Q&A: Giants' Tynes downplays botched FG attempt
What happened on the non-missed but non-made field-goal attempt on the first drive?
Lawrence Tynes, the kicker who seemed to run right past the placement without taking a swipe at it, said that holder Jeff Feagles "double-caught" the ball. "It kind of slipped out of his hands, and once I get going, I can't stop," Tynes said. "I didn't feel like I could make the kick." Feagles wound up taking a rushing loss of 7 yards on the play and a fumble that was recovered by the Chargers.
Those three points loomed pretty large a few hours later, no?
In some minds. It was one of the first plays Tom Coughlin mentioned in his postgame media session. "The game should have been over starting with the first field goal," he said. "That should have been three points and perhaps we wouldn't have been in the bind there at the end."
But Tynes, on his way out of the stadium, said he didn't think they affected the outcome. "That's in the first quarter; that was a long time ago," he said. "Obviously, the points are left on the field, but we had a lot of opportunities to win."
Does Kevin Boss have a target painted on his helmet?
The Giants' tight end took what looked like a helmet-to-helmet hit from Eric Weddle in the second quarter and, just like the hit he took from Antrel Rolle against the Cardinals two weeks ago, he held on to the ball. "I'm getting tired of those shots," Boss said. Neither drew a flag.
Is Boss OK?
He returned to the game before halftime and even caught the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. "I just got the wind knocked out of me pretty good," Boss said. "It took me a while to catch my breath and I got my bell rung pretty good. But I wanted to get out there and try to finish this game. I thought we did, but we couldn't hold on."
Michael Boley and Chris Canty came back. Did they have an impact?
Boley much more than Canty. Boley started at weak-side linebacker and played virtually all game, making seven tackles. Canty was in the defensive line rotation but with starters Fred Robbins and Barry Cofield playing and Rocky Bernard and Mathias Kiwanuka getting snaps inside, he didn't have much of an effect.
How did the big change at safety this week help?
Aaron Rouse was practically the invisible man - he had one assisted tackle - but that's a good thing considering how the spotlight seemed to find his predecessor, C.C. Brown, for all the wrong reasons.
Any other shake-ups in terms of playing time?
Rookie Clint Sintim saw the most defensive playing time of the season, spelling Danny Clark quite a bit. Danny Ware played running back for the first time this season and had two carries before leaving with a burner.
