Hero: Eli Manning
Goats: Tampa Bay secondary
Turning Point: Josh Bidwell's terrible punt early in the 2nd giving the Giants great field position (which they would tie the game with) after Tampa dominated the first 20 minutes
Next: @ Dallas
Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin finally got the monkey off their back by winning a playoff game. Manning played very efficiently in leading the Giants to the road win in Tampa. The Bucs took the running game away from the Giants for the most part, so Eli had to be good in order for the Giants to win. I thought a big play in this game was when Jeff Garcia missed Joey Galloway which would have given the Bucs a first down while up 7-0. The next play was a short punt that put the Giants at midfield, and allowed them to even up the game and change all the momentum.The 16-play, 4th quarter drive was the signature drive of the game. I know fans didn't want to admit it at the time with Garcia having led the 49ers to that huge comeback against the Giants, but that drive effectively ended the game. The Giants defense was also fantastic today in giving Garcia problems the entire way. Right now the Giants are a very balanced team and will head down to Dallas with a lot of momentum. Coughlin's decision to play full throttle vs. New England has turned golden by giving the Giants a lot of confidence. Of the road teams in the divisional round, I think the Giants have the best shot to win other than probably Seattle in Green Bay. Will the third time be the charm?
-Chargers 17, Titans 6
Heroes: Chris Chambers, Vincent Jackson
Goat: None
Turning Point: Halftime adjustments
Next: @ Indianapolis
This game was a tail of two halves. The Titans' defense simply dominated the Chargers in the first half, and had chances to have more than just a 6-0 lead at halftime. A big play that kept lead just one possession was the Chris Brown fumble in the red zone. At worst they should have come away with another field goal there, and perhaps they have a 9-0 lead at the half. I didn't like the call to begin with on that play. It was a toss back to Brown so he could run to the outside. I have never been a big fan of those plays cause they result in big losses quite frequently. In this case I had more reason to dislike it because it allowed the big, fierce linebackers of San Diego to have clear tackles and clean looks at stripping the football. Shawne Merriman took full advantage. San Diego did nothing with it though so it was far from a momentum swing.LaDainian Tomlinson didn't get going the entire game, so it was up to Philip Rivers in the second half. Rivers would play a brillant second half. He connected on several long passes to Chambers and Jackson. The Titans offense couldn't get anything going, and the field goal miss by Rob Bironas really hurt them at 10-6. I didn't like the TD call by the officials to make it 17-6, as I thought forward progress was stopped before LT placed the ball over the goal line. I doubt it would have mattered though as the Titans couldn't move against the Chargers defense. I don't have a goat for Tennessee in this game because I thought they gave a valiant effort. I did not expect them to make this a game. Jeff Fisher did a brillant job with so little this year. As for the Chargers, they are off to Indianapolis and a date with the Colts. They will have to get LT going if they want any chance for the upset.
Pat Morgan
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