over the Cardinals and a surprisingly close victory over the team with the worst record in the league, the New England Patriots, and secured them a first-round bye with a 13-3 record. The Giants then beat the Chicago Bears in the divisional playoff. In the NFC Championship against the San Francisco 49ers, Hostetler suffered a knee injury in the fourth quarter when Jim Burt, his former teammate, hit him low after Hostetler released the ball. Although he was injured, Hostetler was able to walk off the field on his own and later returned to the game and engineered two late scoring drives, that culminated with a Bahr field goal, and a 15-13 victory. Hostetler started Super Bowl XXV; the Giants defeated the heavily favored Bills 20-19. He completed 20 of 32 passes for 222 yards with one touchdown. In 2008, ESPN ranked Hostetler's performance the 30th best quarterback performance in Super Bowl history. After reconsidering his retirement, he elected to return for the 1991 season. During the summer of 1991, new coach Ray Handley made a decision regarding his quarterbacks. Instead of giving the starting job back to the now-healthy Simms, the coach held an open competition that Hostetler would ultimately win. He then led the Giants to victory in the season opener against the 49ers at home, snapping their NFL-record 18 game road winning streak. In his twelfth start against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Hostetler broke his back and missed the rest of the season. Of the games Hostetler started (including the one he didn't finish), the Giants went 7-5. Simms, meanwhile, lost his first three starts against the lowly Cincinnati Bengals (who won only three times that year), the Philadelphia Eagles (a loss which eliminated the Giants from playoff contention), and the eventual Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins. The Giants managed to win their final matchup against the Houston Oilers to finish 8-8. When the 1992 season began, Hostetler was again the backup as Simms managed to regain the starter's spot. However, the veteran's proneness to injury again caught up with him, and in Week 4, Simms suffered a severe elbow injury that ended up costing him the rest of the season. Hostetler was once again given the helm but he also had injury issues, including suffering a concussion. He missed three games after resuming his starting position but finished with five victories in his nine starts, including