Parcells, Giants Pull Out an Old Play and a 20-17 Victory Over the Saints

Bill Parcells went back to a player and a play that had been successful for him.

The coach of the New York Giants called the play, and Phil Simms hit Zeke Mowatt with a four-yard touchdown pass with 8:03 left Sunday to give the New York Giants a 20-17 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

“It was a good time for play action,” Parcells said. “Second down and two inches is great for that. We ran the same play against the 49ers last year.”

That play also went for a touchdown with tight end Don Hasselbeck catching it in the Giants’ 17-3 playoff victory over San Francisco.

For Mowatt, a former starter who missed last season with a knee injury, it was the first touchdown catch in two seasons.

The Giants’ game-winning drive was set up when Saints’ quarterback Dave Wilson ran into running back Rueben Mayes and they botched a handoff. Leonard Marshall recovered for the Giants at the New York 28.

Wilson said his footwork was the problem. “We did the same thing during the Houston preseason game. I opened up again instead of reversing out (on the handoff). It was completely my fault, completely a mental error.”

Simms ignited the drive with an 18-yard run and kept it alive with a 17-yard pass to Stacy Robinson on a third-and-12 play from the Saints’ 17.

The Saints (1-3) took a 17-0 lead when Wilson connected with Eric Martin on a 63-yard scoring pass play, Dalton Hilliard ran one yard for a score and Morton Andersen kicked a 27-yard field goal--his 18th straight without a miss.

It didn’t look good for the Giants’ offense, which was sluggish without running back Joe Morris, who missed the game because of an allergic reaction to medication. Tight end Mark Bavaro also missed part of the first half with a chipped tooth, and wide receiver Lionel Manuel was lost for the game in the first half with a strained knee.

“We had a lot of weapons missing,” Parcells said. “Joe was not there, Bavaro was out for a while and Manuel was out. But we got the job done.”

Simms, who completed 24 of 41 passes for 286 yards, got the Giants’ offense going in the second quarter. Raul Allegre, the latest in New York’s succession of kickers, kicked a 29-yard field goal and Simms found Bavaro on a 19-yard scoring pass just before halftime to make it 17-10.

Allegre’s 28-yard field goal in the third quarter made it 17-13.