Heroes: Eli Manning & Plaxico Burress
Goat: Brett Favre
Turning Point: Brett Favre's INT in overtime to set up Tynes's third FG chance and game-winner
Next: Super Bowl XLII vs. New England
The New York Giants are going to the Super Bowl! Lawerence Tynes's 47-yard field goal in overtime completed an unlikely 3-0 run through Tampa, Dallas, and a frozen Green Bay. Now they will have two weeks to prepare for their second crack at defeating the perfect Pats in Super Bowl XLII.Eli Manning was absolutely spectacular in leading the Giants on this march. He went through the entire NFC playoffs without throwing an interception! How his career has changed drastically since the regular season finale vs. New England. Manning managed another brillant game by picking apart the Green Bay defense with short stuff all over the place. He was extremely efficient in getting the Giants down field. He was only 21 of 40, but sometimes statistics lie as he was much better than that today.
Plaxico Burress had a tremendous game by catching 11 balls for 154 yards. Green Bay made the mistake of leaving Al Harris alone on Burress for most of the game. Harris is a good cornerback, but he was schooled today by Burress. Most importantly, the Giants dominated field position for most of the game. Even if a drive did not amount in points, they made the Packers' defense work. Only once did they go three and out, and that was only because Amani Toomer dropped a wide open pass. The Giants held the ball for over 40 minutes.
The Giants' defense did a tremendous job in giving Brett Favre problems. They didn't really get to hit him much, but they did take away his receivers down field. Other than the broken play that resulted in a 90-yard touchdown to Driver, the Giants had Favre forcing passes all day. He threw two interceptions, but he really could have thrown two or three more. The Giants also took Ryan Grant completely out of the game. After having 201 yards last week vs. Seattle, Grant ran for a mere 29 yards. Conversely, Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw ran for a 130 yards between them.
The Giants really dominated this game in a lot of ways. They really should have won this game easily if it wasn't for missed field goals, dropped passes, key penalties, and a few big plays from Green Bay that kept the game close. Conventional wisdom tells you the Patriots from the much stronger AFC will beat them handily in the Super Bowl, but it's hard to bet against the Giants giving them a big, big test the way they are on this magic carpet ride. It should be a great game in two weeks in Glendale, Arizona.
Let the two weeks of media nonsense in beating this game to death in every possible way begin!
Pat Morgan
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