FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — All week the questions came and all week the Giants repelled them, trying desperately to avoid reminiscing about their dramatic victory in Super Bowl XLII even as they prepared to play
cheap nfl jerseysugg boots outlet their first meaningful game against the New England Patriots since that 2008 night in the Arizona desert.
Coach Tom Coughlin was continually asked about the game. Eli Manning was, too. And the Giants, faced with a growing list of injuries and other worries to occupy them in the present, were not interested in looking back, even for one of the franchise’s greatest glories.
“We will focus on the now,” Coughlin said, more than once. “That was a long time ago.”
It did not feel that way Sunday. Not as Manning led the Giants on another game-winning drive and not as the Patriots staggered off, nearly four years later, stunned again, this time by a score of 24-20.
The symmetries were schmaltzy and delicious. In the Super Bowl, the Giants got a magical reception over the middle from No. 85, David Tyree, to extend their final drive. On Sunday, it was No. 85 again — this time, tight end Jake Ballard — rising high for a 28-yard completion with a little more than a minute to go.
In the Super Bowl, Plaxico Burress caught the game-winning touchdown on the far left side of the end zone with 35 seconds remaining. This time, the Giants cut it a little closer, with Ballard — also on the far left side — pulling in the decisive catch with 15 seconds left.
Manning, though, was the most obvious link. In the Super Bowl, he led the Giants 83 yards in a little more than two minutes for the clinching drive. On Sunday, it was 80 yards in 81 seconds to quiet a packed Gillette Stadium and set off a wild celebration on the Giants’ sideline. Brandon Jacobs even picked up Coughlin in the locker room, just before the coach was about to give his postgame speech.
“I personally did that, and Coughlin’s a little heavy, a little heavy,” Jacobs said, his smile wide.
Jacobs was not alone in laughing. The mood in the Giants’ locker room was giddy, the players reveling in a victory that came under difficult circumstances. With the starting running back Ahmad Bradshaw, the top receiver Hakeem Nicks and center David Baas sidelined because of injuries, the Giants were significant underdogs coming in.
Of course, they were in the Super Bowl, too. And after a dreary first half Sunday in which the teams combined for 10 punts and zero points (the first scoreless opening half in the N.F.L. this season), the Giants struck last in a back-and-forth finish to hand Patriots quarterback Tom Brady his first home regular-season loss in 31 games.
“Half our team’s missing, but everybody stepped up,” defensive end Osi Umenyiora said. “Nobody gave us a chance to win.”
As Manning admitted, it was not always pretty. The Giants turned the ball over twice, as Aaron Ross muffed a punt that led to a Patriots field goal and Manning threw an interception in the end zone that allowed the Patriots to tie the game at 10-10 to start the fourth quarter.
That was when the roller coaster began, a quarter that Jacobs said was “nerve-racking, to be honest with you.” First the Patriots took the lead on Stephen Gostkowski’s 45-yard field goal with about seven minutes to play, then the Giants went 85 yards for a touchdown as Manning found Mario Manningham in the end zone with three minutes to play.
Brady, who threw two interceptions and struggled for much of the day, came back with a 64-yard drive that ended with Rob Gronkowski catching a 14-yard touchdown pass to make it 20-17. It was left to Manning — again — to take the final swing.
Ballard said Manning’s demeanor in the huddle at the start of the
nfl jerseys cheapPittsburgh Steelers Jerseys drive was calm but matter-of-fact.
“We have to score,” Ballard said Manning told the offense. “Now let’s go do it.”
He needed only eight plays. Victor Cruz caught a 19-yard pass. Then, after two incompletions, Ballard went down the seam and leapt above Tracy White to pull in a reception that was reminiscent of Tyree’s Super Bowl catch in which he held the ball to his helmet as he was pulled to the ground.
Even Jacobs could not help but have a flashback, and he said afterward that play was when he felt sure about what was going to happen.
“I knew we were going to win the game,” Jacobs said. “A catch like that?”
Manning was less ethereal. “He’s a big sucker,” he said of Ballard. “And he made a big catch.”
Two plays later, Manning came to the line of scrimmage and tried to change the play. Not all the receivers could hear Manning’s audible, however, so after the snap, Manning looked up and saw several routes being run that were not what he expected.
Manning planned to throw the ball away, so he heaved the ball toward the left corner of the end zone, vaguely in the direction of Cruz, who got tangled up with safety Sergio Brown near the goal line. Penalty flags flew and instead of a wasted play, the Giants benefited from a 20-yard pass-interference penalty that put the ball on the Patriots’ 1.
All that was left was one more catch from Ballard, and this time, even Manning could not ignore the similarities to the Super Bowl. Yes, there are injuries to worry about and yes, the Giants are just beginning a brutal stretch of games that continues next week in San Francisco.
For a moment, though, Manning could surely allow himself to see the wonderful coincidence. Couldn’t he?
Manning, stalwart that he is, focused on the difference. “We were down 3 this time,” he said, meaning that, unlike the Super Bowl when they trailed by 4, the Giants did not have to score a touchdown on the final drive.
Then Manning grinned.
“We could have settled for a field goal,” he said. “I’m glad we didn’t.”
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