"San Francisco's bruising ground game smashes all the stereotypes of the city the same way it batters down opposing defenses. And to a man, the Giants have said that, for all the Xs and Os and schemes, their top priority in Sunday's NFC Championship Game is straightforward, if not easy: Stop Frank Gore.

"Our game plan is pretty simple,'' said defensive end Justin Tuck. "Our plan is to stop the run and rush the quarterback. It's really that simple; it really is. A lot of times we put all these schemes together and things of that nature, and that's fine and dandy, but at the end of the day football hasn't changed. Tackle the guy with the football.''"