John Riordan
IT came down to two field goals on either coast. The New England Patriots profited from a missed one in Massachusetts to clinch the AFC Championship and the New York Giants made theirs in San Francisco to win the NFC crown.
The tense victories set up a repeat of a classic Super Bowl which the Giants won four years ago.
It was a great day for the northeast, the winning coaches Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick, the winning quarterbacks Tom Brady and Eli Manning, New York’s game-winning Scottish-born kicker Lawrence Tynes and New England’s veteran nose tackle Vince Wilfork who produced his best ever display to inspire an incredible defensive stand by the Pats.
It was a Sunday to forget for the Harbaugh brothers, John and Jim, the Baltimore Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff who missed from 32 yards with 11 seconds to go and the San Francisco 49ers punt returner Kyle Williams whose costly errors led to a touchdown in normal time and that winning field goal in overtime.
Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco had given his team every chance to shock the home team, setting up Dennis Pitta and Torrey Smith for touchdowns in the second and third quarters but Brady’s diving one-yard TD early in the fourth quarter gave his side a 23-20 lead they would never relinquish.
"Well, I sucked pretty bad today, but our defence saved us," Brady said. "I'm going to try to go out and do a better job in a couple of weeks, but I'm proud of this team."
A late Ravens siege of the Patriots end zone set up a straightforward kick for Cundiff but he pulled it left as the Baltimore sideline watched on in horror.
"It's a kick I've kicked probably a thousand times in my career," Cundiff said. "I went out there and didn't convert. That's the way things go. There's really no excuse for it."
Before he missed, his side even had the chance to take the lead but wide receiver Lee Evans was dispossessed in the end zone.
"This is the greatest team that I've been on, and I feel like I let everybody down,” Evans admitted. “Yeah, it's on my shoulders. It's hard to sit here and accept how and why things happened, but it's the reality of it. It's as tough as it gets."
It wasn’t much easier for the 49ers whose dream season came to an end in the cruellest manner, a 20-17 loss after possession changed hands a few times in sudden death overtime.
Vernon Davis had edged the home team ahead with a pair of touchdowns either side of Bear Pascoe’s response for New York but Mario Manningham caught an excellent pass from Manning in the fourth quarter to push his side three points ahead with eight minutes to go.
David Akers levelled it with a field goal three minutes later, setting up overtime as the rainy conditions worsened. It was left then to Tynes to keep his composure at the death.
"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 (yards), 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."
The tense victories set up a repeat of a classic Super Bowl which the Giants won four years ago.
It was a great day for the northeast, the winning coaches Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick, the winning quarterbacks Tom Brady and Eli Manning, New York’s game-winning Scottish-born kicker Lawrence Tynes and New England’s veteran nose tackle Vince Wilfork who produced his best ever display to inspire an incredible defensive stand by the Pats.
It was a Sunday to forget for the Harbaugh brothers, John and Jim, the Baltimore Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff who missed from 32 yards with 11 seconds to go and the San Francisco 49ers punt returner Kyle Williams whose costly errors led to a touchdown in normal time and that winning field goal in overtime.
Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco had given his team every chance to shock the home team, setting up Dennis Pitta and Torrey Smith for touchdowns in the second and third quarters but Brady’s diving one-yard TD early in the fourth quarter gave his side a 23-20 lead they would never relinquish.
"Well, I sucked pretty bad today, but our defence saved us," Brady said. "I'm going to try to go out and do a better job in a couple of weeks, but I'm proud of this team."
A late Ravens siege of the Patriots end zone set up a straightforward kick for Cundiff but he pulled it left as the Baltimore sideline watched on in horror.
"It's a kick I've kicked probably a thousand times in my career," Cundiff said. "I went out there and didn't convert. That's the way things go. There's really no excuse for it."
Before he missed, his side even had the chance to take the lead but wide receiver Lee Evans was dispossessed in the end zone.
"This is the greatest team that I've been on, and I feel like I let everybody down,” Evans admitted. “Yeah, it's on my shoulders. It's hard to sit here and accept how and why things happened, but it's the reality of it. It's as tough as it gets."
It wasn’t much easier for the 49ers whose dream season came to an end in the cruellest manner, a 20-17 loss after possession changed hands a few times in sudden death overtime.
Vernon Davis had edged the home team ahead with a pair of touchdowns either side of Bear Pascoe’s response for New York but Mario Manningham caught an excellent pass from Manning in the fourth quarter to push his side three points ahead with eight minutes to go.
David Akers levelled it with a field goal three minutes later, setting up overtime as the rainy conditions worsened. It was left then to Tynes to keep his composure at the death.
"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 (yards), 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."
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/Iu3_d4lECiA/post.aspx
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