Giants Are First Team to Clinch Playoff Berth : Interconference: Their 20-6 victory over the Colts, coupled with the Bears’ loss, does it.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It’s beginning to look like old times for the New York Giants: cold weather, a big rushing attack and a playoff berth.

Rodney Hampton rushed for a career-high 173 yards and a touchdown as the Giants capped a remarkable turnaround from the dark days of past two seasons by defeating the Indianapolis Colts, 20-6, Sunday.

The victory was the fifth consecutive for the surprising Giants (10-3). They clinched a playoff berth when Chicago lost at Tampa Bay.

The victory also allowed the Giants, a 6-10 team last season under Ray Handley, to remain in first place in the NFC East. They have the best record in the conference and are the first NFL team to qualify for the playoffs.

The playoff berth was the team’s first since the 1990 Super Bowl season. The Giants were 14-18 in two seasons under Handley.

“This says a lot about these guys after the last two years,” Reeves said. “It’s a tremendous tribute to the guys in that room to be the first team to make the playoffs this year.”

It also was an accomplishment that even some Giants found hard to believe.

“I never expected to see the playoffs this year, not in my wildest dreams,” linebacker Corey Miller said. “With all the changes around here, players, coach, everything. I just never expected it.”

Besides the coaching chance, the Giants signed free agents Michael Brooks, Carlton Bailey, Mark Jackson and Mike Sherrard and then new Coach Dan Reeves gave the roster a face lift, getting rid of veterans Pepper Johnson, Matt Bahr and Sean Landeta, to name a few.

Reeves also selected Phil Simms as his No. 1 quarterback, a move that sent Jeff Hostetler packing.

Everything Reeves did worked.

“Your expectations change every week and right now my expectations are very high,” said Simms, who was nine of 15 for 85 yards Sunday. “This team always seems to find a way to do the right thing.”

The right thing Sunday was running the ball against the Colts (4-9), who have not scored a touchdown in 17 consecutive quarters.

The Giants have the league’s best rushing offense (138.7) and it was going against the league’s worst rushing defense (146.6).

The plan worked to perfection on the Giants’ first two series. They marched 70 and 67 yards for touchdowns, with both drives mostly on the ground on a blustery, cold day.

Hampton, whose previous career-high was 167 last season against Phoenix, capped the nine-play opening drive with a one-yard run. He had six carries on the march for 45 yards.

After the Colts punted, Hampton turned in runs of 18 and 14 yards on another nine-play drive. Simms capped it with a 17-yard pass to Chris Calloway in the left corner of the end zone, just over the outstretched hands of cornerback Eugene Daniel.

The Giants finished with 205 yards rushing, with Hampton accounting for 33 of the 43 carries.

“Today I was in a zone,” said Hampton, who earlier in the week said the team’s goal was to rush for 200 yards against the Colts. “I just felt I couldn’t be stopped. Once a running back gets in that zone, he’s hard to stop. You just hope they call your number every time.”

The Colts were playing their second game in a row at Giants Stadium, having defeated the New York Jets, 9-6, there the previous Sunday.