IRVING, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys didn’t expect a cakewalk against the Giants on Sunday night. Despite losing five straight coming into the game, the Giants proved to be the dangerous division opponent the Cowboys expected them to be.

The Giants jumped out to a 21-10 halftime lead and led 28-24 in the final three minutes before the Cowboys rallied for the 31-28 comeback victory.

According to tight end Jason Witten, this was a game the Cowboys might have lost the last three years, when they finished 8-8. Then they always seemingly found a way to lose close games. Now they are showing fight and mental toughness in the face of adversity.

“We talked about mental toughness and fight,” Witten said. “We’ve been in a lot of these games over the years and somehow, some way we’ve been on the other side of them. We haven’t always played with poise. We’ve panicked. We weren’t consistent to start this game, but we knew what we had to do to win it, and we had the poise to go do it.

“We’re a group that fights. We’ve done it before, but we’ve come up short. It feels good to come up on the other side. This win is big, even though we didn’t play great.”

Coach Jason Garrett has preached about being staying in the moment and taking things one play at time and one game at a time.

That’s what the Cowboys did Sunday night.

“I think there have been some good examples of our mental toughness over the course of the season. I thought last night was a good example of it,” Garrett said. “When you go down on the road by 11 at halftime, you have to look at each other and say, ‘Let’s go. Let’s get the job done here,’ and really challenge each other to get the job done, get their individual job done on every play and not really be concerned about what the circumstances are – being on the road, what the score is. Let’s do your job regardless of circumstance.

“I think our guys understood that,” Garrett said, “and I think it’s a contagious mentality and it’s a real tribute to them and our coaching staff and players to handle that situation.

“If you’ve been around this league at all, you understand that there’s adversity. There’s adversity literally on every snap, and you have to be able to somehow, some way deal with it and move on to the next play. And that’s one of the great things about this league. It’s one game at a time; it’s one play at a time within that game.”

The Cowboys are 8-3 for the first time since 2009, when they won the NFC East with an 11-5 record and won their first playoff game since 1996.

They have five games left and a quick turnaround before Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles for first place in the NFC East.

NOTES: WR Dez Bryant caught two touchdown passes against the Giants, giving him 50 touchdowns in 70 games. He’s the second-fastest Cowboy to 50 and the seventh-fastest player in NFL history. … QB Tony Romo led the Cowboys to a comeback victory for a team-record 23rd time. … LB Dakoda Watson strained a hamstring against the Giants and did not practice Monday, making him questionable for the Eagles game on Thursday. … DT Jack Crawford missed practice Monday with a fractured thumb. He will have surgery Tuesday and be out at least a couple of weeks. … S Jeff Heath suffered a fractured thumb against the Giants. He will have surgery Tuesday and be out at least a couple of weeks. … WR Terrance Williams fractured the tip of his index finger against the Giants. He missed practice Monday. But he will get a splint on it and should play against the Eagles.

REPORT CARD VS. GIANTS

–RUSH OFFENSE: A — DeMarco Murray rushed 24 times for 121 yards. It was his 10th 100-yard game in 11 outings this season. He was the only running back who carried the ball. The offensive line was dominant, as usual.

–PASS OFFENSE: A — Tony Romo was good as ever, completing 18 of 26 passes for 275 yards, with four touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 143.4. He had no interceptions. The offensive line gave him all day to throw, especially on the winning touchdown drive; he had more than seven seconds on two occasions. He completed 6 of 6 for 66 yards on the final drive.

–RUSH DEFENSE: A — The Giants rushed 32 times for 89 yards, 2.8 yards per carry. Rashad Jennings had 19 carries for 52 yards. Middle linebacker Rolando McClain led the charge with 11 tackles.

–PASS DEFENSE: D — The Cowboys got no pressure on Eli Manning early, though they ended up with three sacks. He completed 29 of 40 passes for 338 yards, with three touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 112.3. Safety Barry Church had a crucial interception that changed the game. The Cowboys could do nothing with receiver Odell Beckham, who caught 10 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: A — Dwayne Harris was a terror. He downed a punt inside the 10 and had four punt returns for 68 yards, including a long of 20. Chris Jones averaged 48.8 yards on four punts, with a long of 57.

–COACHING: B — The Cowboys came out flat and unprepared for the Giants’ pace to open the game. But the team stayed poised and stuck to the game plan. Even when they were down 21-10, the Cowboys showed patience by sticking to the run. There was never any panic and it paid off.