Giants’ written-off hero vs. Cardinals embodies their resilience: ‘I always believed’

John Harbaugh’s Giants — atop the NFC East through four weeks — are quickly developing a reputation for resilience.

So perhaps there was no more fitting player to ice Sunday’s 36-24 win over the Cardinals than cornerback Deonte Banks.

As the Giants improved to 3-1 — without quarterback Jaxson Dart and star edge rusher Brian Burns, both done for the season — Banks returned an interception 98 yards for a touchdown with time expiring.

The same Banks who looked like a first-round bust for most of his first three NFL seasons. The same Banks who had to regain his starting job this summer under a new coaching staff. The same Banks who refused to quit.

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This is shaping up to be a fascinating, redemptive contract year for Banks after the Giants unsurprisingly declined his fifth-year option. And his game-sealing play Sunday came after he missed the past two games with a calf injury.

But Banks responded to that adversity — something he’s becoming quite skilled at doing.

“We’re just going to finish and not break,” Banks said of this Giants defense. “So that’s how you finish it.”

It sure is.

For all the crowd-frenzied insanity of Banks’ pick six, the Giants’ defense almost wilted at the end of the game for a second straight week — after playing well for most of the afternoon — only to get bailed out by a goal-line interception.

Maybe that isn’t a sustainable approach. But it does underscore this defense’s personality.

“That just shows our relentlessness, that we’re going to keep finishing,” Banks said.

Four plays before Banks’ pick six, he got flagged for a questionable pass interference call that moved the ball from the Giants’ 22 to the 4. It looked like they were about to botch a winnable game.

“I don’t even know what that was,” Banks said of the flag. “You’re going to have to ask the ref for that.”

Ultimately, he erased the penalty and pushed the Giants into first place in the division — after plenty of Giants fans wrote him off entering this season.

“I just know what I’m capable of,” he said. “You feel me? And I’m just going to keep proving myself right. That’s all. I really don’t care about last year.”

Banks never thought about going down after picking the ball off, instead of running it back.

“Not at all,” he said with a smile.

Even if plenty of other people never expected Banks to regain his starting job — let alone play well — he harbored no doubts.

“I always believed I was going to do that,” he said.

Banks had to move past early errors Sunday. He allowed the game’s first touchdown, as Marvin Harrison Jr. beat him for a 12-yard catch.

When Banks went to the sideline, defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson and cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch pulled him aside.

“Calm down,” they told him, offering encouragement while reminding him that he was coming off a two-game absence. “Settle in.”

Banks listened.

“I settled in,” he said. “That showed they believe in me.”

In past years, Banks has struggled with moving on from tough moments — like a touchdown or a penalty. He needed to mature and get over that.

“I feel like I always had a problem with going to the next play,” he said. “I would just think about what I did. You’ve got to flush it and keep going, so that’s what I’ve been doing.”

Sure enough, after that questionable late-game penalty, Banks told himself: “Just keep going.”

He did.

And now, the Giants — without Dart and Burns — are 3-1.

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