EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – In the NFL, sudden change commonly refers to situations in which a turnover occurs, and a defense is asked to retake the field quickly and unexpectedly.

Brian Daboll experienced a sudden change Sunday afternoon that was infinitely more pleasant.

With the Giants holding a three-point lead and New England rookie kicker Chad Ryland about to attempt a game-tying 35-yard field goal, Daboll was already thinking ahead to a potential overtime coin toss. But Ryland hooked his kick through the MetLife Stadium rain outside the left upright, suddenly ensuring the Giants had earned a 10-7 victory.

"You've got to make a decision on what you want to do in overtime," Daboll said when asked what he was thinking as Ryland lined up for the kick. "And then, you take your headset off and go shake the other coach's hand when it doesn't (go through)."

In this case, the coach was Bill Belichick, who gave Daboll his first NFL coaching job in 2000 and had him as an assistant for two stints covering 11 seasons. Daboll reiterated he has much respect for Belichick but preferred to discuss his team, which has come off the mat to win two consecutive games and head into its bye week with a 4-8 record and in third place in the NFC East.

"I'm just really happy for the players, the coaches, the organization, a lot of smiling faces in there," he said. "These guys work extremely hard. They do things the right way. They're committed to the process. There's a lot of team chemistry. I appreciate that through some tough times. We've got a long way to go. We come back Monday night (Dec. 11) against Green Bay, but really proud of the people that put their head down and grind and are able to fight through some adversity at times. Because that's, like I've said before many times, a roller coaster. So, stay committed to the things we do and believe in one another and do everything we can do to try to put us in good position to win a game."

Their formula was to capitalize on a defense that has nine takeaways in the last two games and another low-mistake, productive performance from rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito, who won his first home start.

The Giants intercepted three passes – one apiece for Deonte Banks, Bobby Okereke and Xavier McKinney. The final two set up the touchdown and field goal that accounted for the Giants' 10 points. DeVito threw a 12-uard touchdown pass to Isaiah Hodgins in the second quarter, and Randy Bullock kicked a 42-yard field goal with 8:10 remaining in the fourth.

The Patriots scored midway through the third quarter on Rhamondre Stevenson's eight-yard run.

New England drove 33 yards late to put Ryland in position to tie the game. But he missed on the opportunity.

DeVito's thoughts were a bit different than Daboll's.

"About time we got a little lucky," DeVito said. "Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. Heard that saying a lot when I was growing up, but worked out for us, we got the win."

And DeVito was one the most important contributors. He completed 17 of 25 passes for 191 yards and did not throw an interception for the second straight week. DeVito threw his touchdown pass on a third-and-10. Hodgins caught the short throw, stiff-armed cornerback Jonathan Jones and raced to the end zone.

"It was awesome to be able to throw a maybe like five-yard route and then see him make somebody miss like that," DeVito said. "Use his size, use his body, throw the dude off him and find his way in the end zone, it's awesome. He makes your job as a quarterback a lot easier."

As did fellow rookie Jalin Hyatt, who had season-high totals of five receptions for 109 yards, his first career 100-yard game.

"He's quarterback friendly," DeVito said. "I mean, anybody that's that fast and can make the plays that he makes is quarterback friendly, so it makes it a lot easier to put those balls up for him. But he's just a special individual. Special player, route runner, whatever you want to call it and he's a confident dude. He tells me, he's like, 'I'm going to go get this ball for you' like if we call this, I'm going to make play. So, it takes a lot off my shoulders."

"We started at rookie minicamp, then OTAs and training camp," Hyatt of his chemistry with DeVito. "Me and Tommy were with the threes starting off, so we kind of built chemistry off of that during the offseason and going into the season. At the same time, it just goes to our preparation. Tommy had a great game. It all starts with the quarterback. I'm very proud of him, what he has done but for us, we've got to keep going."

Hyatt is averaging 19.4 yards a catch but has yet to score his first touchdown. He was thrilled to make several big plays Sunday.

"At Tennessee, I used to average a hundred yards (a game) and being up here was kind of tough for me," Hyatt said. "I went to coach (Brian Daboll) and asked, was it me, is there something I need to do better or anything, and Dabs had a great talk with me one-on-one and just talked to me about how the league is, the NFL, and saying, one game you can have the best game of your life and the next game you can be humbled. It just goes to Dabs and how much respect I have for him and him teaching me about the NFL and the league and how it was. It was just tough for me at first, just going from averaging a hundred yards to not really get no hundred yards or fifty yards. But I decided I had to stick it through, stick it through with my preparation and make sure I'm staying ready."

Hyatt's heroics would have been a footnote had the defense not stifled New England's offense all afternoon. Although the Patriots held the ball for more than 34 minutes, they had just one drive longer than 60 yards and no plays longer than 19 yards.

"It's obviously always an ongoing and growing process," Okereke said of the stingy defense's recent takeaway outburst. "I think (defensive coordinator) Wink (Martindale) has done a great job just seeing what calls work to our strengths, giving us opportunities to play with instincts in coverage, and we mix it up with our blitzes and everything. He just does a great job calling the game and putting us in position to make plays."

They're making more of them and the offense is making enough of them, and the Giants have their first winning streak of the season. Perhaps the big question entering the bye week is who will play quarterback against the Packers. DeVito has impressed everyone, but Tyrod Taylor, who has missed four games with a rib cage injury, is eligible to come off injured reserve.

"We'll have our bye week here," Daboll said. "We'll discuss a lot of things. Look at a lot of things. So, over the next few days, that's what we'll do."