The Giants, who at one time this season were 7-4 and in danger of missing the playoffs, are 60 minutes from Super Bowl XXXV.

"It's exciting," said running back Tiki Barber, who touched the ball 20 times despite playing with a broken bone in his left arm. We've come a long way. We've done a lot of good things. There was a lot of elation in that locker room afterwards."

"I'm excited, but at the same time I'm not satisfied yet," said defensive end Michael Strahan, who played a superb game, with two sacks and a forced fumble. "We've got a big week next week against a very good team, a team that is very explosive and has more big players than anybody. We've got our work cut out for us. It's not going to be easy." Despite traveling this far down the hard road, the Giants are aware that some people outside their locker room don't consider them serious title contenders.

"We're just fortunate that everyone plays badly when we play them, because we are not a good football team," cornerback Jason Sehorn said.

We hate to ruin your little secret Jason, but the Giants did not advance to the NFL's final four by magic. This is a solid, opportunistic football team that has the kind of rugged defense that has carried so many other teams to championships.

The Giants didn't score an offensive touchdown Sunday. They scored their first touchdown when Ron Dixon returned the opening kickoff 97 yards and the second on Sehorn's extraordinary 32-yard interception return in the second period. Brad Daluiso added two field goals. Otherwise the Giants offense sputtered, amassing only 237 yards, fumbling the ball away three times (including once on a punt return) and scoring a total of just six points on three trips inside the red zone.

None of that mattered, because the defense was so dominant, keeping Donovan McNabb and Co. locked in a vise virtually the entire game. The defense had three takeaways, two fumbles and Sehorn's interception.

McNabb, who valiantly tried to upset the Giants with little help, was sacked six times while completing 20 of 41 passes for 181 yards.

"Our defense was phenomenal," coach Jim Fassel said. "I've seen our defense play well at times, but I don't think they have ever gone on the field and just taken over the game like that. They were unbelievable. Even in bad field position, it didn't matter."

This will be the Giants first appearance in the conference title game since the 1990 season, when they upset the two-time defending champion 49ers in San Francisco, 15-13. They are 2-0 in NFC Championship games, also winning in 1986.

A raucous crowd of 78,765 - the largest ever to see the Giants play in Giants Stadium - gave the team a tremendous home-field advantage, creating a constant din and continuously waving white towels that were handed to fans as they passes through the gates.

The game began spectacularly when Dixon, the rookie receiver, returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. Dixon caught the ball at the three, and sprinted up the center of the field without an Eagle getting a hand on him.

"It was something that I felt I needed to do," Dixon said. "It was about time that -- I wanted to make a special play; this is a special game. I just felt my teammates, they were behind me, like, `I know you can do it.' I didn't want to let them down; so I did what I could do."

It was the first time the Giants had scored a touchdown on a kickoff return in their 34-game playoff history. The Giants had not returned an opening kickoff for a touchdown since Sept. 17, 1972, when Rocky Thompson scored on a 92-yard return in a game the Giants eventually lost, 30-16.

No NFL player had returned an opening kickoff for a touchdown in a postseason game since Dec. 21, 1974, when Miami's Nat Moore scored on an 89-yard return at Oakland.

It marked the first time in Giants history they scored a touchdown on kickoff returns in back-to-back games; Sehorn brought back an onside kick 38 yards for a score in the regular-season finale against Jacksonville.

"It's a great thing to get going on," Fassel said of Dixon's return.

The Giants were unable to add to their lead until, ironically enough, the first play of the second period, when Daluiso kicked a 37-yard field goal, extending the Giants lead to 10-0.

The score was set up by a Giants takeaway, as Dave Thomas recovered a fumble by Torrance Small, who was stripped of the ball by safety Shaun Williams after catching a pass near the right sideline. That gave the Giants a first down on the Philadelphia 34.

Kerry Collins pass to Barber gave the Giants a first down on the 21. But the drive stalled, and Daluiso came on to kick the field goal.

Sehorn made the Giants second fabulous scoring play of the half, intercepting a McNabb pass and returning it 32 yards for a touchdown and a 17-0 lead with 1:40 remaining. Those are simply the vital statistics. In reality, it was one of the most athletic plays ever seen in Giants Stadium.

McNabb tried to hit Torrance Small near the right sideline. Sehorn dove for the ball and batted it up in the air, rolled over, then somehow caught the ball after righting himself. He then raced untouched to the end zone, sending the towel-waving fans into delirium. In essence, Sehorn tapped the ball to himself, flipped over, caught and ran.

"I told him I've never seen a play like that, knock it up, caught it, took off and ran for a touchdown," Fassel said. "That's incredible. I've never seen a guy bat one like that and physically get up when they guy tried to get him and make a play. That shows what kind of athleticism he has, and also what a hungry player he is. It was tremendous."

Sehorn said he was simply acting on instinct.

"They were trying to run out routes," he said. "There were a lot of dink-and-dunk plays, quick slants and it was just one of those situations where I was able to break on the ball. And as I went for it, you know, it hit my hands and kind of popped up; and I was lying on my back and saw it. I don't know, my reaction was just to pop it up, to hit it again, and then I saw how high it went so I got up and it was still there, caught it and ran. It was just being lucky.

"Your instinct is just to bat it. You don't want it to hit the ground, just do something, and it was just one of those did-something-kind-of things."

Sehorn was asked if the play amazed him.

"When I watch it on the replay," he said. "Safe to say I was fairly excited about it. Like I said, it's not something you can practice, not something you can do. Just lucky. You just have to be in the right place at the right time and have it work out. If I bat it the wrong way, it goes out of bounds and it just happened to stay there a while."

The rest of the second period was highlighted by turnovers, including two by the Giants, that both teams failed to turn into scores.

The Eagles finally got on the scoreboard on David Akers' 28-yard field goal with 26 seconds left in the second period, cutting the Giants halftime lead to 17-3.

After a scoreless third period, Daluiso extended the advantage to 20-3 on a 25-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, a score set up by Kerry Collins' 33-yard pass to tight end Pete Mitchell.

The Eagles scored a token late touchdown after Jason Bostic blocked Brad Maynard's punt, giving Philly a first down at the Giants 8-yard line with 2:21 left. Three plays and two penalties later, McNabb and Small hooked up for a 10-yard score.

By then, the Giants ticket had already been punched for the conference title game.

"It was a tough victory against a very good team," tackle Lomas Brown said. "But we're moving on and we're getting closer and closer to what we've been working for all season long."

That would be the Super Bowl. The Giants need one more solid game to get there.

Copyright New York Football Giants 2001