NFL 2011 Playoffs: Eli Manning Brilliant: Giants Oust Top-Seeded Packers

Eli Manning Brilliant: Giants Oust Top-Seeded Packers
Kareem Shaker

Green Bay, WI

Eli Manning threw for a career playoff high 330 yards with three touchdowns and the Giants defense forced three turnovers as New York booked a ticket to the NFC Championship Game with a 37-20 crushing of the top-seeded Green Bay Packers Sunday.

The Giants made the 15-1 Packers look confused and flustered, forcing Aaron Rodgers and company to commit uncharacteristic mistakes. Pro Bowlers Rodgers and John Kuhn each lost costly fumbles, while receivers dropped a number of passes that could have changed the momentum of the game.

New York came out firing and rode a last second Hail Mary pass to Hakeem Nicks, his second touchdown of the day, to a 20-10 lead at the half.

The first was a brilliant 66-yarder in the first quarter, his second touchdown reception of 66 or more yards this postseason, just the second player in NFL history with 2 TD receptions that long in a single postseason. Nicks would finish with 165 yards, the second most ever in a playoff game in Giants history.

Meanwhile, the Giants defense was roasting Rodgers on a spit, sacking the talented quarterback four times and picking him off once.

Rodgers finished 26-for-46 with 264 yards and two touchdowns for a season-low 78.5 rating, but did rush for a game-high 66 yards.

New York has now beaten Green Bay in the playoffs two times in the past four years, riding the last win to a Super Bowl in January of 2008.

The Giants will have to go through Candlestick Park at San Francisco for the NFC Championship next Sunday. The winner faces either the Baltimore Ravens or the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.