On the verge of a coaching change and stretch-run collapse, the New York Giants reinvented themselves this month as an offensive force and playoff contender.
A team that suffered ghastly losses to Houston and Tennessee in November has won three in a row in December.
A team that always won on defense suddenly is rolling over opponents with a prolific passing game.
"Right now, as much as anything, this team has come together," Giants coach Jim Fassel said this week at a news conference. "They've got confidence in one another."
The Giants have scored 108 points in their three-game win streak, averaging 36 a game. That's the most for a three-game span since they scored 116 to start the 1968 season.
At the heart of the resurgence is quarterback Kerry Collins, who has not thrown an interception in his past four games or been sacked in his past two, rookie tight end Jeremy Shockey and veteran receiver Amani Toomer.
The ultimate test for this new-look offense comes tomorrow at Giants Stadium against the Philadelphia Eagles. If the Giants beat the NFC East champs, they will earn a wild-card berth at 10-6. If they lose to the Eagles, they can still get in if New Orleans loses to Carolina on Sunday.
At stake for Philadelphia is home-field advantage through the playoffs.
"They're a good football team, and they've got a lot at stake," Fassel said of the Eagles. "I think we're a good football team, and we've got a lot more at stake."
The Giants hardly looked the part of a playoff team when they dropped a 17-3 decision to the Eagles in Week 8 to fall to 3-4. More than the Giants' profile has changed since then, though.
The Eagles lost quarterback Donovan McNabb to a broken ankle on Nov. 17 and surprisingly have gone 5-0 without him. Four of those wins have come under A.J. Feeley, who will start this game.
More than ever, the Eagles (12-3) have been winning on defense since McNabb went down, a point not lost on Fassel.
"Feeley has played extremely well," he said. "The thing that scares me is with their offense, everybody has got to step up, and their defense has 14 turnovers in the last four games. I don't think you can give people that kind of field position or take points off and expect to win."
That makes tomorrow an intriguing match of strength against strength.
Since the Giants blew a big lead and lost to Tennessee in overtime in Week 13, they have averaged 387.3 yards of total offense per game. The transition to big-play offense had started before then, actually.
In the past six games, Shockey has had 37 catches and a pair of 100-yard games. He leads all tight ends with 64 catches for 796 yards to gain a spot in the Pro Bowl. Yesterday, however, he was sent home by the team with a stomach virus.
Toomer, meanwhile, has three 100-yard receiving games in his last five, and reached 99 in another.
Collins' performance in a 44-27 dismantling of Indianapolis last Sunday was torrid. He completed 23 of 29 passes for 366 yards and four touchdowns.
"I think we are executing better offensively and we are taking care of the ball better," he said of the turnaround. "You need to do both against this defense because they are playing great."
Fassel said Collins has come into his own.
"He's played this year in a number of games where he has made some phenomenal throws," he said. "It's a reflection of his confidence and his abilities, and I think he has grown and that this team really does respect him."
The offensive eruption may very well have saved Fassel's job. At 6-6, his job security was fragile. But Fassel doesn't believe the players rallied around him.
"I have never really felt that way. ... I don't think that has anything to do with the equation, personally," he said. "We've done very well in the month of December coming down the stretch and I take pride in our team improving as we go along no matter what injuries we have."