starting quarterback. Although he helped lead the Carolina Panthers to the 1996 NFC Championship Game, he endured a mediocre season in 1997. In 1998, he quit part way through the season after the team opened the campaign with a four-game losing streak. After spending the remainder of the 1998 season with the New Orleans Saints, Collins was signed in 1999 as the Giants' second-string quarterback, but soon claimed the starting job. In leading the Giants to Super Bowl XXXV, Collins completed 311 out of 529 passes for 3,610 yards and 22 touchdowns during the regular season. His favorite targets, in addition to Barber, were wide receivers Amani Toomer (78 receptions, 1,094 yards, seven touchdowns), and Ike Hilliard (55 receptions, 787 yards, eight touchdowns), along with fullback Greg Comella (36 receptions for 274 yards). The Giants offensive line featured guard Ron Stone, the team's only Pro Bowl selection from the offense. The Giants also had a powerful defense, led by Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan, who recorded 9.5 sacks, and defensive tackle Keith Hamilton who recorded ten. Defensive backs Jason Sehorn, Emmanuel McDaniel, Reggie Stephens, and Shaun Williams combined for fourteen interceptions. Pro Bowl linebacker Jesse Armstead led the team in total tackles with 102, while also recording five sacks and an interception. The Giants lost just four games that season, having won six of their first eight games before a subsequent two-game losing streak put them at 7–4 with five games to go. In what would be his defining moment, head coach Jim Fassel, at a press conference following the Giants' loss to the Detroit Lions, guaranteed that his team would make the playoffs. The Giants responded by winning their last five regular season games to reach 12–4 and win the NFC East for the first time in three years. Playoffs With an explosive defense and a "play-it-safe" offense, the Ravens became the seventh wild-card team to reach the Super Bowl, and third in four seasons, after allowing only a combined one touchdown and three field goals in their playoff wins over the Denver Broncos, the Tennessee Titans, and the Oakland Raiders. Meanwhile, the Giants defeated their rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, 20–10, and shut out the Minnesota Vikings, 41–0, the most lopsided game in NFC Championship game history. Pre-game news Officially, the win made the Ravens the quickest expansion team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl, although