(Jeff Garcia runs in the fourth quarter. Photo by Terry Schmitt, UPI)

Minutes after a dramatic 17-point comeback by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the San Francisco 49ers did one better. They came all the way back from a 24-point deficit and beat the New York Giants in the NFC wildcard game, 39-38, making it the second-largest postseason comeback in history. This game had it all: tons of scoring, an epic comeback, a game-winning drive, Terrell Owens, and a little controversy for good measure.

New York went into halftime with a 28-14 lead and all the momentum in the world. The 49ers’ secondary was getting killed by the Giants trio of Jeremy Shockey, Amani Toomer and Tiki Barber. Cornerback Ahmet Plummer was getting picked on the most, with the Giants completing six of six passes with him covering.

San Francisco’s first possession of the second half didn’t go much better. On fourth-and-1, coach Steve Mariucci (whose job security rested on the outcome of the game) decided to go for it. Backup running back Fred Beasley was stuffed on the play, and the 49ers turned the ball over on downs. Less than two-and-a-half minutes later, Tiki Barber cut into the 49ers defense and ran for another touchdown. San Francisco's next possession resulted in a punt as well, and New York came away with another field-goal.

With 4:27 left in the third, New York was leading 38-14. To put that in perspective, the great Bill-Oilers playoff game from 1993 (where Buffalo came back from a 32-point deficit) had the Bills trailing by only 11 with 4:21 left in the third. In other words, no team had ever been down by more points with that much time left in a playoff game and come back and won -- making the 49ers' comeback truly exceptional.

San Francisco put together their best drive of the game following the Giants' field goal. On third-and-4 in the red zone, quarterback Jeff Garcia found Owens, who evaded Seahorn’s grab and ran it in for the touchdown. After a two-point conversion, the 49ers defense came alive and produced the Giants' first three-and-out of the day. Matt Allen’s 21-yard punt, bundled with an unnecessary roughness call on the Giants put the 49ers on New York’s 27. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Garcia rushed 15 yards to the left for the score. They tallied another two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 38-30, as the homtown faithful at Candlestick Park started to get excited.

With the crowd at their back, the 49ers' defense continued to put pressure on the Giants and forced another three-and-out. New York quarterback Kerry Collins, who had thrown four touchdowns in the first half, didn’t produce any in the second stanza. As the 49ers converted to the hurry-up-offense, they started taking advantage of the lingering Giants defense and moved down field with proficiency. On fourth-and-1, the 'Niners were looking at a 46-yard field-goal from rookie kicker Jeff Chandler, who had sprained his ankle during the pregame warm-up. Knowing 46 yards might be out of his range, Garcia went for it instead and found receiver Tai Streets for a key first down. They were able to move another 20 yards to give Chandler a more economical 25-yard attempt, which he nailed to cut the score to 38-33.

Kerry Collins and New York were still in control. With 3:16 left on the clock, the Giants were looking at fourth-and-1 at the San Francisco 24. Earlier in the game, FOX announcer Joe Buck had said, "The best thing about Matt Allen is that he’s a good holder." The veracity of this statement was challenged as Allen received a bad snap from center Trey Junkin. Allen put it down just in time for kicker Matt Bryant, who booted it ten feet to the left.

Still with the momentum, and still only down five, the 49ers continued to march down field. At the Giants' 25, Garcia found a seam along the left sideline that, if not for an outstanding tackle by Sean Williams, would have been a touchdown. Garcia’s speed was a huge factor in the game as he ran for 60 yards and avoided being sacked all day, even with Michael Strahan -- the holder of the single-season sack record -- rushing him. Two plays later, Garcia found Tai Streets for the lead-changing touchdown, giving the 49ers a 39-38 lead.

After a failed two-point conversion, the Giants' Delvin Joyce returned the ball 32 yards before getting stopped at his own 48. Kerry Collins took advantage of the great field position and proceeded to spoil the 49ers comeback. After Amani Toomer received a short pass to advance a few more yards, the Giants called their second timeout of the half and were looking at a 42-yard field goal with six seconds left -- the game thoroughly in the balance.

With kickcenter Dan O’Leary injured, the Giants had signed 41 year-old Trey Junkin a week earlier to be his short-term replacement. Allen lined up on the block to handle the potential-winning kick from Bryant. As Bryant charged forward, Junkin’s snap was in the dirt and Allen couldn’t handle it. The Giants were only on third down, so all Allen had to do was spike it in the ground and they’d have another chance. Instead, he ran from the 49ers defenders and threw a desperate pass down field that fell incomplete as time expired. Pass interference was called on Chike Okeafor of San Francisco, who had pulled down the Giants' Rich Seubert as he tried to catch the ball. But the penalty was overruled as Seubert was determined to be an ineligible receiver. Time had run out and San Francisco had completed the miraculous comeback.

(Okeafor pulls Seubert down. Photo by Julie Jacobson, AP Photos)

However... it turned out the referees had made an enormous mistake. Seubert, an offensive lineman, had reported himself as an eligible receiver before the game and should have been allowed to make the catch; it was actually lineman Tam Hopkins who was illegally down field. Because the receiver in question wasn’t ineligible, the pass interference call should have offset the illegal man down field. And since a football game could not end on offsetting penalties, New York should have received an un-timed down from the same spot on the field, which would have given them another shot at a game-winning kick. The next day, the NFL formally apologized for the misjudgment that had prematurely ended the Giants season.

''Everyone feels bad about this,'' said Mike Pereira, the league's director of officiating. ''We all feel miserable. No one wants to live with this mistake.''

''Those were only the fifth and sixth bad snaps of my career,'' Trey Junkin grimly stated. ''Also the last.''

San Francisco went on to get stomped by Tampa Bay, 31-6, in the divisional round of the postseason. Mariucci was fired after the loss and the 'Niners, who had been one of the elite teams in the NFL the previous quarter of the century, failed to get back to the playoffs the rest of the decade. Two weeks later, Matt Allen and Matt Bryant were both released; Allen would never play in another NFL game, while Bryant continued for many years after and even completed a 62-yard field goal in 2006.

After New York's heart-crushing loss, Trey Junkin announced his retirement after 19 years in the league. By committing two bad snaps in the final minutes of the game, he had been largely blamed for the Giants' loss, and even said himself that he had let his teammates down. "This is something I’ve done for 32 years, but not anymore," he said. "If you can’t count on me at the end of the game, that’s it, I’m done. I cost 58 guys a chance to go to the Super Bowl. I’d give anything in the world, except my family at this point, right now to still be retired."