EAST RUTHERFOPD, N.J. -- Wellington Mara wasn't wondering what if after the New York Giants' season ended in a folly of errors.

The 86-year-old team owner wasn't bemoaning a bad call by the officials, mistakes by his own team or a remarkable comeback from a 24-point comeback Sunday by the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC wild-card game.

Mara was looking forward to the future, and he likes what he sees in the Giants.

The stunning 39-38 loss to the 49ers reminded Mara of the one in 1985 to the Chicago Bears in the NFC semifinal. The next season, the Giants were Super Bowl champions.

"I feel now much the way I did then,'' he said Monday as his players cleaned out their lockers at Giants Stadium. "I can't wait for next season to start because I think we have something to start with and be reckoned with.''

If final nine games of the regular season and the loss to the 49ers are the basis for his hope, Mara can be very hopeful.

New York (10-6 in the regular season) won seven of its final nine games to make the playoffs and showed tremendous firepower in the final weeks with Kerry Collins, Amani Toomer, Jeremy Shockey and Tiki Barber leading the way.

The unit was particularly impressive in the first 41 minutes against the Niners, building a 38-14 lead as Collins threw three touchdown passes to Toomer and one to Shockey, who made All-Pro and the Pro Bowl in a spectacular rookie season.

"How many teams breathed a sigh of relief that we just lost,'' said tight end Dan Campbell whose red eyes bore witness to a lack of sleep and a pain of knowing what might have been. "I guarantee you there were a lot of people who didn't want to play us. We just blew it.''

What hurt the Giants was the inability of their defensive line to put any pressure on Jeff Garcia, a problem they experienced all season against mobile quarterbacks after tackle Keith Hamilton was sidelined with an Achilles' tendon injury.

Without the pressure, Garcia rallied the 49ers from a 38-14 deficit to victory.

"This game was just like our season,'' defensive end Michael Strahan said. "We looked about as good as you could look on the football field. We looked about as bad as you could look on the football field. We have to remember this one and use it as fuel to the fire (for next year).''

Even with the mistakes, the Giants should have beaten the Niners.

They lost that chance because of an error-filled final play in which the officials failed to make an obvious pass interference call on a botched field goal attempt.

The league admitted the error on Monday.

"It's part of what you have to live with,'' said Giants coach Jim Fassel, whose job is now secure after being in jeopardy with a 6-6 mark entering the final quarter of the season. "Do you like it? Absolutely not! We're the ones who end up suffering but that's the way it is.''

The game came down to one play, a 41-yard field goal attempt by Matt Bryant with six seconds to play.

It turned out to be a mistake-filled play by all parties. It started with a bad snap by recently signed veteran Trey Junkin, errors by holder-turned-passer Matt Allen and then mistakes by Chike Okeafor of the 49ers and the officials.

The biggest error was made by the officials.

Mike Pereira, the league's director of officiating, said that Okeafor should have been called for pass interference against Giants guard Rich Seubert on the pass after the botched snap.

The officiating crew threw three flags against Giants offensive lineman Tam Hopkins for being downfield illegally on the pass, but none on the pass interference.

Pereira said if the flag had been thrown for interference there would have been offsetting penalties. The Giants then would have had another opportunity to attempt a game-winning field goal.

"I talked to Mike over there,'' Fassel said. "It does us no good, not a damn bit of good. It's water under the bridge. It was clearly pass interference. How they missed that, I don't know why. It wasn't the only one but it was very disappointing.''

Pereira apologized for the mistake, said Fassel, who did not tell the team of the error in their final meeting on Monday because he didn't want to plant an excuse for losing the game.

"The most frustrating thing after a game like that is all the what-ifs?'' Giant cornerback Jason Sehorn said. "We had a shot, as much a shot as anybody else (of going to the Super Bowl). There are a lot of what-ifs now.''

The Giants have a number of question marks heading into the offseason.

Offensive tackles Luke Petitgout and Mike Rosenthal and guard Jason Whittle are free agents along with receiver Ike Hilliard, safety Omar Stoutmire and Campbell.

The team also needs to address the long-snapping and punting jobs (Allen). Bryant will face a challenge because his kickoffs were weak.