This Sunday night’s NFC Championship game between the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers has the potential to be one for the ages. The two teams met during the regular season. The 49ers won 27-20, stopping the Giants on 4th down deep inside 49er territory with only 0:58 seconds remaining. Right now, both teams are playing extremely well on defense and overall are full of confidence.
Last week, on their way to a decisive 37-20 victory over the #1 seeded Green Bay Packers, the Giants forced 4 turnovers and sacked Aaron Rodgers 4 times. The Giants defensive line disrupted the timing Rodgers had with his wide receivers, causing two key misfires that cost the Packers 2 potential TDs (incompletions to Jennings and Finley inside the red zone).
Expect the Giants defense to continue playing with confidence. After the game, defensive lineman Justin Tuck told reporters that not only does his team know how to win on the road, but “right now, it seems like their time.” Also, earlier this week on SportsCenter, Giants Safety Antrel Rolle said he expects “greatness from this team.”
It will be interesting to see how the Giants attempt to stop 49ers’ tight end Vernon Davis, who is coming off a career game and arguably the most important catch of his life. On Saturday, Davis caught 7 passes for 180 yards and 2 TDs, including “The Grab” with 0:09 seconds remaining.
The 49ers have a history of making dramatic TD catches in the final minutes of playoff games. First there was “The Catch” (Joe Montana to Dwight Clark in the 1982 NFC Championship Game). Then came “The Catch II” (Steve Young to Terrell Owens in the 1999 NFC Wild Card Game) and now there is “The Grab”.
When asked about his catch, Davis told reporters,”You’ve got to call it ‘The Grab’… We were down. I had to make it happen to take my teammates where we want to go.”
The 49ers defense will look to stay hot and find a way to disrupt Giants quarterback Eli Manning the same way they were able to disrupt New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. The 49ers won 36-32 by keeping the Saints offense out of rhythm and off the field by forcing 5 turnovers, sacking Brees 3 times, and deflecting 11 of his passes.
49ers quarterback Alex Smith has earned the respect of his teammates despite all of the preseason discussion about his inability to lead a championship caliber team. After the game, when asked about his quarterback, linebacker Patrick Willis told the media, “It shows he’s becoming an elite quarterback. I’m glad the world could see what he did today.”
This season under new head coach Jim Harbaugh, the 49ers have been playing with great confidence. When asked about his team’s confidence, Smith told reporters that this year’s team’s “sideline atmosphere is different than years past.” When asked about the final two minutes and their comeback, Smith said, “Guys were so confident, as long as we had time we had a shot.”
This Sunday’s NFC Championship game has the potential to be a game that both fans and the media talk about for generations. Does Eli Manning have another heroic 4th quarter comeback up his sleeve? Or will the 49ers come up with another spectacular game winning catch? Both are possibilities for a game sure to be full of both amusement and drama.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3T-JlJUAPA
The Catch, The Catch II and The Grab
