Giants swipe and save win

DETROIT -- The difference in this game was a centimeter, an eyelash, the infinitesimal space required for a pass to glance through a receiver’s hands.

Just that quickly, New York Giants cornerback Sam Madison pounced on the deflection, intercepting a pass out of thin air and turning his team into a bona fide contender.

The last-second turnover saved New York’s 16-10 victory over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sunday, a game that matched two teams making unexpected runs at the postseason.

If this was a first glance at the wild-card race, things could get interesting come December.

“Both teams were 6-3, both teams right in the hunt for that playoff spot,” Giants quarterback Eli Manning said. “Coming here to play a good team and get a win . . . that was a big step for us.”

Three times in the second half, the Lions threatened to score and three times the New York defense came up with interceptions on tipped passes and close plays.

“We have balls flying all over the place,” Detroit quarterback Jon Kitna said angrily. “This isn’t high school football, you are making a playoff run.”

Kitna said he was convinced the better team lost. Giants defensive end Michael Strahan disagreed.

“Did he really say that?” Strahan asked. “I honestly thought that in the first half, that was one of the worst teams that we played that was 6-3, to be honest with you.”

It was a game that started sluggishly for both sides.

In losing to Arizona last week, the Lions ran only eight times for minus-18 yards. Apparently intent on erasing that memory, they handed the ball to running back Kevin Jones on five of the first six snaps.

Self-defense played a role in this strategy. Detroit came into the game having surrendered 40 sacks while the Giants led the NFL by getting to opposing quarterbacks 31 times.

The Lions needed to keep New York from unleashing Strahan and the rest of the pass rush, but Jones struggled for yards, and the offense couldn’t get untracked. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, not for a team loaded with young talent at wide receiver and guided by passing-game guru Mike Martz.

The slow start gave New York time to build a lead. After a first-quarter field goal, Manning drove his team downfield before throwing 10 yards to running back Brandon Jacobs for a 10-0 lead. Soon, the Lions gave up on that experiment with the ground game. They would finish with 11 rushes, all by Jones, for 25 yards.

“Well, we ran the ball and we tried to attempt it early in the game,” Detroit Coach Rod Marinelli said. The offensive game plan changed, he said, because “the score dictated it.”

Kitna began throwing with increasing frequency despite being harassed by Strahan, who had three sacks. The quarterback finished 28 for 43 for 377 yards, but there were too many hurried throws, too many miscues.

In the third quarter, wide receiver Roy Williams deflected a pass that safety Gibril Wilson intercepted. A few minutes later, Williams sprinted clear of the secondary but failed to adjust his route to a blitz and the pass fell incomplete. The best that Detroit could manage was a field goal, and New York held a 16-3 lead late in the game.

With less than five minutes left, Kitna heaved a pass into the end zone where the talented -- and tall -- rookie Calvin Johnson outstretched a defender for the ball. With the deficit cut to six points, Detroit had two more chances to win.

First, Kitna threw another long pass to the end zone but Shaun McDonald lost the jump-ball to safety James Butler. Then, with less than a minute left and the Lions driving to midfield, Kitna threw to McDonald.

This time the ball slipped through the wide receiver’s hands, and Madison made his saving interception.

It wasn’t exactly pretty for New York. Manning threw for 283 yards and a touchdown. The team’s leading rusher, Jacobs, ran 11 times for 54 yards before leaving the game with an injured hamstring. Still, the Giants were content with a victory.

“We’ve got two teams that are competing, that wanted to win this football game and needed to win,” Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress said. “We just hung in there until the end and pulled it out.”

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david.wharton@latimes.com