kicked the field goal.

“It felt good going off my foot, but you never know until it goes through,” Bahr said.

It also ruined a great effort by the Cardinals.

“I felt we were the better team,” said Cardinal offensive tackle Luis Sharpe, who caught a one-yard pass just before the half to tie the game at 10.

“They played well enough to win, but we had the rabbit’s foot in our pocket,” said Giant running back Ottis Anderson, who scored on a four-yard run in the first quarter.

The Cardinals took a 13-10 lead on an 18-yard field goal by Del Greco and stretched it to six points on a 34-yarder following a fumble by Hostetler.