Dixon gave us a moment. Baltimore took it back.

This one was hard to watch. I can still get caught in the what-if after Ron Dixon scored. What if we get a stop? What if that return changes the game for a little longer than it did?

Then Baltimore answered immediately, and the little opening was gone.

I want this season here with the championships we won. We followed the team all the way to the Super Bowl. The games that got us there still matter, and the ending deserves its own telling.

Fassel put himself in it.

The Giants were 7–4 when Jim Fassel guaranteed they would make the playoffs. They won their last five regular-season games, finished 12–4, and took the NFC’s top seed.

They beat Philadelphia 20–10 in the divisional round. Then Minnesota came to Giants Stadium for the NFC Championship Game.

Kerry Collins threw for 381 yards and five touchdowns. The Giants won 41–0. With that arm working like that, I thought he could throw with anybody. It was a beautiful passing day, one of my favorites.

That Minnesota game gets its own story here. The joy of that afternoon belongs beside the pain of the Super Bowl.

Baltimore gave him a different game.

The Ravens’ defense got into Collins’ space and made the offense uncomfortable. Baltimore controlled the running game, too. Collins spent the afternoon fighting for the room and rhythm he had enjoyed against Minnesota.

Collins finished 15 of 39 for 112 yards, with four interceptions and zero touchdown passes. Baltimore held the Giants’ offense scoreless and deserves the credit for making the day that difficult.

That is the side of Kerry I remember struggling to watch. When things were working, the throws could be gorgeous. Against this rush and this coverage, every yard was a struggle.

The Ravens led 10–0 at halftime. In the third quarter, Duane Starks returned an interception forty-nine yards for a touchdown. Seventeen to nothing. It was getting very hard to see the way back.

Then Dixon was gone.

Ron Dixon took the kickoff ninety-seven yards for a touchdown. With 3:31 left in the third quarter, it was 17–7.

There. Something. A reason to start working through the possibilities again.

That is the moment I still think about. We needed so much to go differently, but the scoreboard had changed and there was still football to play. A fan can get a whole lot of hope out of one return.

Jermaine Lewis took the very next kickoff eighty-four yards for Baltimore. Twenty-four to seven, eighteen seconds later.

It was Jermaine, the returner. Jamal Lewis was the running back. Dixon’s score came late in the third quarter. The detail I carry most clearly is how quickly the hope got answered.

What if we stop that return? It is a what-if I still carry. Baltimore’s defense had been the biggest problem all day, and it was still waiting for our offense.

But I would have liked to see the next possession at 17–7. I would have liked that chance.

Keep Minnesota. Tell Baltimore.

The final was 34–7. The Ravens were better that night, and the margin showed it.

I can say that and still remember Collins against Minnesota with real affection. I can remember Fassel’s team getting itself to the Super Bowl. I can remember Dixon giving me a moment when the game seemed to offer something back.

Those things all happened in the same season. They belong together.

A Giants history made entirely of the wins would leave out a lot of being a Giants fan. We watched this one, too. We cared just as much before we knew how it would end.