EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — With the season on the line and 96 yards and less than three minutes to do something about it, center Dusty Zeigler remembers a sense of calm and the joke in the New York Giants' huddle.
The joke about was about the distance. The Giants had started their previous series at the 1.
The calm related to the previous week.
"We went 70 yards last week to win, and we had confidence we could do it again," Zeigler said.
The defending NFC champions did just that as Kerry Collins threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Ike Hilliard with 20 seconds left, giving the Giants a 27-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
The win will send the Giants (7-7) into Philadelphia next Sunday with a chance to make the NFC East race even more interesting. If they beat the Eagles, (9-5), they would be a game behind Philadelphia but holding the tiebreaker.
The Giants finish their season at home against Green Bay (10-4). Philadelphia will play Tampa Bay (8-6) on the final weekend.
"As long as we win, we're still in it," Giants coach Jim Fassel said. "It's like a playoff game, once we lose we're done."
Seattle's loss clinched a playoff berth for the New England Patriots, who beat Miami on Saturday. It also left the Seahawks (7-7) with no room for error. They have to win their last two against San Diego and Kansas and hope the New York Jets lose their final two games.
"This was huge," said Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander, who ran for a touchdown and caught a TD pass. "We just didn't finish them off."
Collins, who completed 30 of 47 passes for 338 yards, refused to let the Giants' hopes die.
On the final drive, Collins hit Amani Toomer for 28 and 11 yards. Passes of 18 and 7 yards to Joe Jurevicius moved the ball into Seattle territory, and then Hilliard caught passes of 7, 18 and 7 yards, the last alone in the middle of the end zone.
Seattle linebacker Anthony Simmons dropped a rollout pass two plays before the TD.
"Teams think they can play us soft in the two-minute drill, but that plays right into Kerry's hands," offensive tackle Lomas Brown said. "Give Kerry time and he'll pick you apart. That's what he did today."
A week ago, after Arizona went ahead with a little over three minutes to go, Collins led the Giants on a 70-yard drive, capped with a 4-yard TD pass to Toomer with 25 seconds left.
"I don't know what it is, but when the game is on the line, that's when we come out and shine," said Toomer, who had eight catches for 124 yards. "That's a sign of a championship team. We proved we were a championship team last year, and we're going to prove it again this year."
The loss was bitter for Seattle, which broke a 17-all tie early in the third quarter on a 16-yard screen pass to Alexander.
"It's a dagger through the heart. It's very tough," said Jeff Feagles, who dropped two punts inside the Giants 5-yard-line in the final 7:29.
Alexander also scored on a 29-yard run, and defensive lineman John Randle recovered Collins' fumble in the end zone. Rian Lindell also had a 20-yard field goal for the Seahawks.
Ron Dayne scored on a 31-yard run, Michael Strahan returned a fumble 13 yards for a touchdown and Morten Andersen kicked field goals of 32 and 33 yards for New York.
"We're just refusing to die," Giants offensive tackle Luke Petitgout said. "We're scrappers."
Notes: Giants CB Jason Sehorn will have an MRI on his sprained left ankle today. . . . Strahan had a sack in addition to the touchdown, giving him 18 for the season. Lawrence Taylor holds the Giants' team record with 20 1/2 sacks in 1986. Mark Gastineau holds the NFL record of 22. . . . Collins' fumble was his 19th of the season, two shy of the NFL record set by Tony Banks in 1996. . . . Alexander had 78 of his 96 yards rushing the first half as he returned to the starting lineup after Ricky Watters broke an ankle. . . . Collins has 3,075 yards passing, the first Giant to do that since Phil Simms in 1988-89. . . . Feagles averaged 45.9 yards and put six of his eight punts inside the 20-yard line. Rodney Williams of the Giants averaged 44.3 yards and put four of his seven punts inside the 20.