Sports
New York Giants Advance to Super Bowl XLVI
With a 20-17 win over the 49ers on Sunday, the Giants earn a trip to the Super Bowl to face the Patriots.
The New York Giants are heading to Super Bowl XLVI, their first time in the annual NFL championship since 2008. They will be facing the New England Patriots, who are in the game for the first time since, well, 2008. On Feb. 5, the Giants and Patriots are set for a Super Bowl rematch, won by the Giants in 2008.
The Giants advanced to the game with a 20-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game on Sunday. Eli Manning threw for 316 yards and two touchdown passes, while Victor Cruz caught 10 passes for 142 yards to lead the team.
The Giants led 10-7 at halftime, following a pretty even back and forth half of football. However, things fell apart for the 49ers in the second half with some costly mistakes, particularly on special teams.
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With 11:06 left in the fourth quarter and the 49ers up 14-10, the 49ers’ punt returner, Kyle Williams, allowed the ball to touch his knee without picking up, making it eligible for a Giants player to pick it up and retain possession. The Giants’ Devin Thomas did just that, picking up the ball at the 29 yard line. Under three minutes later, Manning connected with wide receiver Mario Manningham for a 17 yard touchdown pass to put the Giants up 17-14.
The 49ers would add another field goal to tie up the game, sending it to overtime. With 9:32 remaining, the 49ers would make their second big special teams mistake. Once again, on a punt towards Kyle Williams, the Giants would recover a fumble at the 49ers' 25-yard line. Williams had the ball knocked loose and it was recovered by Devin Thomas.
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From there, it was all academic as the Giants’ kicker, Lawrence Tynes, booted a game-winning field goal from 31 yards out.
The Patriots advanced to the game by defeating the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 earlier in the day in Foxboro, MA. The Patriots won, thanks to a missed field goal by the Ravens’ kicker, Billy Cundiff with 11 seconds left.
The Super Bowl will take place on Feb. 5 and will be played in the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN.
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