Giants Falter Late and Lose to Bills, 23-20

The New York Giants did things no one thought they could.

They harried and sacked the quarterback, forced turnovers and made electrifying plays on special teams.

But they could not do the one thing they needed to beat the Buffalo Bills Sunday night. The Giants could not control the clock long enough to let the defense catch its breath.

With their offense grinding to a halt in the second half, the Giants blew a 17-point lead and lost the season opener 23-20 in overtime.

Steve Christie’s 34-yard field goal with 4 minutes, 57 seconds left in OT ended the Giants’ hopes for an upset. Bills quarterback Jim Kelly (24 for 41, 257 yards), sacked seven times, threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Andre Reed in the third quarter and completed a 20-yard pass to Quinn Early on third-and-18 to help position Christie for the game-tying field goal with 7:14 left in regulation.

In overtime, Bills defensive end Bruce Smith came around the left side and stripped quarterback Dave Brown. Chris Spielman recovered for Buffalo at the Giants 32, and Kelly’s 7-yard pass to Tony Cline put the Bills in easy field goal range for Christie, who kicked three.

“Nobody gave us a chance and we hung in for four quarters,” said Brown, who completed 11 of 27 for 138 yards. “Now, let’s build on that. Let’s not just be happy we hung in, but let’s become a better team.”

The defense provided the field position in the first half, as the Giants scored on rookie Amani Toomer’s 87-yard punt return and fullback Charles Way’s 37-yard catch-and-run with a Brown pass to take a 17-0 lead.

Phillippi Sparks’ interception set up a field goal that gave the Giants a 20-7 lead in the third quarter.

But as encouraging as the defense was, Brown and the Giants offense repeated its second-half disappearing act. In 1995, the Giants lost four leads in the fourth quarter and finished 5-11.

“It’s frustrating when you’re on offense calling the plays and you just can’t get the job done,” said Giants coach Dan Reeves, who made conditioning a priority in the preseason to help prevent fourth-quarter collapses. “We just didn’t do a very good job of giving Dave time to throw. (The Bills) are a veteran team, and they never panicked.”

Said Brown: “They shut down our running game.”

Buffalo controlled the ball 40:30 to the Giants’ 29:38. The Giants did not make a first down running or passing in the first 28 minutes of the second half -- six consecutive three-and-out possessions -- allowing the Bills to get back in it. Kelly’s big strike to Reed made it close, then the Bills moved 54 yards in 13 plays to tie it on Christie’s 39-yard field goal.

With 2:56 left, Toomer made a rookie mistake -- fair-catching the ball at the 4-yard line when it appeared headed for end zone. Brown’s long pass to a wide-open Thomas Lewis was slightly overthrown, and Lewis failed to make a diving catch at midfield. The Giants ended up punting with 46 seconds left.

The Giants defense brought the crowd into the game after the opening kickoff, a touchback. Thurman Thomas (32 carries, 97 yards) was stopped for no gain, then Kelly was sacked on successive plays, forcing the Bills to punt from the end zone.

“Defensively, we wanted to set a tone,” Sparks said, “and we did that. We wanted to keep it up for 60 minutes.”

The Giants got possession on the Buffalo 46 and moved 42 yards in 10 plays, but could not get in the end zone. Brad Daluiso kicked a 22-yard field goal.

In the second quarter, Mike Horan pinned the Bills at their 6, and the defense forced them to punt. Toomer, the Giants’ second-round pick, caught it at his 13, made a quick juke to the middle and saw space. He ran untouched to the end zone for the longest punt return in Giants history.

“That’s why they drafted me -- to make big plays,” Toomer said. “When I saw the punter and got by him, I knew I would score.”

The next time the Giants got the ball, they moved 43 yards in four plays. On a bootleg, Brown tossed to fullback Charles Way, who deked through a passive group of defenders and completed a 37-yard catch-and-run to make it 17-0 with 7:27 left.

Kelly’s 31-yard pass to Andre Reed came in a nine-play, 60-yard drive, Thomas finishing it with a 1-yard run with 3:14 to go.

Early in the third quarter, Sparks made a spectacular interception and returned 19 yards to the Bills 15. The offense couldn’t move the ball - tight end Howard Cross dropped a pass inside the 5. Daluiso kicked a 34-yard field goal to make it 20-7, but the Giants had missed a chance to put it away.

“Fellas, I’m really 34 years old, I just look like this,” said Bills coach Marv Levy, 71. “Despite the fact we didn’t play great early, I’m proud of our team for hanging in and coming back.”