GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Lawrence Tynes could not have picked a better time to kick a game-winning field goal, even if it came on his third try in the NFC Championship game.
Tynes completed the New York Giants' run to the Super Bowl, kicking a 47-yard field goal 2:35 into overtime for a 23-20 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
"What do they say? Three times is a charm," Tynes quipped outside the locker room about 30 minutes after the Giants (13-6) earned a rematch with the New England Patriots (18-0) for the NFL championship in two weeks.
Tynes, who had not attempted a game-winning kick all season, had three chances to send the Giants to Glendale, Ariz.
With the score tied at 20 midway through the fourth quarter, Tynes pulled a 43-yard field goal attempt wide left with 6:49 to play after misplaying a 15 mph wind.
"I learned from that," Tynes said.
Eli Manning hit rookie Steve Smith with passes of 15, 14 and 11 yards to give Tynes a chance from 36 yards with :04 left in regulation.
Holder Jeff Feagles handled rookie Jay Alford's very high snap on the play, but it threw Tynes' timing off, and his knuckleball of a kick was wide left.
"If I had made a bad kick on the second one, I would have really been down," Tynes said. "The operation was off. The snap threw me off."
Tynes' redemption came after Corey Webster intercepted a Brett Favre pass on the second play from scrimmage in the overtime. It gave the Giants the ball at the Packers' 34, and Tynes trotted out after three plays netted five yards.
"I just ran on the field; I knew it was going to be close to 50, but I knew I could get it there," said Tynes, who was 8-of-8 on field goals longer than 40 yards during the season. "(Coach Tom Coughlin) had to make a decision when I was up there lining it up. I kind of made the decision for him."
All Tynes needed was a good snap this time, and Alford delivered it right into Feagles hands.
"The second one was my fault," Alford said. "I just kept thinking, make a good snap and we're going to go to the Super Bowl. I put all the pressure on myself, and I made a bad snap. I did it to myself."
The snap on the game-winner was perfect.
"I saw Jeff get the ball with the laces out, so I knew it was good," Alford said.
Tynes, who said the cold weather made it feel like he was kicking cardboard, never had a doubt on his last kick.
"As soon as it left my foot, I knew," said Tynes, who barely beat out free agent Josh Huston in training camp for the place-kicking job.
Ironically, Tynes said his first thoughts were of his wife and children. He had twins born this summer and missed a lot of time training in the offseason because they were premature.
His next thoughts were then of Feagles, the 20-year veteran who is now going to his first Super Bowl.
"This is what it's all about," Tynes said. "My main thought when I went to kick that field goal was Jeff Feagles, he's holding it, he's played 20 years, get this guy to the Super Bowl."
There was never a thought of a third miss.
"I'm not thinking about that; I made the game-winning kick to get us into the Super Bowl," said Tynes, who was acquired in the offseason in a trade with Kansas City after Jay Feely signed with Miami as a free agent. "Maybe one day I'll sit back and say 'Holy Cow what if I missed that one.' "
The kick was good, but Tynes didn't stay around too long to celebrate.
"I was gone, I left," he said. "I think I was inside before it was through. I knew it was good. I played it a little right to left, I knew it was a little right to left."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved
