Giants Face Pats on Super Bowl Road

The New York Giants have their own Super Bowl formula: in overtime and on the road.

Eli Manning directed one short, final drive and Tynes kicked a game-winning 31-yard field goal in overtime, sending the Giants to the Super Bowl with a 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game on Sunday.

In another tight one in this decades-old postseason rivalry, both defenses made key stops before New York capitalised on another costly mistake by San Francisco.

Manning and the Giants (12-7) will face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis as 3½-point underdogs. The last time the teams met for the NFL title, 2008, the Giants ended the Patriots' bid for a perfect season.

Tynes had a hand, er, foot in getting the Giants to that one, too, kicking the game-winning field goal in overtime at Green Bay.

Devin Thomas put the Giants in position by recovering his second fumble of the game after Jacquian Williams stripped the ball from fill-in return man Kyle Williams, who also fumbled earlier to set up a New York touchdown.

"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."

Manning went 32 of 58 for 316 yards and two touchdowns in his record fifth road playoff win, New York's fifth in a row overall and fifth out of six.

A 12-point underdog in the 2008 title game, the Giants battered Brady and got a late-minute TD pass from Manning to Plaxico Burress to win their third Super Bowl.

Five months after declaring he is in the same class as Tom Brady, Manning will get another chance to outdo Brady on the NFL's biggest stage. He outplayed Aaron Rodgers and the defending champion Packers last week, then fellow former No. 1 pick Alex Smith and upstart San Francisco the next.

Victor Cruz set the tone with eight of his 10 receptions in the first half and finished with 142 yards

"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."

Vernon Davis caught touchdown passes of 73 and 28 yards and wound up with three catches for 112 yards for the NFC West champions (14-4), who went from 6-10 a year ago to a contender and ended an eight-year playoff drought.

He scored the game-winner from 14 yards out last week as the 49ers stunned Drew Brees and the favored Saints 36-32.

Thirty years after their dynasty began under the late Bill Walsh, another former Stanford coach -- Jim Harbaugh -- got the 49ers this far with his "Who's got it better than us? No-body!" chant that caught on so well with the players and city.

"It will be a tough one. It will take a while to get over," Harbaugh said.

The only other time these two franchises faced off in the conference championship the game finished in memorable fashion. On Jan. 20, 1991,Roger Craig fumbled with the 49ers leading 13-12 late in the fourth quarter and the Giants went on to win 15-13 to deny San Francisco a chance at a third straight Super Bowl title. New York then beat the Bills to capture its second Super Bowl.

These teams met six times in the playoffs between the 1981 and `94 seasons with the winner going on to win the Super Bowl four times.

Eli Manning Packs Green Bay Away

With their own star quarterback and a dominating defense, the New York Giants exposed the Green Bay Packers for what they now are -- former Super Bowl champions.

The Packers dropped passes, fumbled the ball and simply couldn't stop Eli Manning and his receivers in the Giants' shocking 37-20 divisional playoff victory Sunday. To the Giants' delight, a Green Bay team that had a real shot at an undefeated season less than a month ago is heading home.

And that the win came at Lambeau Field, well, that was just as sweet. The site has become a familiar launching pad for the New Yorkers. After beating the Packers (15-2) at home for the second time in four years, they only hope this trip ends the same way -- in the NFL title game.

The Giants will play the 49ers in San Francisco for the NFC Championship next Sunday.

"I think we're a dangerous team," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "I like where we are and how we're playing."

The Giants (11-7) have been on a roll ever since beating the rival Jets on Dec. 24, beating the Dallas Cowboys to get in the playoffs and then blowing out Atlanta in the wild card round last week.

They took down the Packers on Sunday, as Manning threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns.

The Giants are 3-4 against the 49ers in the playoffs, including their memorable collapse in a wild card game at San Francisco on Jan. 5, 2003. New York led 38-14 in the third quarter but fell apart and lost 39-38.

That probably won't be much of a worry for this year's Giants, who were oozing confidence even before they beat the Packers.

"This team knows how to win on the road," defensive end Justin Tuck said. "It seems like right now it's our time."

The Giants stunned the Packers with a touchdown off a long heave from Manning to Hakeem Nicks just before halftime, then knocked them out with a late touchdown off a turnover.

Lambeau Field fell silent as the Giants swarmed the field in celebration, with a handful of New York fans chanting, "Let's go, Giants!"

"I knew we were going to beat them on Wednesday, to be honest with you," running back Brandon Jacobs said.

The win came four years after the Giants beat a Brett Favre-led Packers team in the NFC title game. It wasn't nearly as frigid this time around, and the Packers' vulnerable defense seemed to be waiting to get sliced up.

Manning found six different receivers against a porous Packers defense. But Manning did the most damage with his throws to Nicks, who caught seven passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns.

Nicks' biggest play was a 66-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. His score at the end of the half came on a 37-yard pass into the end zone with defenders all around.

"It was a big momentum play for them, but we were not deflated as a football team," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said.

The Giants' defense also was able to defuse the big-play abilities of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers' offense.

Rodgers was 26 of 46 for 264 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception. He also was the Packers' leading rusher with 66 yards on seven carries.

The Packers fully expected to go back to the Super Bowl, but the reality hit Rodgers quickly.

"Oh, it's real," Rodgers said. "We got beat by a team that played better tonight.

"We play to win championships. You win a championship and you're kind of at the top of the mountain, and you forget kind of how bad this feeling is. We had a championship-caliber regular season and didn't play well today."

The Packers' past problems with dropped balls by their talented group of wide receivers returned at the worst time imaginable.

And while the Packers' defense has been vulnerable all season, giving up far too many yards and big plays, they've typically made up for it by forcing turnovers.

This time, the Packers were the ones giving the ball away.

Green Bay lost three fumbles, including one on a rare giveaway by Rodgers. The Giants also sacked Rodgers four times.

With the Packers trailing 20-10 at halftime but finally beginning to look like themselves on offense to start the second half, Osi Umenyiora swatted the ball away from Rodgers, and Deon Grant recovered the fumble.

"With a 10-point lead, we're going to get after you," Umenyiora said. "And that's what we did."

But the mistake didn't cost the Packers points, and Green Bay cut the lead to seven points on a 35-yard field goal by Mason Crosby ate in the third quarter.

The Packers put together another drive early in the fourth quarter, but Michael Boley and Umenyiora combined to sack Rodgers on fourth-down play in Giants territory.

After carving up the Packers in the first half, the Giants' offense hit a lull in the second half. But they broke out of it to drive for a 35-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes o take a 23-13 lead with 7:48 left to play.

Packers running back Ryan Grant then fumbled after catching a pass and the Giants recovered, taking the ball back deep into Green Bay territory.

Manning then threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham and the Giants took a 30-13 lead. Rodgers rallied the Packers for a 16-yard touchdown pass to Donald Driver, cutting the lead to 30-20 with 4:46 left.

The Packers then tried on onside kick, but the Giants' Victor Cruz recovered.

Jacobs scored on a 14-yard run with 2:36 left to put the game away.

It was an emotional day for the Packers, who welcomed offensive coordinator Joe Philbin two days after the funeral service for his 21-year-old son, Michael.

Philbin had been away from the team all week after Michael Philbin's body was recovered from an icy river in Oshkosh, Wis. on Monday. A preliminary autopsy showed that he drowned.

"I think deep down, a lot of us wanted to kind of get this one for him," Rodgers said.

Manning Gets Giants Green Bay Clash

The New York Giants recovered from a slow start to flatten the Atlanta Falcons 24-2 and earn their first play-off win at home since 2000.

Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes as the Giants set up a showdown with the Green Bay Packers, a team that beat them 38-35 during the regular season, in the next round of the post season.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Falcons actually took a 2-0 lead in the wild-card encounter when Manning, under pressure from James Sanders, was penalised for intentional grounding, resulting in a safety.

However that proved to be the only points Atlanta would put up, meaning for the second season in a row they fail to win a play-off game.

Their power running game was held to just 64 yards in total. Crucially, they were twice unable to convert quarterback sneaks by Matt Ryan on short fourth downs.

The Giants, in contrast, piled up 172 yards on the ground, Brandon Jacobs managing 92 of them. It was his 34-yard burst down the right that led to his team's opening touchdown, Manning hitting Hakeem Nicks to make it 7-2.

Clear daylight

A 22-yard Lawrence Tynes field goal made it an eight-point game midway through the third quarter and, after Atlanta failed on their second attempt at a fourth-down conversion, the Giants put clear daylight between the teams when Nicks took a short pass over the middle and went 72 yards to the end zone.

Wide receiver Nicks finished the day with six receptions for 115 yards and two scores

In case there was any doubt, the Giants sealed their place in the next round when a beautiful rainbow pass by Manning dropped perfectly into the stride of Mario Manningham for a 27-yard TD in the fourth quarter.

"That's a big win today," Manning - who completed 23 of his 32 pass attempts for 277 yards and three touchdowns - said afterwards.

"The defense played awesome and in the second half the offence finally got going. We ran the ball and started hitting some big plays."

The Giants' last post-season trip to Lambeau Field was a 23-20 overtime victory in the NFC Championship game back in 2007 - two weeks later they upset the New England Patriots to be crowned Super Bowl champions.

"They are a great team," Manning said of the Packers, who lost only once this season.

"We played them tough. We have to give it our all. The defense will have to continue to play well and we'll have to make some big plays."

Cruz and Manning Make Giants Step

Victor Cruz and Eli Manning have the New York Giants dancing to the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

Manning threw three touchdown passes, including a 74-yarder to Cruz early, and the Giants (9-7) won an all-or-nothing game to claim the final spot in the NFL playoffs, beating the Dallas Cowboys 31-14 on Sunday night.

The loss left Jerry Jones' Cowboys (8-8) out of the playoffs for the second straight year.

New York won three of its final four games for 65-year-old coach Tom Coughlin and earned a wild-card home game next Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons (10-6).

The Cowboys lost four of their final five games in their first full season under coach Jason Garrett.

Dallas (8-8) was its own worst enemy in a game with the season on the line. They missed tackles on all three of the Giants' first-half touchdowns, failed to recover two fumbles within their grasp in the half and failed to convert on a Tony Romo sneak on fourth-and-1 at the Giants 10 while trailing 21-7.

Romo, who played with a bruised right hand, moved the Cowboys in the second half but all he could generate were touchdown passes of 34 and 6 yards to Laurent Robinson, the last one getting Dallas within a 21-14 with 10:15 to play.

Cruz, however, had a 44-yard third-down catch and another for 20 yards to set up a 28-yard Lawrence Tynes' field goal and Manning iced the game with a 4-yard TD pass to Hakeem Nicks with 3:41 to play.

Manning finished 24 of 33 for 346 yards and no interceptions as the Giants beat the Cowboys for the second time in four games and ended a regular season marked by inconsistency on a high note. Cruz, who set a single-season record for yards receiving, finished with six catches for 178 yards, a 29.7 yard average, and of course, he did his touchdown salsa after the first score.

Romo was 29 of 37 for 289 yards but he was sacked six times, including twice by Osi Umenyiora who returned to the lineup for the first time since spraining an ankle late last month. Dallas' final possession ended with Romo being sacked by Justin Tuck and losing a fumble.

Coming off a 29-14 win over the rival Jets last week in what might have been the Giants best game of the season, Coughlin's team put together another outstanding 30 minutes in jumping to a 21-0 halftime lead.

Cruz, who sparked the win over the Jets' with a team-record 99-yard touchdown, made another monster play on the Giants' second offensive series, turning a short pass into points.

Cruz caught a short square out, eluded a tackle by Terence Newman, turned the corner after getting a seal block from Nicks and outraced two defenders down the sideline in front of the Giants bench for a 7-0 lead.

Dallas went three-and-out but had a chance to get right back into the game when Will Blackmon muffed a punt at near his 30-yard line and Alan Ball failed to recover.

Manning made Dallas pay. Manning hit Nicks for 18 yards and Devin Thomas for 14 en route on a 68-yard yard drive that Bradshaw capped with his 5-yard run. Safety Abram Elam had a chance to tackle Bradshaw in the backfield and Bradshaw scooted into the end zone after he missed.

Manning had passes of 14 and 12 yards to rookie fullback Henry Hynoski in an 80-yard touchdown drive just before the half. Bradshaw, who had a 29-yard run early in the drive, broke a tackle by linebacker Bradie James in scoring on a 10-yard swing pass for a 21-0 lead.

The Giants had chances to put the game away in the third quarter. They moved to the Dallas 42 on the opening possession of the second half and elected to punt.

Romo then drove the Cowboys 94 yards with a no-huddle offense, hitting Robinson on a 34-yard go pattern down the right sideline on a play that cornerback Corey Webster was beaten.

An interception by safety Antrel Rolle gave New York the ball in Dallas territory but they failed to convert a fourth-and-1 at the Dallas 35 and the Cowboys came right back to cut the deficit to seven.