Giants Off To Super Bowl Rematch vs. Patriots

By Anthony Strait

Lawrence Tynes cemented his place in New York Giants football history on the same field and same end where nearly twenty-one years ago Matt Bahr kicked Big Blue into Super Bowl XXV. Tynes 31-yard field goal in overtime lifted the Giants to a 20-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers in a NFC Championship game that lived up to the traditional great playoff games between the two franchises. Like four seasons ago when the Giants won Super Bowl XLII, it will be Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots standing in there way.  Super Bowl XLVI will take place in two weeks at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN.

“It’s my second NFC championship game, my second game-winner,” Tynes said. “It’s amazing. I had dreams about this last night. It was from 42, not 31, but I was so nervous today before the game just anticipating this kind of game. I’m usually pretty cool, but there was something about tonight where I knew I was going to have to make a kick. Hats off to Eli, offense, defense. Great win.”

In a physical see-saw battle under a steady downpour; it was the 13-3 Niners that struck first when Alex Smith hit Vernon Davis for a 72 yard touchdown catch and a 7-0 lead for San Francisco early in the 1^st quarter. It would stay that way until the second quarter when Eli Manning lead the Giants down field on a 10 play, 69-yard drive thanks to key catches by Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz-who would have a huge game that only add to his breakout season. Manning then hit tight end Bear Pascoe on a 6-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 7-7. The Giants would then get the ball towards the end of the half and Manning and Cruz connected again on a couple of key completions to set up Lawrence Tynes 31-yard field goal to give the Giants a 10-7 half time lead. Cruz finished with 10 catches for 142 yards in the contest.

“It’s just been a tremendous effort by all of us, man,” Cruz said. “We understand that any one of us can get hot at any moment. As long as we’re all on the same page and just playing together, man, we’ve got a great group of guys.”

The 49ers struck back midway through the 3^rd quarter when Smith hit Davis again-this time a 28 yard touchdown pass to give the 49ers a 14-10 lead. Davis finished with 112 yards on three catches with two of them for touchdowns. Meanwhile the Giants offense who was moving the ball well in the first half stalled for the entire 3^rd quarter thanks to a Niners defense that stiffen up and forced three punts on the first three Giant second half possessions while sacking Eli Manning six times total. The first tide changing play came in the 4^th quarter. Following a Steve Weatherford punt, Niners returner Kyle Williams let the ball bounce instead of fielding it. However the ball touched his knee and the Giants Devon Thomas recovered the loose punt and ran it into the end zone. Replay review showed that the ball did hit Williams and that the Giants would get possession from where it was recovered. Manning made San Francisco pay when he hit Mario Manningham on a 3^rd and 15 for a 17-yard touchdown pass and a 17-14 Giants lead. Alex Smith responded by getting the 49ers down field on the ensuing drive but the Giants defense held up to force a David Akers game tying 25-yard field goal. Smith finished with 196 yards on 12 for 26 passing with two touchdowns. He also ran the ball six times for 42 yards.

Both teams had golden opportunities to win the game in regulation but Manning misfired on a couple of key passes while the Giants front four managed to get a couple of big sacks on Smith. The game headed into overtime where it was just as much a defensive stalemate. Weatherford punted the ball away and Williams fielded it inside the 49ers 20 but Giants rookie Jacquian Williams stripped the ball away and Devin Thomas recovered the loose football for the Giants at the Niners 22-yard line. Two Ahmad Bradshaw runs moved the Giants closer and Manning even kneeled down to move the ball placement to the middle of the field. From there and for the second time in his career; Tynes sent the Giants to the Super Bowl with a game winning 31-yard field goal. Manning took a beating from the Niners pass rush but completed 32 passes out of 58 attempts for 316 yards and two touchdowns.

In one month, the New York Football Giants went from a 7-7 team outside of the playoff picture to NFC Champions. Since that dreadful loss to Washington, they have won five in a row. They beat Rex Ryan and the Jets and then Tony Romo and the Cowboys with the division title on the line. In the playoffs they yielded just two points at home to the Atlanta Falcons and humbled the now dethroned defending champion Packers in Lambeau field. Now in a gutsy collective effort they hung tough and prevail in overtime against an upstart 49ers team on a muddy field. Now Eli Manning and the Giants can make it Déjà vu all over again if they can knock off Tom Brady and the Patriots one more time in two weeks.

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Tags: eli manning, Lawrence Tynes, new england patriots, new york giants, San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowl XLVI, Tom Coughlin