The Play:** Driving with a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter, Green Bay quarterback Scott Tolzien throws an interception from point-blank range to defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who returns it 24 yards for a touchdown. The play puts the Giants in the driver's seat en route to a 27-13 victory at home.
The Setup: Pierre-Paul lines up wide over the tight end as the right defensive end.
The Recognition: Tight end Andrew Quarless releases out to the left, where Tolzien is looking for him.
Pierre-Paul delays his rush to stay in the passing lane.
The Payoff: The 6-foot-5 Pierre-Paul with 34 3/4 -inch arms stretches vertically to pick of Tolzien with no one in between the defender and end zone. "I read the formation, the tight end, how he was set, and I caught the ball," Pierre-Paul said. "I knew that it was a touchdown. As soon as I caught it, I knew it was a touchdown. I'm not a receiver or anything, but I knew it was a touchdown.
The "Babe Ruth": After the game, we learn that Pierre-Paul calls his shot in the huddle. "Honestly, I called it before it even happened, in the huddle," he said. "And sure enough that was the play."
The Witness: Teammate and defensive co-captain Justin Tuck vouches for him. "Well if you know JPP, you know he says some off-the-wall things from time to time, so we're kind of used to that," Tuck said. "We were just in the huddle talking about how we needed a big play and we needed some turnovers and he just said, 'I'm going to pick this.' I was kind of like, 'OK.'
"And then when he picked it and all of the cameras were on him, if there was a camera out there that had anything to do with me in the picture you're going to see me, I don't even run out to him to celebrate. I'm literally in awe. If you could have looked at me, my face would have probably looked something like this because he literally called it and executed. I don't know if he's voodoo, psychic, I don't know but that's something I've never seen before."
The Coach's Take: "You have to be able to catch a ball coming at you, I don't know how fast, but coming very fast at you," Tom Coughlin said. "And you need to be in the right spot. He got both hands up, with a shoulder injury, he got both hands up and caught it. He had kind of got himself in rhythm because they had been throwing a lot of three-step stuff and he saw his opportunity and took full advantage of it."
