4:32 It's the Giants and Packers with everybody's favorite monotone announcer, Joe Buck!!
4:34 Again, I really don't get why everybody is saying that the Giants are playing better than the first meeting. The first victory against Dallas was the only win post Week 13 where the opposing team showed up, and they should have lost that game too. They got embarassed by Washington and beat three "records are better than they actually are" teams in a row to get here. They played well in the Packers game, but don't tell me that the Giants are coming in to this game on fire.
4:40 This game continues my streak of 350 football games where I don't care what the sideline reporter is saying.
4:42 A one yard gain by Bradshaw on the first play leads to another thing that I really hate to see, defensive linemen avidly celebrating after tackling the running back for a short gain. It's almost as bad as the "I'm on TV!!!!!" idiots from the Niners-Saints diary.
4:44 Manning completes to Manningham for a 19 yard gain after avoiding the rush. That's another thing that nobody ever talks about with Manning and Rodgers, they can move around in the pocket and make blitzers miss.
4:47 Giants are on the Packers 32 with an eleven yard catch by Victor Cruz. Of course, Joe Buck just said "Manning has been so good on third down these past three games" without mentioning that the Jets, Cowboys, and Falcons have all been found to be frauds. That said, Manning has been great so far, they're inside the Packer red zone. Also, Tom Coughlin's face is bright red. I want to see what it would take to turn Coughlin's face purple, although any chance of that probably died when Burress was traded.
4:51 3-0 Giants after a Lawrence Tynes field goal. I also just saw that annoying Southwest Airlines commercial again. Not only am I weeping, I think Deion Sanders might have just killed his vocal chords yelling at the TV.
4:53 Another beauty of a commercial with the snowboarding Ford. Or Nissan. Or whatever. I want to see somebody try crossing car commercials. For instance, start playing the classy luxury car music over a Ford commercial or have the Ford announcer with the really deep voice do a Toyota Camry commercial. These are the things that you start thinking about after dissecting playoff games for two days and writing mega diaries about them.
4:59 Rodgers moving his offense down the field just as quickly as Manning did. Rodgers might be a superhuman, the location of every single one of his passes is absolutely perfect. You don't get any free incompletions with Rodgers, either his receivers have to make a bad play or the defense has to force it. Tom Brady is pretty much the only other QB in the league that I can say that about. Mark Sanchez would rank last in this category for the season and Jake Delhomme would rank last in this category for a career.
5:02 3-3 tie after Mason Crosby hits a 47 yard field goal. Of course, after I finished typing that last post, Rodgers missed a wide open Greg Jennings for a touchdown.
5:08 Manning drops back to pass.
5:09 He's still back there...
5:10 11 yard completion for a first down!
5:10 Touchdown New York Giants!!! Manning to Nicks 66 yard touchdown. That was helped by a failed shoulder tackle by Charlie Pepprah. That's the one thing I hate most about the crazy quarterback/flag football era, very few defenders really execute the proper way to tackle anymore.
5:13 Kickoff goes out of bounds to set the Pack up at the 40. Of course, Joe Buck commented on Tom Coughlin's face, which is currently turning various shades of maroon. I was about to make a "leave it to the Giants to shoot themselves in the leg" joke before I remembered that Plaxico plays for the Jets now.
5:27 Kuhn?
5:27 KUUUUUUHHHHHHNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!! 10-10 Tie, although the Giants absolutely got hosed by the refs on that no fumble call.
5:28 The Packers try an onside kick that doesn't work, giving Eli a short field. Every single sports talk radio person is going to be talking about that one tomorrow if the Giants win. Also, since most of them say the same thing, I'm just going to refer to every sports talk radio host as Boomer and Coach, since Boomer is the most common sports talk nickname and it seems that it's illegal to have a sports talk radio station without someone having the nickname Coach.
5:32 The Packers block a Lawrence Tynes field goal to keep the score at 10-10. I can't wait for Boomer and Coach to break that one down on 95.6 Superfan tomorrow morning.
5:35 Is it just me, or is the referee even more monotone than Joe Buck?
5:37 Rodgers evades a Giant blitz and rushes for a first down to the Giants 40 with 11 minutes left in the second. Nobody ever talks about Rodgers' scrambling ability and you never notice it until he makes 12 yards out of nothing for a first down.
5:43 Joe Buck just had to advertise the new Napoleon Dynamite cartoon and his voice was a mix of horrified and disgusted. That was fantastic.
5:45 Now that I think about it, the whole "Wierd things always happen on the Sunday Night Game of Round Two" is definitely working in the Giants favor.
5:48 Interception! Morgan Burnett picks off Manning with 5 and a half minutes left in the second quarter. That was the first time that the Packers got any kind of pressure on Manning and it made him overthrow that pass in to double coverage. Great defensive play by Green Bay. Also, after three quarters of the diary done, I'm running on fumes. I have to go eat dinner right now, so I'll be back after halftime.
6:13 Of course, I come back downstairs just in time to see a replay of the Hail Mary touchdown. I think Joe Buck might have even raised his voice a little. It's 20-10 Giants at halftime and that Hail Mary switched the whole game in the Giants favor. The Hail Mary combined with all of the drops from Green Bay has just sucked all the momentum from the Packers.
6:18 For such an improbable moment in a game that at least 40 people on my friends list are watching, I'm disappointed by the facebook reaction, only one post. If I could give my friends a "Come on, Man", I absolutely would. The Hail Mary is going to overshadow all of the reasons why the Packers are down right now, drops, no pressure on Manning, and sloppy route execution. These are not the Packers that showed up in Week 13, that's for sure.
6:23 Arsenal! Manchester United! It's the English Premier League next Sunday on FOX!!!
6:27 Is Chris Myers our first male sideline reporter since the 70s? Did they even have sideline reporters in the 70s? Were they as bad as they were today?
6:28 Speaking of bad sideline reporters, Pam Oliver's talking.
6:30 Something's off with Rodgers' coordination with his receivers today, it seems like they're three or four yards out of sync.
6:33 Just as Rodgers is threatening to take it in, the Giants recover a Rodgers fumble. It's almost scripted at this point, every time the Packers look like they might have something going, the Giants kill it.
6:37 I'm running out of witty and insightful things to say. My sugar rush is collapsing and I've seen the same set of about 25 commercials to comment on all weekend. I need something along the lines of the Teleflora commercial from last year's super bowl to turn this entry around.
7:00 Sorry about the 23 minute hiatus, just finishing up putting away the Christmas stuff. The score is 20-13 Giants. I just sat down in time to see Rodgers scramble for a first down at the end of the thid quarter. The Giants defense has been doing an amazing job on the Packers offense so far, I haven't seen Rodgers this flustered since his last press conference.
7:04 Mark Sanchez and Eli Manning used to do those Toyota commercials. Now it's been reduced to just Manning. If that's not a sign to at least think about a quarterback change soon, I really don't know what it will take short of running on to the field in a tuxedo or becoming a Ben Roethlisberger style seedy bar regular.
7:06 Pam Oliver's talking again.
7:07 The Giants stop the Packers on fourth down from their own 40. This game is following the trend of Sunday Night home teams laying an egg (2011 Packers, 2010 Pats, 2009 Chargers, 2007 Cowboys, etc)
7:11 If somebody would have told me before this that the Giants would be beating the Packers despite having exactly one first down by 11 minutes in the fourth quarter, I would never have talked to them about football again.This is unbelievable.
7:17 I think that any and all advertisements for Glee or other dramas of sort should be illegal during football games. Of course, I think that Glee and all other dramas should be illegal.
7:18 Quote from broadcasting buddy Gavin Schall "If David Tyree and Superman had a baby, he would look like Hakeem Nicks" Uh, thanks Gavin.
7:19 Tynes nails a field goal to put the Giants ahead 23-13. You know the Packers are in trouble when Tom Coughlin's face is only a light shade of red.
7:23 What an enlightening report from Chris Myers! So Rodgers said to somebody "We've gotta score"? We're sure about this? Riveting stuff.
7:24 That's a fumble recovery by the Giants returned to the Packers four yard line. The Pack are on the ropes.
7:25 And that's the Knockout Punch! Giants are up 30-13 with a 4 yard pass to Mario Manningham. Stick a fork in the Packers, they're done.
7:26 I realize that this is a depressing day for Packers fans, but at least the State Farm commercial starring Rodgers and Matthews was likeable. Sadly, I think every State Farm commercial has been the highlight of the game for the Packers.Hey Rodgers!! Rodgers!!! DISCOUNT DOUBLE CHECK!!!!
7:28 My prediction that the Pack would destroy the Giants was not one of my better ones to say the least. I'm just going to pretend that prediction never happened. I would like to point out that I'm doing OK these playoffs, this is my only loss against the spread so far (I picked the Steelers to beat the Broncos, but not by double digits, and I picked the Ravens to beat the Texans, but not by the spread).
7:33 The Packers are driving inside the Giant red zone while Joe Buck pretends that he's still really interested in the last five minutes of this game.
7:36 Joe Buck raised his voice! That means the Packers scored!!! 30-20 New York as Rodgers fires a bullet to Donald Driver for the touchdown.
7:39 The Giants recover the onside kick. Of course, this is the Giants so anything can happen.
7:42 After the Packers force a third and eleven, they generate no pass rush on Eli, who zips it over the middle to a wide open Victor Cruz for 17 yards. That's really the game in a nutshell for the Packers.
7:43 Bradshaw runs for 24 yards, that just about wraps things up.
7:45 Touchdown Brandon Jacobs! That should pretty much wrap the game up. Not only is the fat lady singing, but Tom Coughlin's face has turned completely normal.
Now that this game is basically over, so is the mega-diary. We end the divisional diaries with a huge upset, the Giants beating the Packers. I guess that at the end of the day, the best teams won and we can look forward to a great conference championship weekend. I guess this diary is over because there is nothing more that anyone can say about the divisional weekend. Not me, not Ricky Gervais later tonight, and not Boomer and Coach on 95.7 Superfan.
Score: Giants 37 Packers 20
Parts of the Mega-Diary done: 4 out of 4
Hours spent on the Mega-Diary: 15 give or take a few.
AFC Conference Championship: Patriots vs Ravens
NFC Conference Championship Giants vs Packers
Teams with Super Bowl Hopes Still Alive: Four
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