The rematch between the New York Giants and New England Patriots had football fans across the country buzzing with anticipation and the game lived up to expectations. And, that’s pretty hard to do in today’s climate of professional sports, which are so hyped up that a letdown is almost certain. But, this game didn’t disappoint, unless, of course you’re a Cowboys or Steelers fan, just to name two franchises that should have gotten better results this season.
The game was laced with so many storylines. Two head coaches, Coughlin and Belichick, in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII. Who would prevail? The old general, Tom Coughlin or the hooded stealth master Bill Belichick. Both are former New York Giants coaches under Bill Parcells, so these men know each other and there doesn’t seem to be anything other than respect for each other and their teams. Both men have had success as head coaches, granted Belichick has had the lion’s share of success, however, Coughlin and the wryly quiet leader he has in Eli Manning, are set to put a hammer to Belichick’s Patriots lead by Tom Brady. Will New England’s dynasty finally end after this lost?
It certainly is possible. The defense for New England is a shell of itself or maybe they’ve just been doing a great job of covering up their weakness. The Giants didn’t destroy them on the run as much as they could and should have and fortunately for them, they didn’t need too. And where was Vince Wilfork all day? He was getting out played by the likes of Boothe and Snee and sometimes Diehl. So much for Vince, who like BJ Raji of the Packers didn’t think too much of the Giants Offensive lineman.
The Giants core of receivers flat-out, outplayed the Patriots revered receiving core. How Wes Welker dropped that pass in the fourth quarter, when he was wide up, still amazes me. He has great hands, but Hakeem Nicks has better hands, ten and half inch size hands to be exact. The Gronk wasn’t a factor at all and the Giants tightends showed true metal, even when they couldn’t walk. Did you see Jake Ballard on the sidelines falling flat on his face, desperately trying to return to the game? And how about that toe dance, over the shoulder catch by Mario Manningham. How Belichick could even throw the challenge flag when he was standing right in front of Manningham when he made that catch is beyond me, unless he was trying to derail the Giants momentum. Not a bad idea, but not the worst one of the day by the Patriots coach.
That came on the decision to let the Gmen score a touchdown in the final minute of the game. I know you have one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history in Tom Brady, but to give the Giants a 4 point lead instead of having only a field goal to win it. Its seems that Billy Cundiff’s game-tying missed field goal against the Patriots in the AFC title game must have played into Belichick’s mindset. With all that time left on the clock, getting within the Giants forty yard line shouldn’t have been an issue.
Which, brings me to the play of the game. No, not Manningham’s catch. Which everyone will tell you, including me at some point in time, probably ten years from now. But, instead the busted failed stop at the goal line and much debated non-decision of the game. Score or don’t score. Coughlin said he never gave instructions not to score. Peyton said he told Bradshaw not to score when he handed him the ball. Ahmad said he heard Eli telling him don’t score, but he’s so conditioned to score that when he tried to stop himself he couldn’t.
Thankfully, his momentum made the right decision for him and gave the fans the best Super Bowl ever.