New York Giants clinch NFC Championship title, beat San Francisco 49ers in overtime, 20-17–NFL Recap
Lo and behold! No matter how much criticism the New York Giants receive from different observers, when the Giants say they believe in their game-play, they mean it!
After recovering from a slump early in the regular season of the National Football League (NFL), the Giants won the National Football Conference (NFC)—East division, beat the Atlanta Falcons, busted the defending Super Bowl Champions and the top seeded team
in the playoffs, Green Bay Packers, and now edged past San Francisco 49ers (20-17) on Sunday, January 22, 2012, to clinch the NFC Championship title and qualify for the Super Bowl.
The crowd at the Candlestick Park witnessed a nerve-wracking encounter between two amazingly prepared defensive units, whose respective marvellous efforts on the field forced the game to overtime.
However, a mistake from the 49ers’ defence...yes you read it correct, from the 49ers’ defence, in the extra time decided the game in favour of the Giants.
49ers’ Kyle Williams had only run five yards on a punt-return before Giants’ linebacker, Jacquian Williams, forced a fumble and Devin Thomas recovered the ball to set up a field goal.
Lawrence Tynes' took the cake by scoring a 31-yard field goal to give his team a deserving victory.
"It's my second NFC championship game, my second game-winner," he said. "It's amazing. I had dreams about this last night. 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, offence,
defence. Great win."
As expected, the game remained evenly poised during all the four quarters.
The 49ers were the first ones to score. At 7:11 in the first quarter, quarterback, Alex Smith, sent a pass to tight end, Vernon Davis, who completed a 73-yard touchdown.
After falling behind in the first quarter, the Giants came strong in the second and dominated the 49ers.
Quarterback, Eli Manning, sent a six-yard touchdown pass to Bear Pascoe to level the score. Later at the end of the quarter, the Giants initiated a drive, which set up Tynes for 31-yard field goal.
The halftime score settled at 10-7 with the Giants in lead.
Smith and Davis combined yet again for the 49ers and scored a 28-yard touchdown in the third quarter to take the lead back. The Giants struggled to score in that quarter.
In the final quarter, Manning sent a pass from 17 yards to Mario Manningham, who took a scintillating catch to complete a touchdown, which put the Giants in lead once again.
However, a 25-yard field goal by David Akers equalised the score at 5:39, after which none of the teams could score and the game was sent to overtime, where the Giants forced a mistake and later took its advantage to qualify for the Super Bowl.
“We all have things we wish could have been different or we could have done better,” 49ers’ coach, Jim Harbaugh, remarked. “Congratulations to the Giants. I thought they played a heck of a ball game and found a way to win. You tip your cap to them.”
The Super Bowl XLVI will be played between the Giants and New England Patriots on February 5, 2012, in Indianapolis.
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