Eli Manning received full praise for leading two touchdown drives that eventually led to game-winning. The defense received praise for making great saves when they had to. Something a Giants defense hasn’t done since it was anchored by a guy named Taylor. It is not necessary to mention the first name of the best linebacker in history.
But the game-saving play that no one is talking about, even though it shouldn’t have gotten to that point in the first place (more on that in a bit), is an outfield tackle by rookie defensive back Michael Johnson.
With the game on the line and time running out for the Bears, head coach Lovie Smith pointed on a screen to Bears running back Adrian Peterson. The play went to the right side and was executed almost flawlessly. The only man capable of having a crack in him was Johnson, who made a diving shoe string tackle. If he hadn’t, there was nothing in front of Peterson except the end zone and 60,000 screaming Bears fans.
Was it something Johnson did right or did the Bears do something wrong? A bit of both actually. When Grossman threw the screen, the wide receiver’s job was to pick off the defensive back covering him, which he did, leaving safety Johnson to be picked off by a lineman. However, the lineman threw a block on linebacker Reggie Torbor, stopping him to go out into the open field and hit Johnson. Johnson then side-stepped the other blocker, leading to the tackle and ultimately saving the game.
coughlin is lucky
Let’s rewind the game a bit. It shouldn’t even have gotten to this point. With one minute and thirty-one seconds left in the game, the Bears had a timeout left, it was first down, and the Giants were at roughly the two-yard line.
I think Coughlin made a mistake going for the touchdown. Instead, he should have run out the clock and gone for the game-winning field goal. We saw it last year when the Saints did it to the Eagles, and it worked perfectly.
If you calculate the time you would see the following. First Manning picks up the ball, runs 4-5 seconds off the clock, then takes a knee, the Bears use their final timeout and now there would be about a twenty-seventh minute left. Second down, Manning does the same and the Giants are down at the twenty-third minute. Run thirty-nine seconds to the play clock, the Giants now have forty-four seconds. Now it’s third down, same play, and the Giants can now let the clock tick down to four seconds and let Tynes kick the game-winning field goal from about 22 yards. With this scenario, their defense never sees the field, there’s no threat from Devin Hester, and there’s no chance of a Hail Mary play.
We know Tynes hasn’t been the best kicker, but the bottom line is this. If you’re afraid of putting him in that situation, then he shouldn’t be on the team in the first place.
By: Michael C. Podlesny