All New Yorkers are Giants fans today. But they weren't on Friday. Everyone was shocked on Sunday. How often do we have to see an offensive juggernaut get beat in a Super Bowl before we're able to digest the fact that they don't necessarily win in February, especially not against a determined and talented opponent.
Yet it was easy to recognize that the Giants were hot, that they had great leadership on both sides of the ball, that they had an overpowering defense, that they had a legacy quarterback, that they were having more fun all week than were the Patriots. Enthusiasm? The Patriots showed little of that in those two weeks before the big game. And they showed that same weakness in the game, especially in the trenches.
Even given all of that, however, the Giants may have needed a miraculous catch on the other end of a spectacular escape by the suddenly slippery Eli Manning to come away with the victory. I say "may have" because David Tyree's jumping, reaching, ball to head-squeezing catch occurred on a third down. There's no doubt in my mind that somebody else would have made a play on fourth down. Much as Brandon Jacobs pounded through the Pats on that fourth and one. Much as Amani Toomer did on third and ten, coming back and securing a throw a few inches off the ground. Much as Steve Smith did on third and eleven.
It shouldn't have had to come to 4th quarter heroics. The Giants physically dominated the entire game. If you could knock the G-Men for anything, it's that they gave all their fans the scare of their lives. To be honest, watching the game was painful for a true Giants fan. Yes, we could cheer the heroic pass rush from Strahan and Umenyiora and Tuck, and even Jay Alford and Kawika Mitchell, and love the 45-yard catch and run by rookie TE Kevin Boss, and thrill to the pounding of Jacobs and the slashing of Bradshaw....but where were the results?
With 2:42 left in the game, despite having their butts kicked for the entire game, the Pats were up by three. We had to watch Randy Moss celebrating the lead (and himself) on the sideline. We had to endure seeing Cory Webster slip, enabling the score. We had to endure the huge Chase Blackburn failure to get off the field, thus prolonging a Patriots drive that could have been a Giants death knell. We had to watch a battered Brady complete short pass after short pass to Welker and Faulk and Moss. There had also been the interception on Smith's bobble, the missed opportunity to a wide-open Plaxico.
While it's difficult to say the Giants were unlucky, given the outcome, they really didn't have much luck. I suppose all the good fortune they lacked for 57 minutes and change came back to them on that one final drive. Yet Tyree's catch, even that seemingly individual moment was the result of some excellent teamwork, that of center Shaun O'Hara and guard Rich Seubert continuing their struggle against Richard Seymour and Jarvis Green, who had run a beautiful stunt on the play. Their staying with their blocks is what really enabled Eli to escape the grasps and make that wondrous throw.
But that play may have never come to pass without Toomer's earlier heroics, or the work of the offensive line and Brandon Jacobs on that seemingly forgotten fourth down. And, even that miracle may have been forgotten if not for the nifty work of Antonio Pierce, the linebackers and that hard-hitting secondary. The point here is that the Giants victory truly was a team effort, and that statement certainly doesn't exclude the head coach, his offensive and defensive coordinators.
The biggest surprise of the game was that the Giants pass rush had such enormous success versus that of their last regular season game. The Giants coaching staff had the presence of mind to hold back in that game from showing their entire blitz package, as the playoffs were coming up. As a result, the Patriots couldn't solve the Giants pass rush. As a result, Brady had no time to throw. As a result, Brady threw the ball up many times with almost no hope of a completion. As a result, the Patriots juggernaut offense was reduced to just 14 points, just short of Plax’s prediction so derided by Brady, a derision that may have given those defenders just the push they needed.
In the final analysis, this was a match of two very similar opponents. Both teams had good leadership, but the Giants was a hair better. The superior offense of the Patriots was negated by the fierce Giants pass rush and sound coverage. The kicking game went to the Giants. Feagles was much more effective than was Chris Hanson. Gostkowski never got his lone opportunity.
As good as Eli was on this day, the day he would tie his brother in Super Bowl wins, it would be a stretch to say he was better than Brady. Indeed, if not for the level-headedness and accuracy of Brady, maybe the Pats wouldn’t have even been close in this game. A lesser quarterback would have come undone.
It must be said that, in retrospect, Belichick may have lost this game. His decision to eschew a field goal attempt on a 4th and 13 from the Giants 31 was a serious error. The failed Pats 4th down pass attempt kept the score at only 7-3 in favor of the Patriots. The game was ultimately decided by three points. A punt would have made some sense in a field-position game, an attempt to make a first down was borne of arrogance.
And that may have been the real key to victory, a magnificent display of teamwork but a lack of arrogance by 53 guys who now get their place in the sun.
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