Wink Martindale’s day began with his arms wrapped around his old boss and ended with his hand raised in the air after his new boss told him to break down the huddle in the winning locker room.

Even if Martindale’s surprising split from the Ravens in January after 10 years wasn’t bitter — as all accounts suggest — there was an undeniable sense of satisfaction in being one of the big difference-makers as the Giants beat his former team, 24-20, at MetLife Stadium.

“Family on three!” Martindale said, according to defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence’s recollection. “He didn’t make it about him. He knows that it’s a player’s game. He calls it and we play for him.”

Martindale and Ravens head coach John Harbaugh hugged on the field during pregame warm-ups, a warm moment between two men who consider each other brothers but mutually severed their working relationship when Martindale was replaced after four seasons as Ravens defensive coordinator. But then it was time to match wits, and Martindale’s band of unknown Giants defenders forced two turnovers in the final six minutes to allow a 10-point fourth-quarter comeback.

“He was on top of the world,” safety Julian Love said. “You’d be kidding yourself if you don’t want to beat your former team in any aspect. I know that he’s done a great job of not putting that on us, of not making this game bigger than it was, but for sure it means a little more to him. He had an extra chip on his shoulder. He was all smiles after the game.”

Giants head coach Brian Daboll gave game balls to all three coordinators last week after a win over the Packers, so Sunday he just called on Martindale for the final message. As he headed for the stadium exit, Martindale sounded relieved that his week as a central storyline was over and he could reflect on Love’s interception, Kayvon Thibodeaux’s forced fumble and turnovers being contagious.

“Play the next play and eventually you’ll break through,” Martindale said, “and that’s what we did there at the end.”

Just a week ago, the Ravens fell behind the Bengals with 1:58 remaining, but Lamar Jackson calmly moved the offense into position for the game-winning field goal. Needing a touchdown after the Giants took the lead with 1:43 remaining, Jackson never got into a rhythm because the pressure-heavy Martindale kept his foot on the gas instead of settling into a prevent defense.

“We like to have that pressure on us to be able to make that last play,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “We are trying to win for everybody in this locker room — all the coaches, all the staff, all the players.”

The Giants allowed 406 yards but forced field-goal attempts on two of three red-zone trips and recorded their first interception of the season at the most opportune time to set up the winning touchdown. Martindale’s package created for defending the unique dual-threat Jackson included a third-down look with three defenders in a line over the center that confused the quarterback into falling for a 6-yard loss.

“Wink cares about winning and Wink wanted to win this game, but it never went deeper than us as a team, us as players,” Thibodeaux said. “Wink just made sure that he prepared us as much as he could, and we went out there and executed.”