18 and No!
This was for me, one of the greatest nights in my personal sports history. Right behind Tennesesee's 98 national championship, the Braves beating the Pirates in the 92' NLCS, and maybe the Colts beating the Patriots in the 07' AFC championship. I've honestly cheered for the Giants since Eli's arrival (living in Philadelphia definitely has grown that interest), but the elation I had at the end of the game would not have compared if it had not been the Patriots at the losing end. I never again have to here anything again about a Patriots undefeated season and even more crap about the Patriots being the "best team of all time". But this was so good on so many levels. It's so brilliant that the Patriots 'story book season' had such a "story book ending". Here's what made this so great:
1 - All of the media mockery of Eli Manning is now put to rest. He didn't just show up and ride the wave of his defense (ala Trent Dilfer & Brad Johnson), he was clutch.
2- Tiki Barber is eating some serious crow and watching this realizing that all his team needed in order to win the Super Bowl was for his loud mouth to get out of the locker room and on to morning chick TV. It was also nice to know that Jeremy Shockey had to watch this and had nothing to do with it.
3- The Silent errogance of the Patriots finally caught up to them (Joel pointed this out to me). There's :39 in the Super Bowl, The Patriots decide to cover Plaxico Burress 1 on 1? It's like Coloneal Nathan R. Jessup thinking he just "did his job" and can just go back to his base.
4- Belichick not only lost, but became a more despicable loser than he already was. He walked off the field with a :01 left on the clock and didn't shake anyone's hand. Ha....that was so great.
5 - The Pats "almighty offense" only scored 14 pts, after Tom Brady laughed at the idea they would only score 17...yep, that would have forced overtime.
6 - The Patriots attempted to secure a trademark for "19-0" earlier this week. I smiled when I heard that and thought, "this get's better with every bit of info." One of the all time 'counting your chickens before your eggs hatch' mistakes.
7 - Junior Seau still has not won a Super Bowl ring. That's not really a stat, but it should be.
8 - Tom Brady lost tonight, that's always a good thing. But now he knows the pain of losing a Super Bowl. A guy on Fox Sports Radio called in and screamed how we can put this Brady/Montana comparison to rest, Montana never ever lost a Super Bowl. Brady has. He's not immortal, He's great...but not the best.
9 - We get to shut up the obnoxious city of Boston. The Red Sux have already won, the Celtics are dominating, it would have been unbearable for them to have all three.
10 - This is the best reason, we get to anticipate Bill Simmons having to suck it up and cry about how 'robbed' his team was, and better yet - that his beloved Patriots have had their season ended the last 2 years by the Manning brothers.
Whether you cared or not, this game reminds us why Sports is so great. No one gave the Giants any kind of a shot, no one. Any team can win at any given time, you really never ever know. And you have to just love the unpredictability of sports. I'm now remembering the Packer's run in the mid-90's, wondering how long they would be on top, but after they lost the Super Bowl to the Broncos everyone disbanded and their run ended. Is this the beginning of the end of the Patriots? I hope so. I propose a toast, with the 72' Dolphins, I toast to Eli and the Giants winning the Super Bowl, but even more so to the Patriots and their whining Bill Simons club.....enjoy the losing side for once. Brian and I have been begging the sports gods for this all season. Amen.
posted by Alex @ 11:43 PM
22 comments
22 Comments:
Kudos to the Giants Defense. They won the game by themselves. Brady got hit way too many times to be effective and you could tell he wasn't the same QB. My only gripe was that Tuck or Umenyoria (sp?) didn't win the MVP. Manning threw a TON, and I mean a TON, of passes that bounced off DB's hands or were just 50/50 balls. When the coaches grade that film they'll feel lucky not to have had 3 or more picks. The defensive line won that game. Justin Tuck was just unstoppable. He could not be blocked all night. My biggest question, WHERE WAS ARCHIE? I guessed we'd see him on camera about three times a quarter but he was nowhere to be found!?!?!
Also, I was impressed Brady didn't throw a pick playing on his back all night (I'm pretty sure he's never thrown one in 4 Superbowls and not even Montana can say that). He's probably the greatest QB ever (or at least in the discussion), even with the loss tonight. I doubt we've heard the last of him.
One last thought. How big are those shirts that they put over their shoulderpads after they win? XXXXXL? Seriously, those guys are already in double and triple X's without the pads.
Kurt, Brady has thrown several picks in the Super Bowl. And he's not the best ever. Take that man-crush somewhere else.
I agree with Kurt...Giants defense won the game, and Tuck was the player of the game...that guy dominated all night. I love Plaxico saying "can someone give our defense a little credit???"
Belicheck leaving was despicable. I wish the Giants had thrown a fade to the endzone with 1 second left to shove it in his face at the end for walking off the field while his defense was still out there. He better get BLASTED by the media for that. Remember when Moss did that a few years ago? he got hammered for it. And now a COACH does it in the SUPER BOWL! How pathetic.
I hate the damn Giants, but was glad to see them win. Good for Eli.
That is 11 super bowls and counting for the NFC East...the greatest division in the history of football...except for the Eagles of course.
Last night was just so beautiful on so many levels. I agree the MVP should have gone to the whole defensive line, but I have not gripes giving it to the guy who led his team twice down the field at clutch times. The scramble away bomb down the field on the last drive was one of the greatest super bowl moments.
It was never interesting watching Tom Brady finally have to play with some pressure on his back. Anyone notice how he missed a lot of his "easy" throws after some pressure started breathing down his neck. That has been my gripe all along, the guy has all day to throw. Football is such a team game (the most teamsport by far) that its so hard to say who is the greatest quarterback of all time.
I'll say this, I would take Favre and Elway over Brady. They got put on his back countless times and kept getting up to make throws.
Great super bowl
I totally agree with the D-Line being MVP's, they were amazing. But I do like Eli's MVP shuved back in the face of the NY fans who thought he couldn't hack it.
Belichick walking off the field early reminds of this guy Zach who lived on my hall freshman year. When you had Zach beat in NCAA 99', he would jump up and turn off the game in a complete pout.
...maybe Belichick went into that tunnel looking for the reset button?
Ben, I checked. We were both wrong. Brady threw a pick in the Super Bowl vs. the Panthers. That's his only one.
The crying continues, Brady & Moss both backed out of the Pro-bowl. This just keeps getting better.
Kurt, OK thanks for the correction. Has anyone noticed the OVERWHELMING relief everywhere that the Giants won and we don't have to put up with this Patriots thing anymore. It's almost like ESPN was tired of it.
Favre over Brady, by the way, is completely insane.
guess i got here late, everyone's touched on my thoughts, but here are a few:
1)favre over brady is silly. he's still one of the best ever, and he'll probably win 2-3 more of these. i would have been elated that the pats lost except for the fact that...
2)if ever somebody didn't deserve to win a super bowl, it's eli manning. i'm happy for strahan, i love plax, but eli is a pompous prick who thought he was bigger than the nfl before he'd even thrown a pass in the league. ok so actually he's tied with bellichick for most undeserving to win a super bowl, guess it's a toss up. but i still hate eli manning
3) alex already touched on this, but the patriots extreme arrogance showed up in the fourth quarter. it is sheer lunacy to try to cover plaxico burress one on one on an island inside the 10. my gosh. not to mention refusing to keep extra guys in to block on the line when it was clear they were dominated. usually the pats excel at adjustments.
4) karma has made a serious case for it's existence
a) trying to trademark "19-0"
b) all the "eff you td's" they scored late in games to run op the score
c) momma always said cheaters never win
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I agree about the one on one plax thing, but the worst call was not kicking the 49 yard field goal on 4th and 13. They missed those three points in the end.
Also, as far as QBs go, in my opinion it's Brady, Elway, & Montana (in no particular order) alone on the "Mt. Rushmore" of NFL QBs.
Kurt, you were wrong about Montana. He's never thrown a pick in the any of his four Super Bowls:
Wikipedia -- In his four Super Bowls, Montana completed 83 of 122 passes for 1,142 yards and 11 touchdowns, with an impressive zero interceptions, earning him a passer rating of 127.8. Montana led his team to victory in each game, and is the only player ever to win three Super Bowl MVP awards.
Kurt, it is flat-out disgraceful to place Brady in that group already. Disgraceful!! Yes he's great, yes he's a hall-of-famer - but hold on.
...Brady on the mountain with Montana/Elway? "Na...Na man...Hell Na....I believe you get your ass kicked for saying something like that."
For all you fudge-loving Brady fans, you should know that Eli's stats basically doubled Brady's undeserving Super Bowl MVP against the Rams.
Seriously, Brady with Montana and Elway? Montana and Elway didn't know what the defensive play calls were on every snap. Kind of a big deal.
Brady's won three rings. He's played in four Superbowls. He's thrown one interception in those four games combined. He's led a 4th quarter drive for the lead in all four Superbowls. He owns the single season TD record. Besides Montana, Elway, and Terry Bradshaw who else has that kind of resume?
Brady is a top 5 all time QB right now.
somebody who doesn't pose for a perfume ad. Kurt, your a fruit for liking Tom Brady.
My wife is playing Madden '08 on the Wii right now. She is playing Green Bay v. Patriots (she is Green Bay). With 3:12 to go in the 3rd quarter Green Bay is up 35 to 3. Brady has three interceptions to Farve's one. Typical Farve int. (Farve sees a blitz coming, ducks under the arms of the DE, runs to his left, pauses, throws to the middle of the field, to the TE who tips the ball way in the air, linebacker makes a huge diving catch) so it really doesn't count. If Green Bay pulls this one out, Farve is better than Brady.
kelly,
i don't know who you are but the fact that you have a wife who plays madden '08 on the wii is amazing and i respect you greatly. you embody "sweet emotion"
Joel,
I wear it like a crown of thorns on my head.
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