Giants - Just win and you're in.
That's a catchy little phrase, and it didn't work last Sunday against Washington, but if the Giants can manage to win their seventh straight road game they're in the playoffs. It doesn't even matter what the Giants do in their final game of the season against a New England team that is currently undefeated, and sporting a 14 game winning streak. This Sunday right after the Giants game, the Patriots will be playing the Miami Dolphins who are also on a winning streak, but at 1-13, it's just a one game winning streak.

Giants - Offense.
There was a lot of explaining to do after last week's loss where Eli Manning threw the ball, mostly unsuccessfully, 52 times in extremely poor weather conditions. Only 18 passes were completed for 185 yards, while Brandon Jacobs rushed for 130 yards on his 25 carries. The receivers didn't help with all the dropped passes, including Brandon Jacobs who was more productive with the ball tucked firmly in his hands. On review, it seemed the coaches made a poor decision in continuing to try to make the passing game work. This week the Giants offense will be without Jeremy Shockey who broke his left fibula last Sunday.

Giants Defense.
Two weeks ago the Eagles Brian Westbrook ran on the Giants for 5.8 yards a carry, and last week Clinton Portis averaged 5.0 yards. Middle linebacker Antonio Pierce suffered a sprained ankle recently and in those last two games had about five tackles less than he usually gets. Teams seem to be keying on that, and they could use some better run stopping against the Bill's Marshawn Lynch.
Last game Michael Strahan was lined up against rookie free agent Stephon Heyer, and Osi Umenyiora against (named to this year's Pro Bowl) tackle Chris Samuels. Overall, the defense came away with just 2 sacks, one each by Justin Tuck and Fred Robbins. This week Umenyiora, the only Giant named to the Pro Bowl, draws left tackle Jason Peters, the only member of the Bills named to the Pro Bowl. It would be helpful if Gibril Wilson and James Butler are healthy enough to play after missing the last two games.

Giants last week - Washington's trick play.
Running back Clinton Portis had failed to gain at least 70 yards in his previous four games, but he had 88 yards at halftime against the Giants. How did that happen? Quarterback Todd Collins would take a snap, quickly step back and fake throwing a fast pass toward the sideline. The Giants bit on his arm motion, and Collins would drop the ball to his running back. The first time, Ladell Betts took the handoff and ran for a touchdown. The second time Portis gained 31 yards on the play. After that Portis got 8 and then 10 yards, and in the third quarter Portis ran for a touchdown off it.

Bills - Offense.
The Bills offense was ranked one of the bottom eight teams in yards gained for four straight years, and worked on building a stronger offensive line for 2007. In part, with some quarterback shuffling they still rank low in yards gained and in scoring, but the offensive line is now solid. They haven't allowed a sack in three consecutive games, and will be protecting rookie quarterback Trent Edwards. They also use their first-round draft pick, rookie Marshawn Lynch, to keep pressure off the quarterback. He's rushed for 940 yards on 240 carries, even with missing three games this season.
With Buffalo-like weather conditions, and with the Giants lackluster run stopping of late, you can expect him to get a lot of carries. Wide receiver Roscoe Parrish has 33 catches for 307 yards and one touchdown and he's also their punt returner, leading the NFL with a 17.5 average. Before last week's poor weather conditions loss at Cleveland, the Bills were coming off a win over the Redskins, followed by the offense putting it all together against Miami. Edwards threw a career high four touchdown passes, and the running game picked up 224 yards in that 38-17 win.

Bills - Defense.
They've been hit with a number of injuries this season and rank poorly in total yards allowed, passing yards allowed, third-down defense and sacks per pass attempt. They have put together some very good games against some of the lower rated quarterbacks they've faced. This week cornerbacks Jabari Greer (5-11) and Terrence McGee (5-9) will have to contend with (6-5) Plaxico Burress who recently had a strong game against the Eagles (7 catches for 136 yards and 1 touchdown) despite his ankle problem. Then last week he had just 3 catches for 35 yards with poor weather conditions and that could be a factor this week also. Most defenses know that the Giants offense has been struggling and will try to get pressure on Eli Manning who can be inaccurate with his passes when pressed. Manning will be without Jeremy Shockey for the first time this season, and be missing his ability to hang in and block or catch passes, and that's a real break for this Bill's defense.

It could be no win for Tom Coughlin or the fans, or maybe a big win by losing.
What? - Let me explain. If the Giants win at Buffalo, Tom Coughlin has some real tough choices to make. The fans who shell out their hard earned cash, walk the parking lot walk and rarely get to see the team win in person, will want to see the Giants knock off the Patriots next week especially if that team remains undefeated. Watching the Giants take a knee and simply crown the Patriots with a 16-0 record just won't do it for a team that has won just 3 games at home.
On the other hand, seeing a key player injured in a game the Giants didn't really need to win and have that hurt their playoff chances will have the fans calling for Coughlin's head. It turns out that the only win-win situation is to lose-win. Losing to the Bills, but finishing in a dramatic fashion in the final game at home over the Patriots, a game that would send the Giants on to the playoffs, would have the fans toasting Tom Coughlin on New Year's Eve. After that, it's hangover time again in more ways than one as Coughlin tries to get his team past one playoff game.

Notes.
Only New England (7-0), Indianapolis (7-1) and the Cowboys (6-0) have better road records than the Giants (6-1).

Giants are credited with 49 sacks and lead the NFL, holding an eight-sack lead over the next team, Seattle.

Giants have lost six of their last seven regular-season games against the Bills.

Bills Roscoe Parrish has 386 return yards on just 22 chances for a team record.
The previous leader was Donnie Walker with 384 set back in 1974.

Bills tight end Kevin Everett may attend the team's home finale Sunday.
It would be his first trip back to Buffalo since suffering a serious spinal cord injury.
Giants Domenik Hixon was a special-teams player with the Broncos on Sept 9, and he collided with Everett on that play.

Bills have sold out all eight home games for the third time this decade (2003 and 2005).
In 2006 only half their home games sold out. A better schedule and fewer home games after Thanksgiving could be why.

Bills second-year head coach Dick Jauron was Tom Coughlin's first defensive coordinator for his expansion team, the Jacksonville Jaguars.
They had Jacksonville in playoff appearances in '996, 1997 and 1998.

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