NY Giants' Mario Manningham comes through for Big Blue this time around; Tom Coughlin predicts Lawrence Tynes NFC Championship Game - New York Daily News

Ron Antonelli/New York Daily News

Giants wide receiver Mario Manningham touchdown catch in the 2nd half of the Giants 20-17 win in overtime.

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SAN FRANCISCO â€" This time, Mario Manningham made the play.

With 8:41 left in regulation and the Giants facing third-and-15 from the San Francisco 17, Manningham lined up in the slot. At the snap, he ran upfield, slanted to the inside, and leaped to catch a picture-perfect pass from Eli Manning in the end zone.

The fourth-quarter touchdown gave the Giants a three-point lead in their eventual 20-17 NFC Championship Game victory Sunday night over the San Francisco 49ers in overtime at Candlestick Park. And for Manningham, it also provided a measure of redemption, even if it was his lone catch of the game.

The last time the Giants had faced the Niners, on Nov. 13, Big Blue left Candlestick Park with a 27-20 loss, and Manningham had failed to dive for a late Manning TD pass that would have tied the game.

That didn’t happen this time.

“He made the play,” said fellow wideout Hakeem Nicks. “That was big.”

TOM KNOWS SCORE
On Saturday night, Tom Coughlin gave a moving speech â€" and the coach also predicted the margin of victory, receiver Devin Thomas said.

“He said we would win by a field goal,” Thomas said.

The Giants took note of that after Sunday’s win. According to Nicks, they’ll expect that Coughlin’s next prediction will come true as well.

“Yeah, he said that,” Nicks said. “Now, we believe.”

FEWELL-ING RUMORS
Perry Fewell could have a few options whenever the Giants’ season is over. According to a report on CBS on Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts are interested in speaking to the defensive coordinator about their head coaching vacancy. And as the Daily News reported two weeks ago, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also are expected to ask permission to interview Fewell when the season is over.

Both teams missed their window to talk to Fewell during the week before the divisional playoff round. Now they can’t even seek permission to talk to him until after the Super Bowl.

THIRD AND WRONG
Niners quarterback Alex Smith said he felt “crappy” after the loss.

The 49ers, often facing third and long, were just 1-for-13 on third down and that one conversion came on the last play of the first half when the Giants were defending the deep ball. Smith completed just one ball to a wide receiver.

“We were awful on third down. We got ourselves in a lot of third and longs and even when we were third and manageable we didn’t convert. It’s just bad,” he explained. “I think it was the difference between us . . . I mean, really, on offense that was what stands out to me between us controlling the game a little bit more.”

Asked how the Giants took away his wide receivers, Smith said, “They were good. They mixed it up a lot today, coverage-wise. It wasn’t one thing that jumps out at me. They pressed us, they played coverage, they played Cover 2 . . . mixed it up all throughout the game. We just weren’t able to get into a rhythm, get any guys going outside. It limited us.”

SUPER FRUSTRATING
The loss ended a dream season for the Niners. Jim Harbaugh would have been the first rookie coach to reach a Super Bowl after inheriting a team with a losing record. The 49ers were 6-10 last year under Mike Singletary.

“We’re proud of the way our players played,” Harbaugh said. “They prepared, they worked, they competed. It wasn’t there for us today and in a lot of ways we played well enough to win and we don’t come away with it. It will take a while to get over it but we’ll get over it. This team is not defeated by any stretch of the imagination. A man can be destroyed but he can’t be defeated.”

HAKEEM NICKED
Nicks injured his shoulder in the first quarter, but returned and finished with five catches for 55 yards. He said he fell on the AC joint in his shoulder, but added that he did not think the injury was serious. . . . Center David Baas briefly left the game for a drive, but he said he was merely “hit in the ribs.” He plans to rest this week and hopefully be recovered by next week. “Add it to my list of injuries,” Baas said. . . . Baas, who played for the 49ers last season, said he spoke with a few of his ex-teammates after the game, and they wished him well against the Patriots. “They said go get that Super Bowl title,” he said. “They know these things don’t come along often. Our job’s not done yet.”