Giants fans are walking tall today – with their team headed to the Super Bowl after spiking the Vikings in a stunning 41-0 romp at the Meadowlands.
“It’s over! That was a great game! Yahoo! Zero! Zero! Zip!” shouted Jim Ventura, 38, raising his hands over his head as the clock ran out at Giants Stadium yesterday, with the Jints shutting out the vaunted Vike offense to win the National Football Conference Championship.
“We just dominated the game, both sides of the ball. Total domination,” the Manhattan real-estate broker said.
“If the defense steps up like this, we’ll win [the Super Bowl]. I can’t believe we’re even going!”
Dominic Dorman, 25, from Queens, has tickets to Super Bowl XXXV, which takes place in Tampa, Fla., in two weeks, with the Jints facing the Baltimore Ravens.
He plans to dress in the same get-up he wore to yesterday’s game – a white alien mask, a floor-length blue gown and a white Giants jersey.
“I’m going, I’m psyched!” Dorman said. “They’re going to rock! I think the Giants can contain anything after this win. It’s pretty hot stuff!”
Fans were stunned and thrilled to see such a one-sided performance against the favored Vikings.
“I had a great time,” said Rozie Hardwick, who drove from Albany, where she works for the state Education Department.
“It’s the most fun I ever had at a Giants game. All week I kept hearing the Vikings say, ‘We’re going to win by at least three,'” she said, breaking into a hearty laugh. “And they didn’t score any!”
Fans talked about how they weren’t accustomed to seeing the Giants cruise to such a lopsided victory – and about how their team had been written off all year as overmatched.
“At halftime, people were in shock because we’re not used to this. I would almost have been more comfortable being down,” joked Dave Cugini, 24, a salesman from Staten Island.
The Giants scored a touchdown on their first drive of the game, then quickly went up 14-0 after Minnesota fumbled the Giants’ kickoff and Big Blue recovered to set up a second score.
They never looked back. Quarterback Kerry Collins had the game of his life – tossing five touchdown passes to tie a playoff record.
And the Giants defense made midgets of Vike quarterback Daunte Culpepper and star receivers Randy Moss and Cris Carter.
“No one expected this!” said David Sloss, 55, a real-estate asset manager from Manhattan.
“The Giants offense picked up, and the defense was dominating, as usual. Collins was the star of the game.”
The Giants won both Super Bowls they played in – first in 1987 and again in 1991.
The last time was also in Tampa – which fans took as a good sign.
“I love it. It’s fantastic! I’ve never seen a drubbing like this!” said Alex Bernstein, 28, a real-estate analyst from Manhattan.
“The last time they were in Tampa, they won! They’re unstoppable.”
Fans who couldn’t get tickets for the game watched at home or in bars.
“This was a real coming-out game for the Giants. We showed them what we’re made of today,” said Matthew McMahel, 37, at the ESPN Zone sports bar in Times Square. “The Giants will finally be getting the respect they deserve.