CHRIS PEDOTA / THE RECORD
Remembering The Game That Put the Giants on the Path to the 2011 Super Bowl
December 24, 2011, is a date that, for Giants fans, will long remain one of the best games of the past decade.
With their playoff hopes on the line, the Giants, the visiting team, were set to take the Jets in a game that had significant playoff implications for both teams.
It would not be an overstatement to say that this was the most important regular-season game that the Giants played in the 2010s.
For one thing, the Jets, who were coming off back-to-back appearances in the AFC title game, were trying to push the Giants into oblivion in the New York market.
And although the Jets didn't make it to the Super Bowl, their quarterback at the time, Mark Sanchez, had managed to engineer wins against Chargers, Colts, and Patriots teams that were quarterbacked by Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady respectively.
Meanwhile, this game was a pivotal moment in Giants head coach Tom Coughlin’s coaching career. For what seemed like the umpteenth time at that point, some rumors were beginning to swirl about his job security, rumors that likely would have reached a full-blown fever pitch had the Giants missed the playoffs for a fourth straight season.
It didn't help that the Giants, the week before, had served up an abysmal performance against Washington, a team they lost to 23-10 in what was a loss that threatened to derail the Giants' playoff hopes. In fact, with that loss, the Giants needed to win their final two games if they were to win the division and clinch a playoff berth.
The Jets were in a similar situation as the Giants. They were 8-5 heading into Week 15 but were crushed by the Philadelphia Eagles. So they too needed to win out to have a realistic chance of making the playoffs.
With tensions high enough, Jets head coach Rex Ryan made the game even more interesting when he had stadium workers cover the Giants Super Bowl mural outside their locker room.
That decision, viewed as petty by many since whenever the Giants and Jets meet, each team gets to stay in its corner of MetLife Stadium, infuriated severe members of the Giants, who now had extra motivation to beat their stadium neighbors.
With the stage set, it was showtime. But the game did not exactly get off to the best start for the Giants, who went three-and-out on their first drive only to punt the ball to Sanchez and the Jets. On their opening drive, Sanchez found Josh Baker for a five-yard touchdown pass.
The Giants started to come alive in the second quarter. Following a 29-yard completion to Victor Cruz on third down, the Giants were set up inside the Jets’ five-yard line. However, they were unable to capitalize fully and had to settle for a Lawrence Tynes field goal.
There was only one other score during the first half, but it’s one that many Giant fans will never forget.
Following an excellent punt from T.J. Conley, the Jets had the Giants pinned at their one-yard line. With less than three minutes to go in the half, Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride could have just played it safe and tried to give punter Steve Weatherford some more room.
Gilbride, however, chose to be aggressive. Eli Manning threw the ball three straight times. The first two were incomplete, but the third saw Manning connect with Victor Cruz, who beat Kyle Wilson, broke a tackle attempt by Antonio Cromartie, and then streaked down the sideline for an incredible 99-yard touchdown.
This moment was not just the turning point in this game; it was the turning point of the Giants’ season and, arguably, the official start of the Giants’ 2011 Super Bowl run.
If the Jets were rattled, they tried not to show it. They drove deep into Giants’ territory on the next drive, but Nick Folk missed a 44-yard field goal.
The Giants' defense stood tall in the third quarter, forcing Conley to punt four times. The Giants’ offense could not get anything going until late in the quarter.
Then another long completion from Manning to Cruz set the Giants up in Jets’ territory. Following a run by Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw finished off the drive with a 14-yard touchdown run, increasing the Giants lead by 10.
If the Jets were hoping for a comeback, it wasn't in the cards. Facing a 3rd-and-9 deep in his territory, Sanchez was picked off by Kenny Phillips, who returned it inside the Jets’ 20 yard-line. The Giants couldn’t fully capitalize on the good field position and had to settle for a field goal.
With his team’s season on the line, Sanchez drove the Jets down to the Giants’ 1-yard line. However, the 12-play drive ended when he fumbled, and linebacker Jacquian Williams recovered it in the end zone for a touchback.
The Giants had a chance to milk the clock and put the game away, but Manning was picked off by David Harris. Four plays later, Sanchez scrambled for a 1-yard touchdown run for the Jets' first points since the first quarter, closing the Giants lead to six.
Giants fans who were hoping for the best, right about this point, is where perhaps some starting sensing deja vu.
One year earlier, DeSean Jackson of the Eagles returned a punt 65 yards for a game-winning touchdown to cap a 28-point fourth quarter for the Philadelphia Eagles and end the Giants’ playoff hopes for the 2010 season.
So with the Giants faithful watching with bated breath and the clock seeming to take an eternity to run out, both teams went at each other, going three-and-out on their next offensive possession.
After driving into Jets’ territory with under three minutes to play, the Giants were forced to punt again, but Weatherford's punt was downed inside the 10-yard line.
Sanchez was sacked in the end zone by defensive tackle Chris Canty on the first play of the Jets’ possession. With that safety, the Giants increased their lead to eight and got the ball back. A victory was almost certain.
That "almost" became a sure thing as after a failed onside free-kick by Folk, Bradshaw ran for a 19-yard touchdown to seal the win--and the Giants playoff hopes.
Besides the thrill of the game itself, I remember how Ryan had been trash-talking all week. After the game, he and Jacobs exchanged some choice words for each other. Jacobs was so fired up that he looked like he was ready to play another 60-minute football game.
Meanwhile, it was later learned that Coughlin, who had made his players aware of the Jets' chatter, used it for motivation while not letting it become a distraction.
The Giants stayed focus, and in the end, they were the better team. Eight days after triumphing over the Jets, they beat the Dallas Cowboys and captured the NFC East title.
The Giants were back in the playoffs, and the rest is history. Four wins later, Manning was hoisting the Lombardi Trophy for the second time in his career.
In thinking about the win almost ten years later, I sometimes wonder what might have happened if the Giants had lost. Manning would not have gotten the chance to go on another improbable run and win the Super Bowl MVP for the second time in his career. And Coughlin’s tenure with the Giants might have ended four years earlier than it did.
This Christmas Eve victory over the Jets was one of my favorite moments because of what it started. After watching the Giants play an unforgettable stretch of football and knock off the undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl four years earlier, they did not seem possible to pull something off like that again.
After they beat the Jets, I felt as though it was the start of another special run.
It turns out it was.
