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 New York Edges Dallas 31-28 With Last Second Field Goal by Lawrence Tynes
East Rutherford, NJ- The cardiac kids did it again! For the second night in a row the New York Football Giants win with points in the last minute of play. Tynes nailed a short 28 yard field goal with only 2 seconds on the clock to give New York the 31-28 win over the Cowboys. It was the previous 54 yard pass into double coverage by Manning to Burress that most are talking about though. "I just put everything I have on that throw and wired it, Plax was able to get a hand on it a hold on, good think too, it was 3rd down and long," an elated Eli Manning told reporters.
New York lead most of the game until the 3rd quarter where withing the span of about 20 seconds they saw there 14-7 lead evaporate and found themselves down 21-14. That was thanks to a long td by Dallas and then on the first play of the ensuing drive for New York Manning was picked off and the ball was taken into the endzone by Dallas. "At that point we really had to bare down, we were leading, we felt strong, and then all of a sudden we're down a td, we showed tremendous courage to pick ourselves up from that point," Amani Toomer said.
Dallas did score a game-tieing, final minute TD to level the game at 28, but then Eli Manning went to work.
Do or die for Giants against Raiders!
With the latest two wins for the Giants they have found themselves in a must win situation against Oakland next week. Winner goes to the playoffs, its that simple. The Giants have certainly given their fans some hope in what can only be called a 'dramatic' season for New York and its owner. With the terrible start and the rumours of Connolly wanting to abandon the franchise and move, to the Giants actually making a legitimate run to the playoffs - win or lose against Oakland it will not diminsh how incredible this season has been for the Giants. Nobody thought New York would be in this position. A win against Oakland would only seem to add another chapter to this crazy story, and a loss would complete this bizarre book that the Giants call there regular season. The authour has dipped into the ink...what will he write?
New York Giants vs Oakland Raiders
Week of March 23-27
ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN2, TSN, RDS |
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Stephen Gostkowski's toe would cap a perfect end to the Patriots regular season. The Pats who clinched 2 nd place in the division ended the season on a high note. After back to back lossed to the Colts and Cowboys, the Pats seemed to be in a funk. The fact they had clinched a post season berth seemed to have led to them losing their swagger. Tonight seemed no different as the offense struggled in the rain at Oakland Collosium. Brady could not get anything going and would under throw passes to his main recievers who seemed to be a step behind the defenders on their routes. The Pats defense though would shine. They would give up yardage only to stand stong and come up with big plays when needed. With Oakland driving down on their first drive, Jamarcus Russell would feel the pressure of the Patriot pass rush and throw the ball into Ellis Hobbs' waiting arms in the end zone. Tom Brady would fare no better as he would engineer a 3 and out drive. The Raiders would also stall and the first quarter would end up scoreless. In the second quarter, Brady would come alive to engineer a hurry up drive that would end with Wes Welker catching a TD pass in the end zone to send the Patriots into the locker rooms with a slim 7-0 lead. In the second quarter, the Raiders would tie the game up on a drive featuring some big runs by Justin Fargas, one of them being a 36 yard rush that would bring the Raiders deep into the Patriots zone. Fargas would cap the drive off with a 9 yard scammper into the end zone to tie the game up. The Pats coaching staff would then bench Lawrence Maroney who had started in place of Kevin Faulk. Maroney ended the day with -3 rushing yards on 4 attempts. Faulk who had been ineffectual in the last 2 games was benched by Coach Belichek. With Faulk back, the running game came alive. Faulk would explode for 11 yards on his first carry and the Raiders were on their heels. Brady would again engineer another hurry up offence with a combination of Faulk rushes and passing plays to his wide recievers. The drive would be capped off with a 25 yard TD pass to Ben Watson in the end zone.
The defenses and the kickers would then take over. Neither teams`offence could muster much and Tom Brady would make a critical error when he would try to find Kevin Faulk on a flat pattern. His pass would instead land in Raider Stuart Schweigert`s hands. He would return it 36 yards for a TD to put the Raiders up by 3 for the first time in the game. Brady and the Pats would then come alive. After a successful challenge of an alleged Wes Welker fumble on the next kick return, they would come out blazing. Starting on their 31 yard line and the rain driving hard, Brady would bring the Patriots to the Oakland 21. Only a couple of dropped passes by Faulk and Moss would stall the drive. Gostkowski would be called in to tie the game up with 2:04 left on the clock. The Raiders would again attempt to drive the ball back into Field Goal territory to try to snatch the win back. The Patriot defense though had other ideas. Fargas would get dropped for negative yardage and a Russell pass would be dropped by a wide open receiver to stall the Raiders drive with 53 seconds left on the clock. Then the Raiders would do the inexplicable and call in Sebastian Janikowski to try a 62 yard Field Goal attempt. The try would be short and the Pats would take over. Leaving 53 seconds on the clock and the Pats having 2 time outs would turn out to be a coaching blunder on the Raiders part. Brady and Moss would make them pay. The Pats would use Faulk to run the ball into the Raider territory. On 3 rd and 6, Brady would connect on a 24 yard pass to Randy Moss who would step out of bounds with 6 seconds left on the clock at the Raider 19. Gostkowski would come in and kick a game winning 39 yard no doubt about it Field goal. The Patriot bench would errupt in cheers as they rushed onto the field and mauled Gostkowski.
The win capped the most successful season in Patriot history. The end the season with a 9-3 record and a berth in the post season for the second year in a row. With a bye week next week, they are on the sidelines to see whom they will meet in the playoffs. All of the remaining 3 have a chance to get in. Until then, the team will have a chance to rest and heal from a gruelling season. Go Pats Go!!!! |
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Indianapolis- To comment that a 42-21 game was defensive seems uncanny. The Colts investment in game review paid off in a big way. They shut down the run of one of the most potent rushing offenses in the league. That enabled the secondary to keep an eye on the receivers and create 6 interceptions.
"Overall, the Patriots played hard. They had some succes with long passes, but we adjusted well and made the defense work" added Bob Sanders, Player of the game. This win gives the Colts the edge on the season series with the Pats. They can go 1-1 on the final 2 games and still keep 1st overall.
"The goal has been clear all season, bring a consistent overall game and hope the bounces go your way." Colts owner Tawil, was cautious in keeping the tone of the win upbeat but not celebratory. "We have only won the 10th game of the season. That does not make us champions."
Indeed, the Pats will want payback, as will the Cowboys, Raiders and Giants. All gunning for an emotional victory to make their season's meaningful. Colts are Bye next week.. |
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