Three steps back, two over, head down.

Timing is everything for a kicker. When that was disrupted for Lawrence Tynes by a delay of game penalty and a San Francisco attempt to ice him as he prepared for the game-winning attempt last night, all bets were off.

However, the five-yard relocation apparently helped the placekicker in his try for glory, battling slick conditions as opposed to negative temperatures four years ago.

"I actually got a better spot after the delay of game in hindsight," Tynes said after the game. "There was a lot of sand at 26 [yards out]. When we got the five-yard penalty, it was grass. So I had a nice little tee area."

Tynes, who hit an overtime winner in the Frozen Tundra of Green Bay to send his team to Super Bowl XLII, was originally staring at a 26-yarder this time around.

The penalty moved the line of scrimmage from the San Francisco eight to the 13 as Tynes faced the same pressure on a soggy pitch at Candlestick Park.

"They were as tough tonight as they were in '08, just different circumstances," Tynes said. "There was moisture, the footing was tough, the balls were really slick. I am going to a dome for a Super Bowl, so I am going to be happy."

Later admitting he felt more pregame anxiety than normal, Tynes split the uprights from 31 yards out, sending the Giants to Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI.

The kick was 16 yards shorter than the NFC Championship game against the Packers, and Tynes, who famously ran off the field at Lambeau, instead embraced anyone he could find on Sunday night.

"I didn't have anywhere to run really," Tynes said. "The last time it was strictly just to get out of the cold. But tonight, 50 degrees or whatever it was, it was a little damp, but it wasn't cold at all tonight."

As for the hold, Steve Weatherford corralled a low snap from Zak DeOssie as Tynes could continue his motion uninterrupted. Before the play, Jim Harbaugh called a timeout, which may have led to another unintended consequence just like the delay of game penalty.

It gave time for Weatherford to refocus as he prepared for the biggest hold of his career.

"He had come over, he looked like he was upset and I was trying to figure out what was wrong," Tom Coughlin said of Weatherford. "He said, 'I'm going to get this field goal kicked and get to the Super Bowl.' And I said, 'That sounds like a good idea to me.'"

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