Garber: G-Men still giant question mark
 
Giant achievement: N.Y. beats Eagles a third time
 
Defense thrusts Giants into NFC title game
 
Donovan McNabb failed to shine against Giants
 
Sunday, January 7
Two plays lift Giants to NFC championship
By Greg Garber
ESPN.com

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- It would be simplistic to say the drama in Sunday's Giants-Eagles tilt lasted all of 17 seconds.

So, what's so bad about simple?

Ron Dixon
Ron Dixon opened the game with the first kickoff return for a touchdown in Giants history.

That was how long it took Ron Dixon to navigate his way 97 yards, through 11 Eagles, to the end zone. It was the first kickoff return for a touchdown in Giants playoff history and the first to open a playoff game in the NFL in 26 years.

It was this piece of poetry and another extraordinary play by cornerback Jason Sehorn that resulted in another touchdown that gave the Giants a comfortable 20-10 victory over the Eagles. No thanks to the offense, they will host Minnesota in the NFC championship game next Sunday.

You've heard the cliché coaches spin this time of year: turnovers and special teams will be the difference. Well, those two singular plays underlined the old adages.

First things first:

Dixon, the Giants' third-round draft choice this year, is not your typical blue-chip story. He began his college career at storied Itawamba (Miss.) Community College, transferred to West Georgia and then took two years off. He turned up at Lambuth University in 1999, where he ran through defenses from Wisconsin-Whitewater, Cumberland and Campbellsville. The Giants liked his 4.4 speed and took a chance on the 6-foot-0, 190-pound athlete.

He had returned 31 kickoffs in the regular-season, but never came close (his best was 44 yards) to breaking one. That's why it was slightly amazing when he took David Akers' opening kickoff, wiggled slightly to the right and sliced the Eagles' defense neatly in half. Other than Akers' right hand, which may or may not have grazed his shoulder, Dixon arrived in the end zone untouched. The Eagles looked stunned.

"It was something I felt I needed to do," Dixon said. "I'm a big-time player, and I wanted to make a special play in a special game."

No pun intended.

Giants head coach Jim Fassel said it was a back-breaker.

"My worry is always that we're going to be too hyped when we come out," Fassel said. "That was perfect. We came out and broke it and that is really hard on the other team, especially on the road. The crowd was unbelievable. That was the loudest I've ever heard them."

The score was a still-manageable 10-0 when Sehorn made a huge play, as he is wont to do. Donovan McNabb thought he had wideout Torrance Small open, but Sehorn dived and somehow cradled the ball in his forearms, as he rolled over, protecting it from touching the ground. As the ball came out, he tapped it in a manner similar to a center-jump in basketball. As the ball floated above him, he scrambled to his feet, kept his eye on the ball and gathered it in. He fairly pranced down the left sideline for a 32-yard touchdown.

“ It was something I felt I needed to do. I'm a big-time player, and I wanted to make a special play in a special game. ”
— Ron Dixon

That was the end of the Eagles.

Most players who saw it (or the replay) said it was the best interception they ever saw. Certainly, it had an Antonio Freeman-on-Monday-Night quality to it, and it happened in a playoff game.

"They were running a lot of out routes and dink and dunk stuff," Sehorn explained. "I broke on the ball and got to it. As I was rolling over it came out and my reaction was just to pop it up. You don't want it to hit the ground ... you know, do something."

"When I saw it on the replay, I was fairly excited about it."

So was Fassel.

"I've never seen an interception as good as that one. That was sheer athleticism, there."

And that -- two ridiculous plays by two gifted athletes -- was the difference.

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.

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