Tynes confident he'd stick a fork in Packers

BY ERIK BOLAND | erik.boland@newsday.com

January 21, 2008

Tom Coughlin celebrates in the locker room with kicker Lawrence Tynes

Giants coach Tom Coughlin, left, celebrates in the locker room with kicker Lawrence Tynes after their 23-20 overtime win over the Packers. (AP Photo / January 20, 2008)

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Lawrence Tynes pulled his first attempt that would have broken the 20-20 tie.

He outright shanked the second one as the fourth quarter expired.

When it came to the longest attempt by either kicker in last night's NFC Championship Game, Tynes exuded confidence.

"I just ran out onto the field," Tynes said of his 47-yard field goal with 12:25 left in overtime that sent the Giants to Super Bowl LXII. "I knew it was going to be close to 50 yards but I knew I could get it there. [Tom Coughlin] had to make a decision when I was out there lining up. I kind of made the decision for him. He was going to have to pull me off the field."

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The mantra of the kicker is that the last kick must be forgotten. Quickly.

Tynes, before booting what turned out to be the game-winner, had plenty to purge from his mind.

He missed a 43-yard field goal with 6:49 left that could have given the Giants the lead, then yanked a 36-yard field goal at the end of regulation. That could not entirely be blamed on Tynes, however, as rookie snapper Jay Alford's snap sailed high and holder Jeff Feagles did well just to get the ball down for the kick.

"I felt good about all the kicks," said Tynes, who accounted for the Giants' six first-half points by kicking field goals of 29 and 37 yards. "The operation on the second one obviously was not what it was supposed to be and I didn't make a very good attempt at it."

While Giants fans no doubt were tempted to turn away from the television on the overtime kick, that was not the case on the Giants' sideline, or on the field.

"There was no question on that one," Feagles said. "He just nailed it. I just can't say enough about Lawrence to come back after two misses and hit a 47-yarder to send us to the Super Bowl."

Eli Manning said he allowed himself a brief moment of disappointment after the missed kick to end regulation, but believed Tynes would come through in overtime.

"I was like, 'Hey, you can make this,'" Manning said. "There was no reason why not."

The weather could have been one such reason and Tynes, a fourth-year kicker out of Troy State, said last night was the coldest he had ever been. The game-time temperature was minus-2 with a minus-23 wind chill and when Tynes lined up for the game-winner, the temperature had dropped to minus-3.

"Well, you saw the kickoffs, the field goals, the punts," Tynes said of the effect the cold had on the ball, which fluttered oddly most of the night. "It's like kicking cardboard almost. It doesn't compress off your foot like it normally would."

Tynes charged straight for the locker room after his winning kick sailed through, getting most of his well-wishes from teammates in an area that likely would not have felt as warm had he failed a third time.

"They said the usual stuff: 'I love you, I love you, I love you,' " Tynes said. "But the truth is, I love them because they got the ball back for us in order to have the opportunities. That was a big pick there and then Eli moved us closer to get close enough for the field goal. What can you say about it?"

When his final kick went through, except for a couple of hundred Giants fans, Lambeau Field collectively didn't have much to say at all.