UNIONDALE, NY — Qualifying for the playoffs seemed like a hopelessly optimistic goal for the Dragons two weeks ago.

Thanks to a 2-7 start, simply escaping the Arena Football League’s Eastern Division cellar was a daunting task. But Aaron Garcia’s return from injury has the Dragons thinking about a wild card postseason berth, something that became more plausible after a 62-56 win over the Kansas City Brigade yesterday afternoon at Nassau Coliseum.

Garcia returned as the team’s starting quarterback April 28, completing a nearly 14-month recovery from a fractured tibia he sustained last season.

Injuries for both teams overshadowed the main event, as Kansas City’s Isaiah Trufant had to be wheeled off in a stretcher with his neck and head immobilized with 9:38 left in the game.

Coincidentally, Trufant was involved in a play earlier in the quarter that injured Dragons receiver Mike Horacek, who had to be helped off the field and into the trainer’s room after crashing against the endzone sideboards with 13:20 remaining. Horacek (seven catches, 53 yards and a touchdown) will have his ankle injury reevaluated.

“I kind of got hit and the ball got away from me a little bit,” Garcia said about the play on which Horacek was hurt. “So in my mind, it’s my fault. You feel that as a quarterback.”

One of the AFL’s all-time leading passers, Garcia helped reenergize a Dragons squad that was in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in four seasons, leading them to their season’s first winning streak after throwing for nine touchdowns against zero interceptions.

“Our playoffs started a long time ago,” coach Weylan Harding said. “They know that. We can’t take these short steps. The way the league is playing out with so much parity…we control our own destiny.”

The Dragons are now 3-1 since Garcia returned, and the past two games epitomized his value to the franchise. The 36-year-old earned Offensive Player of the Week honors after throwing eight touchdowns and no picks against the Philadelphia Soul last Monday. Garcia now has 17 touchdowns and no turnovers in the past two contests to help the Dragons improve to 4-8.

“I spent a lot of time rehabbing, just visualizing and praying and thinking about the things I needed to do,” said Garcia, who helped his team move into a tie with New Orleans and Philadelphia for the last wildcard spot by going 24-37 for 261 yards one week after tallying 264 yards. “We put our backs against the wall, so as far as we’re concerned, we need to win out.”

Kansas City cut what was once a 20-point deficit down to six with 47 seconds left and nearly recovered the onside kick, but a penalty negated the possible game-turning play and allowed the Dragons to escape with the victory.

Kevin Swayne returned to action against the Soul after missing the previous four weeks with a strained hamstring. The veteran wide out showed he was fully recovered, catching five touchdown passes, including two on drives that followed Brigade turnovers. With Chris Anthony out with an injury, Jason Willis compensated by registering a touchdown grab, finishing with three catches.

“We scored every time we had the ball last week. We are definitely progressing,” Garcia said. “A couple of other guys stepped up. Our offensive line did a great job early. We were hitting on all cylinders right out of the gate.”

Swayne and Kansas City’s Charles Frederick engaged in a can-you-top-this battle, with both receivers leading their respective teams with five touchdown catches. Swayne also contributed on special teams, recovering an onside kick. He followed that up with his final touchdown reception on the ensuing offensive possession, extending the lead to 55-35.

“I think completely all the way through last week, we stayed in rhythm. Here in the end, we kind of lost our rhythm, and that hurt us,” Garcia said. “It could have been a problem if they would have got that onside kick.”

DaShane Dennis and Will Holder led the defense with five tackles each, with Dennis recovering a fumble on the Brigade’s first offensive play of the second half. The Dragons scored a touchdown on the next drive, just like they did after Holder stopped Frederick on fourth down in the first half’s final minute.

Swayne capitalized on that defensive hold, making his third touchdown with 12.9 seconds left as the Dragons took a 42-28 lead into halftime. They will travel to New Orleans next week for a game that surprisingly contains meaningful playoff implications.

“When Garcia’s clicking like that, it’s a great thing because it puts pressure on the other team’s offense,” said Dennis, who came back to Long Island after playing the first six games with Kansas City. Dennis was previously a Dragon from 2005-06.

“When I came back here six weeks ago, it was just a different atmosphere in the locker room,” he added. “Now, the guys really believe that going into the game, we’re going to win.”

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