Lawrence Tynes lifts Giants into Super Bowl
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January 21st, 2008
Lawrence Tynes kicked a 47-yard field goal in overtime to send the New York Giants to the Super Bowl after they beat the Green Bay Packers 23-20 in the NFC Championship game at Lambeau Field.
In a thrilling encounter that swung back and forth, Tynes converted the winning kick 2:35 into the extra session after missing two previous opportunities in normal time to set up a February 3 showdown with the unbeaten New England Patriots in Arizona.
Super Bowl XLII will now be a rematch of the final game of the regular season when the Patriots fought back from a 12-point deficit in the second-half to win 38-35.
Green Bay won the coin toss for the overtime session but New York cornerback Corey Webster intercepted Brett Favre on the second play and returned it to the Packers’ 34-yard line.
Two short runs by Ahmad Bradshaw and an incomplete pass by Eli Manning forced the Giants to bring out Tynes again.
This time he split the uprights, connecting on the first post-season field goal over 40 yards in the history of Lambeau Field.
New York thought they had taken the lead before Tynes’ second miss but a 48-yard touchdown run by Bradshaw was called back due to a holding call with 2:05 left to play.
Manning completed 21-of-40 passes for 254 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions to send New York to the Super Bowl for the first time in seven years.
The Giants also avenged a 35-13 loss to the Packers in the second week of the season and won their 10th game in a row on the road.
Despite freezing temperatures, both offences were surprisingly efficient, particularly in an enthralling third quarter.
Penalties played a pivotal role as each team scored a touchdown on their opening possession of the second half.
The Giants got the rub of the green when an interception by Al Harris was negated by a penalty and a subsequent roughing-the-passer call set up Brandon Jacobs’ one-yard run to give New York a 13-10 lead with just under eight minutes left in the third quarter.
Green Bay hit back after getting great field position thanks to a 49-yard kick-off return by Tramon Williams.
The drive appeared to stall but Giants cornerback Sam Madison was whistled for unnecessary roughness, giving the Packers a first down at the 12-yard line.
Favre capitalised on the next play, finding tight end Donald Lee alone in the back of the end zone to reclaim the lead 17-13 with five minutes to play in the third.
Manning again rallied the Giants, moving the team 57 yards on seven plays and Amani Toomer made a sensational diving 23-yard catch to set up Bradshaw’s 4-yard run, which put New York back in front 20-17 with 2:12 left in the quarter.
The Giants’ defence then stepped up when cornerback R.W. McQuarters picked off an errant pass by Favre, the veteran’s third pick in three games.
But McQuarters was stripped by running back Ryan Grant on the return and the ball popped right into the hands of Packers lineman Mark Tauscher at New York’s 19-yard line.
That set up rookie Mason Crosby’s second field goal, a 37-yarder, to level the game at 20-20 with 11:46 to play.
Despite having an edge in play in the first half, the Giants went into the break trailing 10-6 primarily due to two big passes – one the Packers caught and one New York did not.
The Giants forged a 6-0 lead thanks to a pair of field goals by Tynes and after his second kick sailed through the uprights with 11:41 left in the first half, they seemed to have all the momentum, especially when Koren Robinson fumbled the ensuing kick-off that team-mate Williams recovered at the 10-yard line.
Pinned deep in their own half and having accumulated just 27 yards of offence on their first three possessions, the Packers were in need of some inspiration.
And they got it when Favre floated a pass down the right sideline to Donald Driver, who broke away from press coverage by Corey Webster and outran the Giants’ secondary for a 90-yard score – the longest play in Green Bay’s illustrious post-season history.
The Packers extended the lead to 10-6 on Crosby’s 36-yard field goal with 1:30 left in the half but Manning marched the Giants back downfield.
The quarterback connected with Plaxico Burress for the seventh time in the half on a 32-yard pass that took the Giants to Green Bay’s 36-yard line with 48 seconds to go.
On the very next play, Manning found Burress again down the right sideline but the ball was jarred loose when the wide receiver hit the ground at the two-yard line, resulting in an incomplete pass.
New York moved no further and the drive ended when Manning was sacked on 4th-and-11 by linebacker A.J. Hawk.
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