Bashir Levingston celebrates his interception that sealed the Giants' victory in Buffalo.

No, not quarterback Kerry Collins, although the new starter has been a big part of the two-game winning streak that has given the Giants control of their playoff fate.

The answer is that it's December, and that the Giants have owned it under Jim Fassel. They're 9-0 in the month since he become the coach in 1997, and the last two wins have revived their playoff hopes with three regular-season games remaining.

"We get down into these spots, and this is where you have to stand up if you want to be accountable," Fassel said Monday. "There's an old saying: 'They only remember what you do in December,' and I've said that to them a few times."

The Giants (7-6) beat Buffalo 19-17 on Sunday to remain one game behind first-place Washington (8-5) in the NFC East. New York is now tied with Dallas, Minnesota and Green Bay in the fight for the last two wild-card berths.

So far, the Giants have knocked off the Jets and Bills this month, but the schedule gets tougher. New York travels to St. Louis this weekend to play the Rams (11-2), who are on the verge of clinching home-field advantage for the playoffs.

Minnesota will be at Giants Stadium the following week, while the Giants will end the regular season on Jan. 2 at Dallas.

"There has been a lot of stuff written about us and our record in December, and they start believing it," Fassel said of his players. "It's part of the whole package, and they start believing that. That's part of belief, you have to take the field believing you are going to win."

While the Giants want to win all three games, they can probably make the playoffs by winning two, if the wins come over Minnesota and Dallas. That would give New York the edge if it was involved in a tiebreaker with those teams.

Fassel isn't wasting a lot of time worrying about who's playing who down the stretch and which team has the advantage in the tiebreakers.

"There's only one thing I can tell you, if we take care of our business the rest of the way, it doesn't matter," he said. "That's all I'm focusing on."

That's a far cry from a couple of weeks ago when the Giants' playoff hopes seemed shattered after consecutive losses to Indianapolis, Washington and Arizona. The team fell from a share of first place in the division to fourth, and their postseason hopes seemed bleak with the toughest part of the schedule staring them in the face.

"I never really felt like it was drifting away," Fassel said. "...I always felt I could get them back on track and they would do the right thing and that the way the league is somebody would fold up the tent early. All we had to do was keep our attitude."

If Fassel had a concern, it was injuries.

New York has lost cornerback Jason Sehorn, halfback Gary Brown, kicker Brad Daluiso and defensive tackle Robert Harris for the season.

There also have been a rash of injuries that have sidelined defensive backs Shaun Williams, Percy Ellsworth and Phillippi Sparks and center Brian Williams.

However, the Giants have been able to overcome that. Daluiso's replacement, Cary Blanchard, kicked a game-winning 48-yard field goal with 40 seconds to play. It was his fourth field goal of the game and 13th in 14 attempts since being signed.

The one message the team will continue to get from Fassel is that the success of December is based on hard work.

"Don't think we're going to walk out there and somebody is going to read the press and think 'This is the team that nobody is going to beat in December,' " Fassel said. "That's not happening."