The Giants dropped their final game of the regular season to the Vikings on a 50-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell as time expired. The win gives the Vikings the NFC North title.

Derrick Ward had 77 yards on 15 carries. He topped 1,000 yards rushing, making him and Brandon Jacobs the fourth pair of teammates to top 1,000 yards rushing in a season. Adrian Peterson rushed for 103 yards, his 10th 100-yard rushing game of the season. Peterson became the fifth player in league history to reach 3,000 yards in his first two years and looks set to win the rushing title with a healthy lead over Atlanta’s Michael Turner.

David Carr took over for Eli Manning at halftime and threw a touchdown pass to Domenik Hixon in the third quarter to give the Giants a 16-10 lead.  Carr was 8-for-11, and threw for 110 yards. Hixon caught four passes for 62 yards in the game. Manning was 11-for-19, and threw for 119 yards in the first half.

John Carney kicked his fourth field goal of the game early in the fourth to give the Giants a 19-10 lead. He missed his fifth attempt from 48 yards with 3:17 left in the game. The Vikings got within two points when Tavaris Jackson found Bernard Berrian. The Vikings final drive got them close enough for Longwell to kick the winning field goal.

The Giants had already clinched home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs with last week’s overtime win over Carolina and pulled most of their starters at the half. Brandon Jacobs, Aaron Ross, Gerris Wilkinson, Kevin Boss, Barry Cofield, Derek Hagan, Leger Dousable, and Lawrence Tynes were all declared inactive before the game.