San Francisco, CA

The New York Giants are headed for a rematch of a recent Super Bowl when they take on the New England Patriots in two weeks.

Lawrence Tynes secured the Giants place with a 31 yard field goal in overtime to lift New York over the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 Sunday in the NFC title game.

The 49ers special teams, superb all season long, set up the Giants win as Kyle Williams fumbled a punt return and the Giants' Devon Thomas recovered well within striking distance of a field goal. Jacquian Williams stripped the ball from Kyle Williams on a terrific play.

New York, which upset the Pats four years ago, ran the ball effectively, led by bruising back Ahmad Bradshaw, and set up Tynes for a fairly comfortable kick to hand the 49ers their first home loss of the season.

Eli Manning, harassed throughout by the 49ers bruising offense, put up a team playoff record 58 passes, completing 32 of them for 316 yards and two scores. Manning had no interceptions in a truly gritty effort, hitting Victor Cruz 10 times for 142 yards, mostly in the opening half.

Vernon Davis hauled in a 73-yard touchdown grab midway through the first quarter for a 7-0 Niners lead in the thrilling contest.

Manning and the Giants answered early in the second quarter to tie it at 7-7 as Bear Pascoe grabbed a six-yard scoring strike.

The Giants went up 10-7 on a Lawrence Tynes 31 yard field goal with five seconds left in the half.

The Alex Smith to Davis combination struck again in the third quarter as the receiver scored on a 28-connection with the quarterback, giving the 49ers a 14-10 lead.

Smith finished 12 of 26 for 196 yards and two scores.

Mario Manningham made his first catch of the game count for the Giants in the fourth quarter, grabbing a 17-yard TD catch to put the Giants back up 17-14.

David Akers set up the overtime session with a 25-yard field goal with 5:39 remaining in regulation to tie the game at 17-17.

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