PRO FOOTBALL : Jets Don’t Go Home Meekly : O’Brien Hits Toon With Pass to Deny Giants Playoffs

The New York Jets aren’t going anywhere but home for the holidays, but they had a point to prove.

Ken O’Brien threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Al Toon with 37 seconds left to give the Jets a 27-21 victory that knocked the New York Giants out of the playoffs.

“It shows we can play with anybody,” said O’Brien, who called an audible on the decisive play, when Toon got behind Tom Flynn.

“There were a lot of clouds over us--(not) winning in December and (not) being able to beat a team like the Giants. Those were some things we had to overcome and we did.”

With the defeat, the Giants (10-6) finished in a tie with the Philadelphia Eagles, who took the division title because they beat the Giants twice this season. The Giants still could have qualified for the playoffs as a wild-card team had the Rams lost to San Francisco Sunday night.

The Jets (8-7-1) had a 20-7 lead, but the Giants rallied to take a 21-20 lead on Phil Simms’ third touchdown pass, a 9-yarder to Lionel Manuel with 4:54 left.

“When we took the lead, I thought that was the game,” Simms said. “I didn’t think they could move on our defense--we had stopped them all the second half.

“Today was terrible. This is as bad as it’s been.”

The crowd of 69,770 swayed with the tide at Giants Stadium, where both teams play their home games. When the Jets were dominating in the first half, they had the fans on their side. When the Giants came back, the support was theirs.

“This game makes the season fulfilling for us, knowing we beat the Giants,” the Jets’ Mickey Shuler said. “We don’t get too much respect in this town. I looked up in the stands and heard, ‘Go Giants,’ not ‘Go Jets,’ at our home game.

“It’s tough being in a two-football-team town. I think we deserve this town’s respect. We have a much better football team than anyone gives us credit for and, in the next year or two, we’re going to prove it.”

Pat Leahy kicked field goals of 41 and 20 yards and Shuler caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from O’Brien in the first half to give the Jets a 13-0 lead.

The Giants made it 10-7 on Simms’ 5-yard touchdown pass to Stephen Baker with 10 seconds left in the half.

The Jets made it 20-7 on Freeman McNeil’s 6-yard scoring run after the Giants’ Phil McConkey fumbled away a punt. But Simms found Baker for a 9-yard score with 20 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 20-14.