Third Time Is A Charm For Tynes and The New York Giants

A 47 yard field goal stood in the way of the New York Giants, and a date with the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 42. It was that simple. However there was a problem, Lawrence Tynes had missed the previous two fields goals which would of given New York the lead. That and both field goals were closer than the one Tynes was about to attempt. The pressure was on. If Tynes misses this field goal he is the most hated person in the big apple, but if he makes it he redeems himself and is a self proclaimed hero. The snap good, the hold good, the kick straight down the middle. Lambeau field left stunned as the Giants, who basically kept Green Bay in the game down the stretch, went in and upset Brett Farve and the Packers. Now, just like a month ago, the 30 other football teams along with football fans outside of the Boston Massachusetts area will be rooting for the New York Giants as they are the final team in the way of the Patriots and the glory of being undefeated. Why is everyone behind the Giants you ask? Because No one wants to see Bill Belichick to hoist another Lombardi Trophy , no one wants to see Tom Brady win another Super Bowl MVP, and no one wants to see the Patriots go undefeated.

Giant's Playing Lights Out Since Round 1 With The Patriots.
Tom Coughlin deserves a contract extension for making the decision to play his starters in a "meaningless" game to try and stop the Patriots from making history. The Giants were already in the playoffs, and could of rested their starters in order for them to be fresh for the wildcard round of the playoffs. Instead, he looked at the game as a "must win", and pulled out all the trick in order to trip up the Patriots. It didn't look like Eli Manning was playing the Patriots night in late December. It looked like another Peyton Manning/Tom Brady classic battle. In his four years in the league, I have never seen Eli Manning play as good as he did that night. The crazy thing is he has managed to carry that momentum throughout the playoffs, being the only quarterback in the playoffs to not throw an interception. Manning has been rewarded with another shot at the all-mighty Patriots, but this time the game has much more meaning to it. If the Giants lose, the Patriots will be the first team in NFL history to go 19-0 in a season and will have won their fourth Super Bowl title of this decade. But if the Giants win, a sports nation will rejoice. Patriots haters everywhere will bow in front of their television sets, and thank the Giants for beating those damn Patriots.

Eli Proved He Is A Good Quarterback
Ok so if anyone read my last weeks column that said Eli Manning was mediocre, I would like to take that statement back. At the end of my column I said if he was able to beat the Green Bay Packers he would leave me speechless, and as Tynes 47 yard field goal went right down the middle of the goal posts thats what I was. I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that Green Bay was going home. I didn't want to believe that just a year after his older brother Peyton made it to the Super Bowl, that little brother Eli would be playing for his first ring. I didn't want to write this and say hey Eli Manning is actually a good quarterback. Because you have to have a good quarterback in order to win on the road consistently in the NFL, especially in the playoffs. Forget that he played god awful in front of the home town Giants fans, going 3-5 in their 8 home games (including 4 straight). If you saw the Giants road to Super Bowl 42 then you would know that it was anything but a cake walk. The Giants played in three of the toughest stadiums to get there, and three good quarterbacks who were wanting their own playoff success story. They faced a Hall of Fame quarterback destined to end his storybook career with a win in the Super Bowl. They faced a gun slinging Cowboy, who up until the media swarmed him with questions about playing with little blond sticks watching, was one of the best quarterbacks in the league. They faced a traveled veteran who was looking for his chance at playoff stardom. Now the Giants face a man picked in the 6th round of the NFL draft, and might be the most successful playoff quarterback in NFL history. Can the Giants stop Tom Brady and the mighty Patriots? As the Giants have shown us throughout the playoffs, anything is possible.

Nate Gonner is a guest writer for The Sports Flow. He writes his columns every Monday and Thursday for Gonners View. Check his site out here