New York Giants 20 – San Francisco 49ers 17 (Overtime)

In Overtime, Giants Win NFC Championship: The New York Giants defeated the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in overtime on Sunday night. With the victory, the Giants won their fifth NFC Championship in team history and have earned the right to play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, February 5.

The game was a slugfest. The offensive star of the game for the Giants was QB Eli Manning, who completed 32-of-58 passes for 316 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. However, as an indication of the fierceness of the contest, Manning was officially sacked 6 times and hit 12 times.

The Giants dominated in terms of the number of offensive plays (90 to 57) and time of possession (39:36 to 28:18), but only held a slight advantage in total net yards (352 to 328). The Giants out-gained the 49ers in net yards passing (267 to 178), but the 49ers rushed for nearly twice as many yards (150 to 85). The deciding statistic was turnovers. The 49ers’ special special teams turned the ball over twice. The Giants did not turn the football over.

In five first-half possessions, the 49ers punted four times. However, on their second possession of the game, QB Alex Smith hit TE Vernon Davis for a 73-yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 advantage. On the other four drives, the 49ers only gained 46 yards and four first downs.

In the Giants’ five first-half possessions, the Giants ran far more plays (43) and first downs (12), but only had 10 points to show for it. After picking up a couple of first downs on their first drive, a sack and fumble by Manning pushed the Giants back to their own 30-yard line and forced a punt. After San Francisco went up 7-0, the Giants moved the ball to the 49er 34-yard line, but the Giants could not convert on 3rd-and-1 (incomplete pass) and 4th-and-1 (HB Brandon Jacobs stuffed). The Giants turned the football over on downs.

After a 3-and-out by San Francisco, the Giants put together their best drive of the first half by driving 69 yards in 10 plays to tie the game at 7-7 with Manning’s 6-yard touchdown pass to TE Bear Pascoe. The key plays on the drive were a 36-yard pass from Manning to WR Victor Cruz on 3rd-and-6 and a 6-yard pass from Manning to Cruz on 3rd-and-4.

The Giants picked up one first down on their fourth possession before punting when Manning was sacked again, this time on 3rd-and-2. After another 3-and-out by the 49ers, the Giants drove 51 yards in 10 plays to set up a 31-yard field goal by PK Lawrence Tynes. Cruz was again Manning’s favorite target on this drive, catching passes of 15, 11, 17, and 13 yards.

At halftime, the Giants led 10-7.

The Giants’ offense was largely shutdown in the second half of the game. In nine second-half possessions, the Giants punted eight times. The Giants only gained five first downs in the 3rd and 4th quarters and went 3-and-out five times.

The 49ers had a little better success. While San Francisco was forced to punt five times, they did regain the lead 14-10 in the 3rd quarter on quick three-play drive. After a 2-yard run by HB Frank Gore, Gore caught a 24-yard pass from Smith. On the very next snap, Smith hit Davis for a 28-yard score.

The first big break for the Giants happened with a little over 11 minutes left in the game. Punting from their own 15-yard line, Steve Weatherford’s 56-yard punt grazed the leg of punt returner Kyle Williams. WR Devin Thomas recovered the muffed punt at the San Francisco 29-yard line. On 3rd-and-7, Manning found WR Hakeem Nicks for 14 yards and a first down. After a holding penalty pushed the Giants back, Manning fired a missile on 3rd-and-15 to WR Mario Manningham for a 17-yard touchdown. The Giants regained the lead 17-14 with 8:34 to play.

But the 49ers responded with a scoring drive of their own. Williams returned the kickoff 40 yards to the San Francisco 45-yard line. After a 5-yard penalty on the Giants, the 49ers picked up 35 yards on runs by Alex Smith and HB Kendall Hunter. The drive stalled at the Giants’ 7-yard line and PK David Akers hit the 25-yard field goal to tie the game with 5:39 to play.

Within those last few minutes of the 4th quarter, the Giants and 49ers both went 3-and-out twice before the Giants did manage to get near midfield after a 30-yard pass from Manning to HB Ahmad Bradshaw. But the drive stalled at the San Francisco 46-yard line and the Giants punted the ball away with less than 30 seconds in regulation. The 49ers ran three plays and reached the Giants’ 32-yard line as time expired.

In overtime, the Giants received the ball first, gained one first down, but then were forced to punt yet again. The 49ers then went 3-and-out. The Giants picked up one first down on their second possession in OT, but then had to punt again as Manning was sacked on 3rd-and-3.

Then came the second huge break of the game. Punting from the Giants’ 44-yard line, Weatherford’s 37-yard punt was returned again by returner Kyle Williams. LB Jacquian Williams forced Williams to fumble and the loose ball was recovered again by Devin Thomas at the San Francisco 24-yard line.

Bradshaw gained 18 yards on three successive runs before Manning took a knee at the 8-yard line. After a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty, Tynes nailed the 31-yard field goal to win the game.

Offensively, aside from Manning’s previously mentioned stats, Cruz caught 10 passes for 142 yards. Bradshaw carried the ball 20 times for 74 yards.

Defensively, DE Justin Tuck (1.5), DE Jason Pierre-Paul (0.5), DE Osi Umenyiora (0.5), and LB Mathias Kiwanuka (0.5) were credited with sacks.

Highlights/lowlights of the game are available at NFL.com.

Injury Report: WR Hakeem Nicks injured his shoulder (AC joint) in the game but later returned. S Tyler Sash appears to have suffered a concussion.

Post-Game Notes: Inactive for the Giants were HB Da’Rel Scott, WR Ramses Barden, OC Jim Cordle, OT James Brewer, DE Justin Trattou, DT Jimmy Kennedy, and LB Mark Herzlich (ankle).

Article on DE Justin Tuck: Giants’ Justin Tuck Eyeing Super Bowl After a Year Filled With Loss of Family, Emotional Turmoil and Injuries by Mike Garafolo of The Star-Ledger