This one was more of a bad posture rather than a missed shot, but regardless, it was a special opportunity for the teams that could have sent the Giants to Tampa Bay to face the eventual NFC champions, but unfortunately for Big Blue, long snapper Trey Junkin fumbled and receiver Matt Allen made a mistake. If Allen had tried to run the ball down, the 49ers would have blocked it. Instead, Allen rolled to his right and sent a Hail Mary toward the end zone, praying that left guard Rich Seubert would come up with a catch. It’s not.
With the ball in the air, Seubert was pulled to the ground by Chike Okeafor, leading many Giants fans to believe they had earned a pass interference call. Rewatching the play, Okeafor’s actions would certainly qualify… if Seubert wasn’t an ineligible receiver. According to NFL Rulebook, pass interference can only be called if a defensive player interferes with the ability of an eligible receiver to catch the ball. Although a flag was thrown, the penalty was on the Giants side. The 49ers obviously fought back and won the game.
Kicker Matt Bryant never got a chance to hit the game-winning field goal. Bryant was a rookie, but he was pretty good from long range early in his career. During the 2002 regular season, he went 3-4 from 40+ yards, although he missed one from 42 yards earlier in this game. While that punt, as well as Jeremy Shockey’s dropped touchdown with four and a half minutes left in the third quarter, is what allowed San Francisco to pull off its improbable comeback, it was the poor shooting and holding that ultimately doomed New York.