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EAST RUTHERFORD http://www.buccaneerslockerroom.com/authentic-kendell-beckwith-jersey , N.J. (AP) — Crazy as it may sound, the New York Giants are starting to believe they have a chance to make a run at the playoffs.It’s amazing what a couple of wins can do for a team after a 1-7 start.Saquon Barkley ran for a career-high 142 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Giants held off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38-35 on Sunday to win consecutive games for the first time since December 2016.“I think there is some excitement going around,” said Eli Manning , who hit 17 of 18 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns. “It is good. It is a good feeling to have in the locker room and you see some growth. You see the improvement.”What the Giants (3-7) are doing is making plays and finishing. The running game has picked up and it’s opened up the passing game, and the defense is forcing turnovers. The group intercepted four passes in sending the Bucs (3-7) to their fourth straight loss with linebacker Alec Ogletree returning one 15 yards for a touchdown.“I just know that we’re playing better and I just love to see these guys in here after the game with smiles on their faces,” said receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who caught an 8-yard touchdown pass. “We just put it all together, so it’s always a lot more fun when you win.”Playing in the NFC East also helps increase the belief the Giants are not dead.Washington, which fell to Houston and lost quarterback Alex Smith for the season to a broken leg, leads the division with a 6-4 record. No other team has a winning record.“We’ve got a long way to go, there are a lot of things we’ve got to get better at, but if we can just keep battling and fighting, who knows?” coach Pat Shurmur said. “That would be a fun thing for everybody to write about.”The Giants never trailed as Manning found a wide-open Barkley on a 6-yard TD pass on the opening series, and the No. 2 overall pick in the draft scored from 5 yards out on the second possession to give New York the lead for good.“We’re finishing games and we’re finishing drives, and that’s what we weren’t doing in the first half of the season,” Barkley said of his first winning streak as a pro.Tampa Bay made things interesting after Jameis Winston replaced a turnover-plagued Ryan Fitzpatrick in the third quarter and led four touchdown drives. The last score came on a 41-yard pass to Mike Evans with 2:22 to play and got the Bucs within 38-35.The Bucs got the ball back at their 20 with 23 seconds to play, but B.W. Webb intercepted Winston’s long throw down the sideline to ice the win.After Tampa Bay got within 31-28, Manning, whose only incompletion came on a short pass to Barkley late in the second quarter, connected with tight end Evan Engram on a 54-yard pass and run on the second play after the kickoff, and Barkley capped the drive with a 2-yard run with 3:52 to play.The Winston-to-Evans TD pass closed the gap to three points again.“It hurts me when I have to see my team lose a game because I turned the ball over,” Winston said. “And I’m sure it hurts Fitz. And I’m sure it hurts anyone that has a hand in what they believe led the other team to winning. That’s our main focus. We have to find a way to win.”Fitzpatrick scored on a fourth-down 1-yard run for the Tampa Bay, which squandered a chance to score on its opening possession when Fitzpatrick was stopped on a quarterback sneak inside the Giants’ 5.Evans recovered a fumble in the end zone in the third quarter to start the comeback, Peyton Barber tallied from 5 yards out and Adam Humphrie s and Evans caught TD passes in the fourth quarter to get the Bucs within three points twice.Winston finished 12 of 16 for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Barber rushed for 106 yards on 18 carries. Evans had six catches for 120 yards. Fitzpatrick was 13 of 21 for 167 and the three interceptions.INJURIESBuccaneers TE O.J. Howard left the game in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. Giants DL Kerry Wynn left the game in the second half with a concussion.WELCOME SACKJason Pierre-Paul, the Giants’ 2010 first-round draft pick, returned to face his old team for the first time since being traded in the spring. He had 1½ of the Bucs’ four sacks. He helped Manning up after the first sack.“I just said to him: ‘Get up, stop falling,’ but no, I was just helping him up because that used to be my old teammate and I’m not trying to hurt him, I’m just trying to play football and have good sportsmanship,” Pierre-Paul said.Kareem Martin had the Giants’ first and only sack in the last three games.UP NEXTBuccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.Giants: Travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles on Sunday. TAMPA, Fla. (AP)The Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren’t saying much about injured quarterback Jameis Winston’s status for Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills. As expected, the third-year pro did not throw in practice Wednesday because of a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder. Backup Ryan Fitzpatrick worked with the first-team offense in preparation for the Bills (3-2) Vernon Hargreaves III Jersey , who have the NFL’s stingiest scoring defense. ”He’s limited,” coach Dirk Koetter said of Winston, who was injured less than six minutes into last Sunday’s 38-33 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. The Bucs said the following day that a MRI found no structural damage and that Winston, who’s made 37 consecutive starts to begin his career since entering the NFL as the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft, is considered day-to-day. The Bucs have not signed a third quarterback, however Koetter declined to say whether that’s a sign that if Fitzpatrick starts this weekend that Winston might be available as a backup against the Bills. ”I’ll let you guys draw your own conclusions on that,” Koetter said, adding he has confidence in Fitzpatrick, one of four players in league history to throw touchdowns passes with seven different teams, if Winston doesn’t play. ”Ryan’s always extremely well prepared. To put it in perspective, Jameis has 37 starts. Ryan has 116,” the coach said. ”So, Ryan got all the passing reps today, and that’s about 35 more than he’s gotten since the season started, with the first offense. He’s a pro. He knows how to prepare. He showed that last week.” Winston was injured on Tampa Bay’s opening drive. He returned for two more series before being replaced by Fitzpatrick, who had limited success moving the ball until after the Bucs (2-3) fell behind 31-0 in the third quarter. The 34-year-old backup, who played with the Bills for four seasons from 2009 to 2012, finished 22 of 32 passing for 290 yards, three TDs and two interceptions. Along the way, he joined Vinny Testaverde, Chris Chandler and Gus Frerotte as the only quarterbacks to throw TD passes for seven different franchises. ”Fitz is a smart quarterback,” receiver Mike Evans said. ”He has really good ball placement. He puts it in areas that only we can catch it. He gives us a chance to win.” Fitzpatrick started 27 games over the past two seasons with the New York Jets. He signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent last spring, knowing he would be a backup to Winston, who topped 4,000 yards passing in each of his first two seasons. ”That’s the role I’m in, it’s a role I’ve been in before. I just try to go out there and do the best I can,” Fitzpatrick said before practice Wednesday. ”When I signed on here, (I knew) this is Jameis’ team,” Fitzpatrick added. ”To me, the biggest thing is when I’m out there, I don’t want to let him down because I know how much it means to him, and I know how much being out there means to him.” —