Posted on 01/20/2008 8:17:12 PM PST by GulliverSwift
GREEN BAY, Wis. - The bone-chilling cold couldn't stop the white-hot New York Giants tonight and neither could the Green Bay Packers, a crushing holding penalty or two missed fourth-quarter field goals.
In one of the more unlikely runs to the Super Bowl in NFL history, the Giants overcame all kinds of obstacles to capture the NFC championship game with a 23-20 overtime win at frigid Lambeau Field.
The Giants, who entered the playoffs as a 10-6 wild card, won their 10th straight road game when kicker Lawrence Tynes made up for his two fourth-quarter misses with a 47-yard field goal that sailed straight through the uprights 2 minutes, 35 seconds into the overtime.
Tynes had missed a 36-yarder at the end of regulation, and when the Packers won the coin toss before the overtime, the sellout crowd roared in anticipation of a home-team victory.
Instead, Giants cornerback Corey Webster stepped in front of receiver Donald Driver and intercepted a Brett Favre pass, giving New York the football at the Packers' 34-yard line. The Giants' offense managed just 5 yards before coach Tom Coughlin sent Tynes back on the field for another chance to win the game.
This time, the kicker converted and the Giants had a ticket to the Feb. 3 Super Bowl for a game against the unbeaten New England Patriots.
The Giants (13-6) advanced to the title game for the first time since the 2000-01 season by beating Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay on the road and after going just 3-5 at home this season. They had lost to Dallas and Green Bay in the regular season.
For Favre and the Packers, it was a disappointing end to a surprisingly outstanding season. Favre, however, threw two interceptions and struggled badly in the second half.
No snow accompanied the bitter cold, but it did rain mustard-colored flags for most of the evening. Time after time it would appear one team had stopped the other only to discover the drive remained alive because of a penalty.
But the most costly penalty of the evening came just before the two-minute warning when it appeared as if Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw had broken free for a 48-yard touchdown that would give New York the lead.
Instead, referee Terry McAulay reached into his pocket, turned on his microphone and announced a holding penalty on Giants guard Chris Snee.
The Giants were back in their own territory, but remarkably quarterback Eli Manning completed four straight passes and New York got close enough for Tynes to attempt the 36-yarder with four seconds remaining.
After a high snap, however, Tynes hit a knuckeball that sailed wide left and the NFC championship game went to overtime for the first time since 1998. It was Tynes' second miss of the quarter.
Seconds after averting a special-teams disaster, Favre and Donald Driver connected for the game's first huge play, a 90-yard touchdown pass that erased the Giants' early lead.
Tynes' second field goal of the game, a 37-yarder, had given New York a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter, and when Koren Robinson mishandled the ensuing kickoff, the Packers were fortunate that Tramon Williams pounced on the ball before the Giants could get to it.
Green Bay, however, still had terrible field position and zero momentum after gaining just 4 yards on its previous nine plays.
That all changed with one flick of Favre's wrist. Webster tried to jam Driver at the line of scrimmage, but the Packers' veteran receiver pushed the Giants' cornerback aside and ran into open space.
Favre, after a quick pump fake, hit his receiver in stride at the 29-yard line. Driver kicked into fifth gear and outran Webster and two other Giants defenders for the longest touchdown play in the Packers' postseason history: 90 yards.
The Giants, who had controlled the game until that point, lost their momentum and never regained it in the first half.
The Packers, meanwhile, pushed their lead to 10-6 with 1 minute, 30 seconds left in the half on a 36-yard Mason Crosby field goal. Credit the defense - both the Packers' and the Giants' - for that score. After forcing a Jeff Feagles punt from the goal line, Green Bay got the ball back at the Giants' 47-yard line.
A third-and-10 pass by Favre was incomplete, but the drive remained alive because of an illegal-contact penalty against Giants safety Michael Johnson. Favre took advantage of the new life with a 20-yard pass to Driver, getting Crosby into close range for the field goal.
After botching a chance to score a touchdown just before halftime, the Giants showed their remarkable road aplomb once again at the start of the second half. Manning, with the help of a third-down roughing-the-passer penalty on safety Nick Collins, took New York on a 12-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a 1-inch touchdown run by Brandon Jacobs that gave the Giants a 13-10 lead.
The Packers immediately answered with a touchdown on their first possession of the second half, but only after the Giants were flagged for a critical third-down penalty of their own.
Tramon Williams made things easier for the Packers' offense with a 49-yard kickoff return to the Giants' 39, but it appeared as if New York had forced a field goal when a pass from Favre to Driver left Green Bay 5 yards short of a first down.
After the play, however, Giants cornerback Sam Madison pushed running back Vernand Morency and was flagged for unnecessary roughness, giving Green Bay a first down at the 12. Favre found tight end Donald Lee on the next play for a 12-yard touchdown and the Packers were back in front by 17-13.
But NFL clearly meant Not For Long on this chilly evening.
Before the third quarter was over, the Giants regained the lead with a seven-play, 57-yard drive that included an incredible 23-yard sideline catch by Amani Toomer at the Green Bay 12-yard line. Two plays later, running back Ahman Bradshaw scored a 4-yard touchdown and the Giants were up, 20-17.
Green Bay got even early in the fourth quarter on a 37-yard field goal that was set up by a Favre interception. Yes, that's right, an interception.
After scrambling away from pressure, Favre made an ill-advised throw down field that was picked off by R.W. McQuarters. It was McQuarters' third interception of the postseason and it quickly became his least productive one when Packers running back Ryan Grant swiped the ball out of his hands, allowing tackle Mark Tauscher to recover the fumble for Green Bay at the Giants' 19-yard line.
The Packers settled for three points, evening the score and setting the stage for an overtime conclusion.
That holding call on the Giants TD makes it pretty hard to call the refs Green Bay homers. Over all, I think the referees are way too visible in the game. It seems to be what the fans want, though. I liked it when you knew a play was over after the call. Now, on every big catch, you have to wait two minutes to see if it’s a catch.
Yes, all you said is true, yet despite that the game went to overtime and Brett threw a bad pass and the Giants intercepted.
No doubt Favre threw a bad pass there at the end, but when a team completely abandons the running game bad passes are inevitable occurrences.
Live by the sword, die by the sword. Besides, I think the G-men pretty much nullified their running game.
I think domes play into why the NFC has lost it’s edge against the AFC, right now the NFC has 6 dome teams to the AFC’s 2, soon the NFC will have 7. Playing football in the living room (roof, carpet, central air) makes players soft, makes them finesse, and the NFC plays a lot of games in living rooms now, with two in each division except the East even open air teams can expect a few dome games.
And definitely the weather makes some of the great images of the game. So many of my generation came to define the NFL as John Facenda’s voice over big scary people in muddy uniforms and those capes. Some of the great images of the game.
Yeah, that play where Eli got roughed could have been more blatant...if the Packer player had shivved him. Jeez the guy took 3 steps after the ball was thrown.
3 step? Geez, even Aikman questioned that one.
Yeah and Aikman is a huge Giants fan.
Nah, but I think he still looks at the game like a quarterback. A call like that doesn’t usually elicit a question from Aikman. Just a casual observation about Aikman.
I would love to see the Patriots perfect season spoiled.
Trust me, the wind chill makes a big difference.
It's 5 degrees where I am right now, and when the wind blows, it goes right through you.
Let's put it this way, if you live in New Mexico, and your air conditioning fails, what the worst that can happen? If you live up north, and your furnace doesn't work, then your pipes start to freeze, and then you're in all kinds of trouble.
The Giants played much better than the Packers. Burress made Harris his b!tch and they had better clock management. I will also give credit where credit is due. For the Giants to win 3 consecutive playoff games on the road is an accomplishment.
totally agreed from WI
Fans here actually lobbied for it when the stadium was being renovated. For the possibility of hosting a Super Bowl here.
But a dome (or a retractable roof) would have added another $50 million to the cost of renovation, so the organization said no.
You will hereby relinquish calling yourself “Minneapolis” Steve if you’re a Minnesota Packer fan. They’re the Green Bay Packers, not the Saint Paul Packers, the Duluth Packers or the Minneapolis Packers.
Now enjoy your chokejob, traitor.
Sarcasm, I’m hoping...?
Come on. Give him a break. He’s from Minneapolis and they haven’t got an NFL franchise. He’s got to be a fan of some city’s team after all.
Yeah, some franchise that doesn’t exist. I mean after all, it sent 8 pro bowlers this year, including All Day Adrian Peterson.
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