In the Giants season opener in Arlington, Texas, Brad Wing — late in the fourth quarter of a tight, tense game — received his marching orders from Ben McAdoo:

Pin the Cowboys deep.

The Giants were clinging to a 20-19 lead with 1:12 remaining and, facing fourth down on the Dallas 37-yard line, trusted Wing to keep the ball out of the end zone, preferably forcing the Cowboys to start on a desperation final drive inside their own 10-yard line. Wing, though, did not get off a good kick, and the resulting touchback was not at all what the Giants wanted or needed.

Three months later, Wing was given another chance to finish off the Cowboys. On Sunday night, the Giants were ahead 10-7 and, in an uncannily similar scenario, faced a fourth down on the Dallas 36-yard line with 1:15 remaining. This time, Wing’s left foot delivered, sending the ball soaring near the goal line, and Dwayne Harris was there to down it on the 3-yard line.

“It was a very similar situation, end of the game, coach wanted us to pin ’em deep and we failed with that,’’ Wing said of the opener. “It was good to have that situation over again and execute it this time.’’

The Giants are 9-4 and executing well enough — offensive struggles aside — to head into Week 15 and a meeting with the Lions (also 9-4) as the No. 1 wild-card team in the NFC. Wing is a big part of the delicate balance the Giants need to lean on to navigate their way to victories despite scoring woes, a lack of a consistent running game and Eli Manning’s up-and-down play. The Giants are over-reliant on their surging defense, and if the games are going to continue to be close and low-scoring, field position is going to be more critical than ever.

“I think field position is big in any game, especially in December and going into January,’’ Wing said. “A lot of the games are close, low-scoring. Any time you can gain an advantage on the field position side of things, I think it helps as a whole.’’

Wing booted the ball nine times in the Giants’ most significant victory in five years, and the Australian-born punter put five of them down inside the Cowboys’ 20-yard line — two of them at the 3-yard line.

McAdoo has called Wing “a weapon,’’ and the 25-year old likes the sound of that.

“That’s a good accolade,’’ Wing said. “Grateful he said that. Any time you’re keeping the head coach happy, that’s kinda what your job is. Yeah, you have different specific jobs, but keeping the head guy happy, him having confidence and trust in you, that’s what every player shoots for.’’

This is Wing’s second season with the Giants, arriving in the summer of 2015 in a trade with the Steelers for a seventh-round draft pick after the decision was made to get younger with the release of Steve Weatherford. Wing was solid last season and has been even better in Year 2. He is ninth in the NFL in gross punting and 10th in net average (41 yards).

Not that he puts much stock in the stats.

“Numbers and punting, you don’t really get the full story from numbers,’’ Wing said.

Wing has fit in well in the locker room — he is good friends with Odell Beckham Jr. from their time together at LSU — and looks as if he can be a fixture for years to come.

“It does, it feels a little like home,’’ Wing said of his second season with the Giants. “Building relationships with the guys on and off the field, I think that helps. You’re going into war and battle with those guys and you got the relationships and that camaraderie together, it just makes everybody perform better.’’