East Rutherford, N.J.

For the sake of take-away images, the holiday weekend began at MetLife Stadium with Mark Sanchez running into the backside of a Jets offensive lineman and immediately becoming the butt of N.F.L. jokes nationwide. It ended with Eli Manning lowering his throwing shoulder into a Green Bay cornerback and emerging heroically for an act of aggression that under less fortunate circumstances would have left him scorned for not figuratively using his head.

“That wouldn’t be recommended on a normal basis,” Giants Coach Tom Coughlin said of Manning’s attempt to plow through the Packers’ Tramon Williams in the first quarter Sunday night in a successful attempt for a first down. “To see him do that, it kind of sent a message to the rest of our team: whatever you have to do to succeed, do it.”

Isn’t that — along with the inverse of that — what currently defines the rival residents of the rather drab edifice that hovers over an intersection of North Jersey roadway?

Across the 16-game season, many a weekend can feel like the proverbial fork in that road, but this last one sure demanded that the Giants and the Jets understand the circumstances in play. Losing to the Packers would have brought the Giants back to the divisional pack and sounded the alarm for a December collapse with a tough schedule ahead. Beating New England would have propped up the Jets’ playoff chances with much less imposing opponents the rest of the way.