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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The New York Giants' special teams threw a changeup of sorts.

The much-maligned unit came up big twice, once after failing to win the game early in overtime, then after getting a gift from the Jets.

Allen's Analysis

Question on the Giants: Can the Giants still win the NFC East? Yes, the window of opportunity hasn't closed for the Giants yet. Right now, their offense is leading the way for them. In their last two games they've scored a combined 60 points against two decent defenses. This division is going to come down to the Eagles and the Giants because the Cowboys have too tough a schedule and too many injuries to win down the stretch. And the Giants have the edge because their offense is better than the Eagles. Question on the Jets: So how does Edwards keep his team focused in the second half? This is going to be very difficult after two consecutive tough losses. The past two weeks, the Jets have come into games with more momentum than their opposition and lost both games. Their defense is letting them down and it's going to be hard for Edwards to get this team focused. Eric Allen played cornerback for 14 NFL seasons with the Eagles, Saints and Raiders.

Brett Conway atoned for a missed field goal early in overtime by kicking a 29-yarder with four seconds to go, and the Giants overcame a dramatic four-touchdown performance by Chad Pennington with a 31-28 victory Sunday.

"I told him I had a feeling he was going to get another chance," Giants holder Jeff Feagles said of Conway. "It's kind of ironic, we missed the field goal, but then we won the game with the blocked field goal. I'm very happy for our special teams. We finally made some plays."

The unit was the big reason the Giants (4-4) came into the game needing a win as much as the Jets (2-6). Twice already this season, special teams mistakes turned wins into defeats.

It appeared ready to become three when the Jets drove to the Giants 32 and were faced with a fourth-and-3 with about four minutes to play.

Herm Edwards thought about it, then sent Doug Brien on to the field.

"It is a tough kick, but we are trying to win the game," Edwards said. "You can second-guess and say we should have punted, but we are trying to win the game.

Brien was still in pre-kick routine when long snapper James Dearth snapped the ball because the play clock was down to one second. The Jets had no timeouts remaining.

Brien got the kick off, but Will Allen came off the right wing and blocked it.

Allen said Dearth tipped off the snap.

"He closes his fingers on the ball just before he snaps it, and as soon as he closed them I took off," Allen said.

The block gave the Giants the ball at their 36. Kerry Collins, who threw for two touchdowns and 303 yards, put his team in position to win with passes of 19 yards to Amani Toomer and 12 to Tiki Barber.

Conway, who said his curling first kick from 39 yards probably would have been good from 35, didn't miss his second chance.

"I'm a little upset," Conway said. "It's great we won, but they hired me to make the first one."

The loss left the Jets with the prospect of winning seven of their final eight games to have an outside shot at the playoffs.

"It's actually sad in a way to see the looks on their faces after they fought back and played as hard as they did," said Giants defensive end Michael Strahan.

Despite three turnovers, Pennington was outstanding in his first start this season. He threw for 281 yards and four scores, the last a 9-yarder to tight end Anthony Becht with 29 seconds left in regulation.

The touchdown pass capped a 12-play, 86-yard drive that was ignited by a roughing-the-passer penalty against linebacker Mike Barrow. Pennington kept it alive with a 15-yard pass to Santana Moss on fourth-and-1. Moss earlier caught touchdown passes of 8, 25 and 11 yards, the last getting the Jets within 28-21 with 5:59 to go.

"It is devastating, because we are so close," said Moss, who had a career-best 10 catches for 121 yards. "We had a chance. That's the worst part about it."

The Giants appeared in control after Dorsey Levens scored on a 3-yard run and Collins added a 2-point conversion on a quarterback draw for a 28-14 lead with 9:58 to play in regulation.

Collins had given the Giants a 20-14 lead late in the third quarter with a 6-yard pass to Ike Hilliard. Collins also threw a 39-yard TD pass to Toomer.

Pennington, who was intercepted twice and lost a fumble, made up for his mistakes in his first start since breaking his left wrist in the preseason after being tackled by Giants linebacker Brandon Short.

Short had a career-best 14 tackles, a sack, two forced fumbles and a recovery.<

Fassel refused to speculate whether the Giants' luck has finally turned after winning two straight games.

"I don't know," Fassel said. "I told them just keep shoveling men, we've got a long way to go. Keep shoveling."

Game notes

Jets LB Mo Lewis was inactive because of a hip injury, snapping his streak of 71 consecutive regular-season starts. ... Shaun Williams and Ralph Brown had interceptions for the Giants. ... It's the second time a Jets-Giants game was decided in OT. Jets won the first one 26-20 at the Yale Bowl in 1974. ... Moss has a TD in each of the last four games. He is the first Jet to score three TDs since Curtis Martin had three against Kansas City in 2001. ... Martin rushed for 108 yards, the first back to crack 100 against the Giants since last season.