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Technically, they didn't even win the coin toss. New York just decided to lose it.
Now, while I don't like the Patriots or the Giants, I'm glad the Giants won. That would be because I live about a half an hour from Foxboro and I really wasn't interested in hearing the news talk about their win, endlessly, for the next two weeks. With the Giants winning, it'll be discussed briefly for the next three days or so and that's all so I'm a happy panda.
Technically, they didn't even win the coin toss. New York just decided to lose it.
Now, while I don't like the Patriots or the Giants, I'm glad the Giants won. That would be because I live about a half an hour from Foxboro and I really wasn't interested in hearing the news talk about their win, endlessly, for the next two weeks. With the Giants winning, it'll be discussed briefly for the next three days or so and that's all so I'm a happy panda.
Your local news will lead into the Superbowl by talking about rioting.
It's a game of inches and players stepping up in the spotlight. Welker dropped a ball that would have ended the game. He catches balls like that with his eyes closed. It was on his hands. But he blew it.
Then Manningham makes a spectacular fingertip grab and stays in bounds. A truly great catch.
Also, the Giants had two fumbles that they were lucky to recover. That last one would have likely ended the game. That fumble, in that spot of the field, goes to the defense at least 75% of the time.
Eli played clutch again, he deserves all the credit. Great quarterback who also handles things with class. Giants are a really balanced team that should be better next year. These two teams play, it will come down to the wire every time. Great for football. Both organizations represent the game at its best. Congrats to any Giants fans around here.
Hard to isolate one play or misplay and say "that" cost anyone the game. Hinoski is hustling downfield, so he's in a position to recover the fumble. Boothe twists Wilfork as they're both falling and the refs decide to call a hold - on a running play - that likely stopped the Giants from going up by two scores...
But what shocked me here was the "genius" Belicheck - first, he defers the kickoff; why? It's indoors, and your defense is not your strength. So big deal, you get the ball coming out in the 2nd half - what if you cost yourself an extra possession in the first half by not taking it?
And then the letting the Giants score. Yeah I get it, 57 seconds with more timeouts to score a TD rather than 20 seconds with none to kick a FG. But things happen - players shoot gaps and stop running plays for losses, players fumble, there can be a bad snap, or a block - heck, Tynes hit the upright on a 38 yarder earlier in the game, and you don't put the game on his foot?
The kick defer actually worked they way they wanted, though it cost them with the safety. The idea behind the deferring is to get the ball at the end of the half and get it back at the beginning of the second. In theory, you can score twice in a row and use that to come from behind or break the other team's back. They do it all the time. This time, it worked in that they scored 14 points and turned the game around.
The hold on Wilfork was a blatant hold. Just a poor play on the part of the lineman.
Far as letting the Giants score, who can say. I don't know if there's a right answer. BUT...incredibly, they had practiced the situation, and Giants had not. The defensive players had practiced pushing the runner into the endzone, which they would have done if needed. They talked about that today. The Giants had no instructions on what to do. Apparently, as Manning handed the ball to Bradshaw, he yelled not to go in the endzone. It took Bradshaw too long to process it. I'm sure the Patriots have practiced that situation too.
In any close game, you can turn to a number of plays that things could have gone either way. But that pass to Welker...it's right in his hands. You don't drop those. Manningham didn't drop his. That's why they won, and deserved to win.
Think of this too: the Giants wasted 2 timeouts in the second half. If Welker catches that pass, the game was not over. The Pats would still have needed one more first down to run the clock. But with no timeouts, Giants would have been really limited when they got the ball back. and protecting against a field goal is a whole different game than protecting against a touchdown.
As someone who's played sports and bar sports all my life, and as someone who has followed the Sox since the early 70s, I can tell you that history matters. It creates a momentum all of its own. Most years the Red Sox lost to the Yankees it was because the Yankees were better. But not always. Some years the Red Sox lost almost because it was their job to do that.
When the Giants upset the Pats in the Super Bowl four years ago, it created a history. A pattern. It carried into the regular season game this year, and then into the Super Bowl. It effects players who weren't even on the teams four years ago. The Giants expected good things to happen because of that history, and they did. The Patriots were wary of bad things happening, even if the wouldn't admit it to themselves.
It's hard to break history, but that's what they'll have to do when they play again. But that's part of competition. They have to overcome it if they want to win a championship. Peyton Manning had to do that to finally beat the Patriots. I'm sure the Giants had to overcome their demons. All part of it.
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