Sunday, February 03, 2008
Perfect Game Beats Perfect Season
"18-1...18-1....18-1..." was the chant going through the streets of New York tonight.
(Along with that always-dependable standby, "Boston sucks!")
Sorry about that, Pats.
My friend David Bernstein called this the best Super Bowl of our lifetimes. He may be right. I can't think of a better one recently. Hey, it's the first time in the modern era that an unbeaten team has been knocked off in the Big Game.
This was a game very reminiscent of Super Bowl XXV, when the Giants beat the offensive juggernaut Buffalo Bills, 20-19.
In a nice bit of irony, the Giants also did to the Patriots what the Pats did to the Rams during their first championship run: They kept the offense off the field and off-balance. They kept the ball out of Randy Moss' hands (though it looked for a while like Wes Welker was going to be the Giant-killer). They pressured Tom Brady like he hadn't been all year (and as they did to Jeff Garcia, Tony Romo and Brett Favre previously). Five sacks.
Eli Manning had the ball twice in the fourth quarter and delivered touchdowns twice. (Wow. Is this Archie Manning's revenge on the NFL, or what? After suffering with the horrific New Orleans Saints his entire career, his two sons win consecutive Super Bowls -- and consecutive game MVPs, to boot!)
Brady, meanwhile, had the ball with the game on the line and couldn't deliver. (Does he dump Gisele in the next couple of weeks -- or does she dump him?)
14-6>18-1
Wow.
UPDATE: Ten things we learned from the Giants' Super Bowl win. The Manning-escape-from-Pats-rush-and-throw-to-Tyree-who-made-insane-sky-high-catch is a play for the ages. It's that play that solidified the MVP for Manning. As two friends mentioned, otherwise, a great case could be made for Justin Tuck who had two sacks, a forced fumble and was in Brady's face all night.
|
(Along with that always-dependable standby, "Boston sucks!")
Sorry about that, Pats.
My friend David Bernstein called this the best Super Bowl of our lifetimes. He may be right. I can't think of a better one recently. Hey, it's the first time in the modern era that an unbeaten team has been knocked off in the Big Game.
This was a game very reminiscent of Super Bowl XXV, when the Giants beat the offensive juggernaut Buffalo Bills, 20-19.
In a nice bit of irony, the Giants also did to the Patriots what the Pats did to the Rams during their first championship run: They kept the offense off the field and off-balance. They kept the ball out of Randy Moss' hands (though it looked for a while like Wes Welker was going to be the Giant-killer). They pressured Tom Brady like he hadn't been all year (and as they did to Jeff Garcia, Tony Romo and Brett Favre previously). Five sacks.
Eli Manning had the ball twice in the fourth quarter and delivered touchdowns twice. (Wow. Is this Archie Manning's revenge on the NFL, or what? After suffering with the horrific New Orleans Saints his entire career, his two sons win consecutive Super Bowls -- and consecutive game MVPs, to boot!)
Brady, meanwhile, had the ball with the game on the line and couldn't deliver. (Does he dump Gisele in the next couple of weeks -- or does she dump him?)
14-6>18-1
Wow.
UPDATE: Ten things we learned from the Giants' Super Bowl win. The Manning-escape-from-Pats-rush-and-throw-to-Tyree-who-made-insane-sky-high-catch is a play for the ages. It's that play that solidified the MVP for Manning. As two friends mentioned, otherwise, a great case could be made for Justin Tuck who had two sacks, a forced fumble and was in Brady's face all night.
Labels: New York Giants, NFL, Super Bowl, Super bowl XXV
