Giants vs. 49ers: New York Rides Turnovers, Kicker to Super Bowl XLVI

In a game that provided fans with two extremely evenly matched teams, it was the New York Giants that held off the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in OT on a game-winning 31-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes to reach Super Bowl XLVI and play the New England Patriots.

It was the second time Tynes had kicked a field goal to send his team to the Super Bowl.

As expected, both defenses came to play as both team struggled to piece together any sort of long drive, but the big difference was two turnovers by 49ers punt returner Kyle Williams.

Starting in place of the injured Ted Ginn Jr., Williams had two turnovers to seal his team's fate.

Early in the fourth quarter, he let a Giants’ punt knick him off his leg and didn’t attempt to fall on it. The referee’s original call was that Williams didn’t touch it, but video replay clearly showed the ball strike his leg and a challenge overturned the call. That set up a 17-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Mario Manningham. In overtime, he was returning a kick and simply fumbled it. This set up the game-winner by Tynes.  

Manning dropped back an incredible 58 times, completing 32 of them for 316 yards and two touchdowns and most importantly…zero turnovers. Victor Cruz caught 10 passes for 142 yards, and Hakeem Nicks added five for 55.

Alex Smith went 12-of-26 for 196 yards and two TDs in defeat. The Giants pass rush had him on the run for a large portion of the game, yet were only able to sack him three times and knock him down on six different occasions.

One of the oddities of this game was the lack of looks 49er receivers got from Smith. Michael Crabtree’s one catch for three yards was the only pass caught by a San Francisco receiver the entire game.

The big stat that will haunt the 49ers this winter is their 1-of-13 mark on third down. Time and time again a drive stalled due to their inability to move the chains.

The big star on offense for the 49ers was tight end Vernon Davis, who finished with 112 receiving yards and two touchdown catches. His 73-yarder in the first quarter set the tone early in the game.

Running back Frank Gore may have only gotten 16 carries, but he was able to churn out 74 yards for a 4.6 average. Ahmad Bradshaw of the Giants reached 74 yards on 20 carries.

Now the Giants will face the Patriots in a re-match of the 2008 Super Bowl that New York won 17-14 in one of the most memorable championships in recent history.

As for the 49ers, it’s going to be a long offseason of playing the “what if” game.

They had the opportunity to win this game and simply didn’t take advantage.