The 2007 NFL season moved one round closer to its Superbowl climax with victories by the San Diego Chargers over the Tennessee Titans, and The New York Giants over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Division match-ups are set, as the field of contenders narrows towards the two teams that will ultimately meet to play for the Championship.
Giants Beat Bucs to Book Playoff Date With Cowboys
TAMPA, Florida—The New York Giants erased a 7-0 deficit with 24 unanswered points to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-14 Sunday to set up a second-round playoffs showdown against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Giants, held to minus-two yards of offense in the first quarter by the number-two ranked defense of NFC South champion Bucs, used two Brandon Jacobs touchdowns for a 14-7 halftime lead and cemented their advantage with a 92-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that gave them a 24-7 lead.
Responding to Tampa's (9-8) loading up their defensive line to stop New York's running attack, Giants quarterback Eli Manning took to the air and connected on 20-of-27 passes for 185 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers.
The Giants made two interceptions and recovered a fumbled kickoff return in the second half as the visitors improved their season's road record to a remarkable 8-1.
"The fact that we didn't have any turnovers today was big," said Coughlin. "It was a hard fought game. We kept them off balance."
New York (11-6) will face NFC East rivals Dallas (13-3) next Sunday. The Green Bay Packers (13-3), who like the Cowboys had a first-round bye, play the Seattle Seahawks (11-6) Saturday in the other NFC semi-final clash.
The AFC West champion San Diego Chargers (11-5) and Tennessee Titans (10-6) play the final game of Wild-Card weekend later Sunday to see who will join the New England Patriots (16-0), Indianapolis Colts (13-3) and Jacksonville Jaguars (12-5) into next week's divisional round.
Throttled Attack
Tampa Bay throttled New York's rushing attack and moved the ball smartly on the ground in the first quarter, using running back Earnest Graham to spearhead a 54-yard drive that ended in a one-yard plunge by Graham for a 7-0 Bucs lead.
After starting with three failed drives, the Giants used short passes to drive 53 yards in the second quarter and tie the game on a 5-yard TD reception by Jacobs.
New York continued to move the ball smartly with Manning finding receivers over the middle and surged ahead when Jacobs capped a 65-yard drive with an 8-yard TD run to make it 14-7.
Cornerback Corey Webster, playing for the injured Sam Madison, recovered a fumbled kickoff return to start the second half that led to a 25-yard Lawrence Tynes field goal.
A 92-yard, 15-play fourth-quarter drive keyed by halfback Ahmad Bradshaw ate up eight minutes 37 seconds and pushed the score to 24-7 with a 4-yard TD pass caught by Amani Toomer.
"We just had a good mix of runs and passes. It was a big-time drive," said Manning, who notched his first career playoff win after first-round losses the last two seasons.
"I'm very excited to come in here and play well and give the team a chance. We did our job today."
Chargers Complete Playoff Picture by Beating Titans
SAN DIEGO—The San Diego Chargers overcame a dull first-half performance with a sparkling final 30 minutes to beat the Tennessee Titans 17-6 on Sunday to complete the NFL's Wild-Card opening round of playoffs.
San Diego, stymied by the Titans defense and trailing 6-0 at intermission, surged into a 10-6 third-quarter lead and added another touchdown in the fourth to claim victory.
The triumph, which extended San Diego's winning streak to seven in a row, lifted the Chargers (12-5) to a playoff clash next Sunday in Indianapolis against the Colts (13-3).
The other AFC divisional-round playoff will have the undefeated New England Patriots (16-0) hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars (12-5) on Saturday.
The NFC semi-finals of the Super Bowl tournament will have the Seattle Seahawks (11-6) travelling to play the Green Bay Packers (13-3) on Saturday, and the Dallas Cowboys (13-3) taking on the visiting New York Giants (11-6) on Sunday.
Next weekend's games will set up the following week's conference championships with those winners meeting in the Super Bowl on Feb. 3 in Arizona.
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