By Ryan G. Murphy
We did it. It was in the most dramatic fashion imaginable, but we did it.
After almost handing the NFC championship to the Green Bay Packers, the Giants turned to Lawrence Tynes who, with ice in his veins and his career on the line, found a way to kick a pigskin off a glacier and keep the Giants hopes of a Cinderella Super Bowl season alive.
If you’re a Giants fan, this was a hard one to watch, but you wouldn’t dare look away.
From the Donald Driver 90-yard touchdown catch, to the fumbled R.W. McQuarters interception, to the costly penalties, the collective blood pressure in New York approached 200 over 140 Sunday – peaking when Tynes missed the 36-yarder with a trip to Arizona resting between the uprights.
But as they’ve done for all of the 2008 playoffs, the Giants proved that resiliency in the face of desperation can prevail. Tynes connected in overtime and erased any doubt that the Giants were destined to be this year’s Cinderella.
Call it stubborn, call it destiny. Heck, you even call it lucky. The New York Giants are in the 2008 Super Bowl.
The New York Giants of five years ago lose Sunday’s game. But not this team. Not this quarterback.
In a little more than 60 football minutes Sunday we watched our shy, kid quarterback transform himself – again – into a poised, efficient leader who wanted the ball with the game on the line. With the help of Plaxico Burress and a tenacious defense, Eli Manning scripted his name into another legendary chapter of Giants’ history.
In hindsight, this one of the most exciting games I’ve ever watched, but my goodness, did it have to be THIS exciting?
