Giants, Bills in a Battle of 11-2 Foes

The Buffalo Bills are 11-2 and are 2-0 against the NFC this season, having beaten Phoenix and Philadelphia. But they are still in the position of an AFC team having to prove itself against an NFC team when they play the New York Giants, also 11-2, today (9:30 a.m., PST, Channel 4) at East Rutherford, N.J.

“Everybody here is so fired up,” Bill defensive end Bruce Smith said. “To play the New York Giants, the legendary New York Giants, it’s a big opportunity for us and one we don’t want to let slip through our fingers.”

The Bills can’t afford to let it slip away. The Bills hold only a one-game lead over the Miami Dolphins in the AFC East.

The Giants won their second consecutive NFC East title with a 23-15 victory over Minnesota last weekend, but have yet to clinch a first-round playoff bye. They can do that by winning two of their final three games, provided one of those victories is against Phoenix.

“We’re in good position and we know what we have to do,” Giant Coach Bill Parcells said.

What the Giants have to do against the Bills is stop the league’s most potent offense that boasts top-rated quarterback Jim Kelly. Buffalo has scored 373 points, 48 more than the Philadelphia Eagles, the second-highest scoring team in the league.

The Washington Redskins’ two-season streak of missing the playoffs will end today if New England’s losing streak grows to 12.

The Patriots have another unpleasant streak--four consecutive games in which an opponent has rushed for at least 100 yards--that figures to continue against the Redskins’ Earnest Byner today (1 p.m., PST, Channel 2).

But Washington Coach Joe Gibbs, aware of his team’s struggles against weaker opponents, is worried about the league’s worse team. The Patriots are 1-12.

“Nothing has been easy for this team all season, and we don’t expect anything to change now,” he said.

The Redskins (8-5) have beaten Chicago and Miami in their last two games. But in the game before that, they lost at Dallas.