Running Supe XLII/42nd Large And Important American Football Game Thread

[nafselon]

Eli Manning...who would've thunk it?

 

[Batman]

The fourth quarter won Eli that MVP. He shouldn't have been it. I think it should have gone to Tuck.

Tuck was definitely the first-half MVP.

Problem is this.... the defense totally spit the bit in crunch time.

Or...they were just forkin gassed from carrying the load for 3 1/2 quarters.

... whatever the reason.

The Giants offense had the ball for the first 10 minutes, too.

The Giants played well, give them that. But the Pats choked. When you have three guys with a hand on a QB who's about as mobile as a paraplegic with Lou Gehrig's disease, and you don't bring him down on third-and-20, you don't deserve to win.
I'm an Eagles fan. I hate the Giants. I'm an LSU grad. I have no great love for Eli. But give them credit. They outplayed the Pats, made some great plays in crunch time, and deserved to win. Now all their fans can celebrate with a festive parade in downtown East Rutherford. Or the Meadowlands parking lot. Same difference.

 

[pseudo]

Yeah, fine, but the game wasn't over.

Agreed, but the refs shouldn't have started the clock, as if to indicate it was.

I didn't watch Belichick's eyes, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't looking up at the scoreboard to see if the clock was running after he and Coughlin hugged.

I imagine they'll talk about this on PTI tomorrow, Tony will say it was no big deal, and that'll be the end of it.

Had it been Wade Phillips or Tony Dungy, it wouldn't have gotten but one post here and certainly no Monday morning shirt.

Really? Because Wade's done it before. See: Bills-Pats, "Just give it to 'em," Foxborough, 1998.

Oh, and Inky_Wretch? I'd give you some quotes from patsfans.com to match what your friend in Boston is telling you, but they've crashed two servers since the game ended.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

Sorry, Pats deserved to lose, and lost. Whether or not they should have kicked a long-range field goal pales in relation to the fact that they sucked ass. No way should this game have come down to a NE 48-yard FG attempt.

That's crazy. They could have sucked and won, we've seen it a million times before. Because he didn't kick the FG, they sucked and lost. That's like saying Favre's pick last week didn't mean anything because the Packers were outplayed all game.

Greatest Defensive Performance in Super Bowl history

The Bears, Steelers and Ravens have something to say, but they are willing to listen.

They really don't...

Pats scoring 14 points in a dome is beyond comprehension.

Pats never adjusted to the Jints' blitz. Not once.

I was thinking the same thing about the blitz. I remember, while watching the Indy game, noticing how the Pats were absolutely killing a good Colts rush with screens and draws to Faulk. Off the top of my head, I remember seeing one screen tonight (that was knocked down by Strahan) -- and even that was more of a swing pass than a true screen -- and no draws. Way to make adjustments there, Hoodie.

So you max protect. Belichek did nothing. What a miserable game by the guy who for my money has added more wins & titles to his team than any coach in history - any sport.

 

[HandsomeHarley]

The FG call shouldn't even be an issue. Pats sucked dong and deserved to lose.

Huh?

An NFL team, in this day and age, not having a guy they feel confident giving a 49-yarder to ... indoors.... that's inconceivable.

I could see an argument if it were Tynes, but no. They should have kicked the FG.

 

[hockeybeat]

Eli Manning...who would've thunk it?

Ernie Accorsi, for one.

 

[HandsomeHarley]

Sorry if this has been touched on, but is this right?

The four highest scoring teams in NFL history all have one thing in common: No Super Bowl championship.

589 New England, 2007
556 Minnesota, 1998
541 Washington, 1983
540 St. Louis, 2000

Don't know about points, but for offense, you can count a few of Vermeil's Chiefs teams up there, too.

 

[pseudo]

Osi Umenyiora: "18-1 -- go trademark that."

 

[nafselon]

Greatest Defensive Performance in Super Bowl history

The Bears, Steelers and Ravens have something to say, but they are willing to listen.

They really don't...

Pats scoring 14 points in a dome is beyond comprehension.

Pats never adjusted to the Jints' blitz. Not once.

I was thinking the same thing about the blitz. I remember, while watching the Indy game, noticing how the Pats were absolutely killing a good Colts rush with screens and draws to Faulk. Off the top of my head, I remember seeing one screen tonight (that was knocked down by Strahan) -- and even that was more of a swing pass than a true screen -- and no draws. Way to make adjustments there, Hoodie.

You're absolutely right. No screens. No draws. Not keeping a back in the chip block. And Brady was running for his life on seemingly every play.

They did run some successful inside draws. One was called back on a silly hold from Watson. But all the props to the Big Blue defense. It was a near-perfect performance.

 

[writing irish]

I agree with EVERYONE that, in retrospect, NE should have tried the FG. I'm not saying that they shouldn't have tried the FG. I'm saying that regardless of their decision on that play, they deserved to lose.

 

[CitizenTino]

Steve Levy on SportsCenter: "Wow, shocker. We were able to get Mercury Morris to talk about the 72 Dolphins. ... That's a hard get right there."

Nice.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

The FG call shouldn't even be an issue. Pats sucked dong and deserved to lose.

Huh?

An NFL team, in this day and age, not having a guy they feel confident giving a 49-yarder to ... indoors.... that's inconceivable.

I could see an argument if it were Tynes, but no. They should have kicked the FG.

What argument?