The Giants win against all odds.
Bills had -
- Won 10 straight over NFC East teams.
- Beat the Giants the last 3 games since the Superbowl loss.
- Allowed only 54 points in their 6 games at home.
- Lost only once after a bye since 1990.

Gamegirl, was that exciting or what?
"You bet. It's the reason people become Giants fans in the first place! There's nothing like a good football game that goes down to the wire, especially when the Giants win.
The Giants showed they have what it takes. I mean, all the units pulled together; the defense, the offense and special teams.
I just hope that the Giants didn't wait too long to show the world that they are a real football team this year."

Kicking on both sides was a big part of this game
"It sure was. Cary Blanchard had four field goals for the Giants, including the 48 yard game winner with only 40 seconds left to play. In the 2nd quarter when the Bills had a chance to tie it at 6-6, and Christie's kick was no good, it made me think back to Super Bowl XXV when Scott Norwood's kick went wide. He also blew one in the 3rd quarter."

Anything else?
"Yes, right away, it looked like the Giants were going to be in trouble this game when McDaniel, one of the fill-in cornerbacks, got beat for over 30 yards on a Flutie pass.
I thought we were going to see Flutie do it to us over and over for the rest of the game. I don't know how the Giants managed to shut that down, but they did. You have to give credit to that bunch of guys who normally play on the practice squad. They did the job, and it was a great game.
Everyone was taking credit away from my Giants last week when they beat the Jets. All you heard was that the Jets had given up on the season or had just played badly. No one gave full credit to the Giants, but now, after beating the Bills, and also seeing the Jets come back to beat the Dolphins, you know the Giants are making it happen on their own.
Still, before we all get way too excited about all this and start thinking playoffs and all, there's some big competition to face in the last three weeks starting with St Louis and ending with Dallas. We also have to hope that the Redskins fade."

Mikefan, you said you had some praise to give out?
"Yes, let me say that Jim Fassel did an excellent job in not giving up on Tiki Barber. Aside from all the good things Tiki's done lately, there's one big play in the first half that I don't want anyone to forget about.
The Giants were facing 3rd and 11, and Collins has nothing, so he passes it off to Tiki well short of the first down.
Not only does Tiki make the necessary yardage, he gets out of bounds to stop the clock with 31 seconds left on the Bills 39.
Then, in the last drive of the game, Collins hit Tiki again for a 15 yard pass on 3rd and 15. Tiki kept the drive going so that they could kick the winning field goal.
We criticize Fassel for sticking with things way too long, but this time in Tiki's case, he was right to do so."

"Also, I have to praise the backup players who came in and filled out the secondary unit.
Cornerbacks Jeremy Lincoln, No. 39; Emmanuel McDaniel, No. 26; Bashir Levingston, No. 24; and Reggie Stephens, No. 46 all did outstanding jobs. Flutie completed less than half of his passes against them. Remember their numbers. I'm sure you'll be hearing more about these guys as time goes on.
Pete Monty stepped up strong in his first start, and the whole defense showed what they were made of when they stopped Thurman Thomas on 3rd and 1, and then Linton on 4th and 1 to get the ball back so the offense could do their job with 2:09 left.
Linebacker Corey Widmer hadn't played all game because of his bad back, but he even took the field for that big defensive stand.
Strahan and Armstead kept the pressure up all day and Strahan now has 5.5 sacks, trailing Armstead who has 9. Cedric Jones got one too, to increase his total to 6.5. What more can you say about this group of guys?"

Anything else?
"Well, Payton continued his great play calling, and QB Kerry Collins was well disciplined throughout the game. The only INT he threw was one that was batted. There were no sacks, and he got rid of the ball whenever he had to and passed for 240 yards. He led the final come from behind drive with 2 minutes left and no timeouts. He did great.
Also, we just have to see more of Bashir Levingston, who was signed as a kick returner but played as an extra defensive back. He broke up a 3rd down pass to Andre Reed in the 4th quarter, and was excited as hell to pick off Flutie's last chance pass at the end of the game."

Playoff watch
Giants (7-6) remain a game behind first place Washington (8-5) in the NFC East.
Giants are now tied with Dallas, Minnesota and Green Bay in the fight for the last two wildcard berths.
Giants travel to St. Louis this week to play the Rams (11-2), who are on the verge of clinching home field advantage for the playoffs.
Giants play Minnesota at home the following week and finish the regular season on Jan. 2 at Dallas.
Giants will probably make the playoffs by winning two of the last three games, if the wins come over Minnesota and Dallas.

Notes

Giants won for the first time in Buffalo since 1975.

Jim Fassel's regular-season record in December is now 9-0.

Stats

Passing
Giants - Kerry Collins 23-44 for 240 yards, 1 INT, 1 TD.
Bills - Doug Flutie 15-32 for 184 yards, 1 INT, 1 TD.

Rushing
Giants - Joe Montgomery 20-77, Kerry Collins 2-7, Tiki Barber 4-6, Amani Toomer 1-4, Greg Comella 1-0.
Bills - Doug Flutie 6-25, Antowain Smith 6-19, Jonathan Linton 8-17, Thurman Thomas 8-15.

Receiving
Giants - Tiki Barber 8-90, Ike Hilliard 6-62, Pete Mitchell 5-41, Amani Toomer 3-35, Joe Jurevicius 1-12.
Bills - Eric Moulds 3-55, Andre Reed 3-40, Thurman Thomas 2-35, Bobby Collins 2-20, Peerless Price 2-16, Kevin Williams 2-10, Sam Gash 1-8.

Interceptions
Giants - Bashir Levingston 1 for 34 yards.
Bills - Marcellus Wiley 1 for 52 yards.

Fumble recoveries
Giants - Michael Strahan
Bills - Sam Cowart

Missed Field Goals
Bills - Steve Christie 39, 48.

Net yards rushing
Giants - 94
Bills - 76

Net yards passing
Giants - 240
Bills - 161

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