Well they did it! The 9 - 7 New York Giants ran the table and won Super Bowl XLVI by defeating the New England Patriots 21 - 17 at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis. Giants RB Ahmad Bradshaw scored the game winning touchdown with just about 1 minute left in the game, leaving the Patriots with not enough time to come back and win. The Super Bowl MVP was awarded to Giants QB Eli Manning who was 30 - 40 for 296 yds and 1 TD.
The Giants played "their game" in this Super Bowl; which is they do what they need to do, when they need to do it. They outplayed the Patriots in the first half but they didn't reflect the dominance on the scoreboard. On the first play from scrimmage for the Patriots, the defense for New York forced Patriots QB Tom Brady into a hurried throw from his own endzone which resulted in an intentional grounding penalty and a safety. After the free kick to the G-Men, they drove down and scored on a Victor Cruz 2 yd touchdown catch. Suddenly the Giants were up 9 - 0 and it started to look a bit grim for the Pats. New England hung in there though as their defense played "bend but don't break" not allowing the Giants another point until the second half. Brady & the offense struggled and scrapped out a FG in the 2nd qtr then finally put together a great touchdown drive right at the end of the half to give the Patriots a 10 - 9 halftime lead.
The Pats opened the second half with another impressive drive culminating with an Aaron Hernandez 12 yd touchdown catch. They would not score another point for the rest of the game. At that point, the Giants were down 17 - 9 and as well as they moved the ball, they were only able to a score a couple of FG's before the game winning TD. New York fumbled the ball on a couple of occasions but had the ball bounce back to them both times. The Patriots offense outside of their two TD drives never looked in sync. As a matter of fact, they reminded me a lot of how the Packers looked against the Giants back in the NFC Divisional Round. Dropped passes, missed throws, untimely penalties and one turnover. On what looked like what could have been a Patriots time consuming, game clinching drive, Brady misfired on two consecutive passes. The most crucial one was a 25 yd throw he made off stride to Wes Welker that Welker could not corral with about 4 minutes left in the game; that would have given the Pats a first down and a great chance of putting the game away. It was not to be. After the next Brady misfire, New England punted the ball back to New York. Manning then drove the Giants down the field for the game winning TD, starting with a great (throw and) 38 yd catch by WR Mario Manningham, which pulled them up to midfield. Manning proceeded to make clutch throws to get the Giants down to where Bradshaw could score his TD. On that play, the Patriots allowed him to score and Bradshaw, aware that the clock was his friend tried to stop his momentum at the last moment but he fell into the endzone. With just under a minute and down by 4 points, the Patriots tried in desperation to get downfield for a game winning TD but some dropped passes impeded their progress and on the final play of the game, a Brady "hail mary" pass was deflected to the ground.
I take my hat off to the New York Giants. They have had the right attitude all along throughout their incredible run. Many folks saw the similiarity of this team to the 2007 team that made a similiar run. I didn't see it. I expected to Giants to fold up every round in the playoffs and they didn't. They beat two number one seeded teams and a number two seed team on their way to hoist the Lombardi trophy I salute the New York Giants and respect their accomplishment this season. Congrats G-Men!!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Super Bowl XLVI: New York Giants vs. New England Patriots
The moment is finally near; the New York Giants and the New England Patriots are about to square off in Super Bowl XLVI. The NFC champion Giants qualified for this Super Bowl matchup by disposing of the San Francisco 49ers in overtime two weeks ago. Earlier that same day, the AFC champion Patriots squeaked by the Baltimore Ravens to earn the right to play the Giants. Since then there has been a lot of talk and hype but now it's time to get to the action.
The Giants are 2.5 point underdogs but you wouldn't know it based on all of the talk for the past two weeks. A lot of people have bought in on the Giants who have been red hot, knocking out the top two seeds in the NFC on its way to the Super Bowl. Based on what we have seen over the last month, the Giants definitely look better on the field than the Patriots. The Giants also had a gutsy win against the Patriots this season in Foxboro. Everyone's favorite quarterback for the moment Eli Manning made some timely completions in that game (and in the playoffs) and some wonder if he's even better than Tom Brady. The Patriots' defense has not been that good this season and most expect the Giants talented passing game to take advantage. As I've mentioned before, the key to disrupting the Giants offense is getting in Eli's face and getting him to the ground. I fully expect Bill Belichick to come up with all kinds of blitzes that the Giants have not seen on film. But will they get to him in time? A good running game by the more than capable Giants backfield could be key to offsetting constant pressure. On the other side of the ball, the Patriots offense must exploit the weakness of the Giants team: its secondary. I could be wrong but I don't expect much out of the Patriots run game. Brady is going to have to shoulder the load and make plays. Obviously plays will be there for Brady if he has time to throw. Creative screen plays and some quick passes can frustrate the Giants rush and help to expose the secondary to bigger plays down the line. I think some people have forgotten that the Patriots offense can be explosive; they will need to open it up and get that Giants secondary involved.
I am going against the grain and picking the Patriots to "upset" the Giants. Belichick & company will come up with the schemes on offense and defense to win their fourth championship. The Giants have made me look awful throughout the whole playoffs as I have repeatedly discussed the "stinker" (game) they still have in their back pocket. They have one more chance to shut me up again.
The Giants are 2.5 point underdogs but you wouldn't know it based on all of the talk for the past two weeks. A lot of people have bought in on the Giants who have been red hot, knocking out the top two seeds in the NFC on its way to the Super Bowl. Based on what we have seen over the last month, the Giants definitely look better on the field than the Patriots. The Giants also had a gutsy win against the Patriots this season in Foxboro. Everyone's favorite quarterback for the moment Eli Manning made some timely completions in that game (and in the playoffs) and some wonder if he's even better than Tom Brady. The Patriots' defense has not been that good this season and most expect the Giants talented passing game to take advantage. As I've mentioned before, the key to disrupting the Giants offense is getting in Eli's face and getting him to the ground. I fully expect Bill Belichick to come up with all kinds of blitzes that the Giants have not seen on film. But will they get to him in time? A good running game by the more than capable Giants backfield could be key to offsetting constant pressure. On the other side of the ball, the Patriots offense must exploit the weakness of the Giants team: its secondary. I could be wrong but I don't expect much out of the Patriots run game. Brady is going to have to shoulder the load and make plays. Obviously plays will be there for Brady if he has time to throw. Creative screen plays and some quick passes can frustrate the Giants rush and help to expose the secondary to bigger plays down the line. I think some people have forgotten that the Patriots offense can be explosive; they will need to open it up and get that Giants secondary involved.
I am going against the grain and picking the Patriots to "upset" the Giants. Belichick & company will come up with the schemes on offense and defense to win their fourth championship. The Giants have made me look awful throughout the whole playoffs as I have repeatedly discussed the "stinker" (game) they still have in their back pocket. They have one more chance to shut me up again.
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