Super Bowl Recap
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- Created on Tuesday, 07 February 2012 00:05
- Written by Chris
Well that was interesting. I've felt this way before, but I'm more accustomed to the feeling in October, not January and February. When I was younger it was commonplace for the Red Sox to leave us hanging in dramatic fashion, coming so far, only to lose it near the end. Lately, the Patriots have taken on that role, whether it's the Divisional Playoff game or Super Bowl, the Patriots have left us gasping for air by nights end.
The monkey was almost off the back, and then there was a high throw to a short guy, and it was almost immediately thought that the Giants were going to win, even though the Patriots had the ball with 4 minutes to go, and the lead. It was the idea that the other shoe was about to drop, something that people feared when the Red Sox played in October. It didn't matter that we had Tom Brady. It was just that, we only had Tom Brady.
I can't say I resent Gisele for her comments about Tom Brady not being able to do it all. She was speaking the truth. Brady had 6 incomplete passes on the final drive and I'll say only two of those belong to him. But before Brady even got to that point of the last drive, he had his defense, unable to stop a Division III offense, allow the Giants to cruise down the field, and take the lead. Brady said that he would rather have the ball and be down than on the sideline with the lead. He got both and we were let down. Blame who you want, it came down to players not making plays at the end.
It looked like this:
| 1st and 10 at NE 20 | (Shotgun) T.Brady pass incomplete deep middle to D.Branch (K.Phillips). |
| 2nd and 10 at NE 20 | (Shotgun) T.Brady pass incomplete short right to A.Hernandez [O.Umenyiora]. |
| 3rd and 10 at NE 20 | (Shotgun) T.Brady sacked at NE 14 for -6 yards (J.Tuck). |
| Timeout #3 by NE at 00:36. | |
| 4th and 16 at NE 14 | (Shotgun) T.Brady pass deep left to D.Branch pushed ob at NE 33 for 19 yards (C.Webster). |
| 1st and 10 at NE 33 | (Shotgun) T.Brady pass short left to A.Hernandez to NE 44 for 11 yards (A.Rolle). |
| 1st and 10 at NE 44 | T.Brady spiked the ball to stop the clock. |
| 2nd and 10 at NE 44 | (Shotgun) T.Brady pass incomplete deep right to A.Hernandez. PENALTY on NYG-J.Tuck, Defensive 12 On-field, 5 yards, enforced at NE 44 - No Play. |
| 2nd and 5 at NE 49 | (Shotgun) T.Brady pass incomplete short left to D.Branch. |
| 3rd and 5 at NE 49 | (Shotgun) T.Brady pass incomplete deep middle to A.Hernandez (K.Phillips). |
| End of Game |
Not the ideal drive when you need to move down the field. 4th and 16 gave us life that maybe we could pull this off. I wrote about it in my head, the NFL Films montage would play this sequence and we would all talk about where we were when it was 4th and 16 and Brady saved the season... Except that didn't happen. Instead, it was disheartening and a major letdown. The only way we could react around here was to hang our heads, and we couldn't even tip our caps. It was a Manning, and not even the good one, that stopped us in our tracks again. This is the Manning that got mocked at the beginning of the year for claiming he was in the same class as Brady. This wasn't a fluke though, we couldn't justify it being that.
No one in this game stood out. Eli had an average game with 30 completions and less than 300 yards and 1 TD. He managed the team and the clock. The Giants had the ball for 38 mins compared to the Patriots 22 minutes. He's now in Big Ben company, company that includes good quarterbacks to win Super Bowls and still could win more. It was a team victory. Years from now, we won't remember what Eli did, but what the Giants defense did to the Patriots in SB 42 and 46.
The thing about all of this that bothers me most is that the series is now 2-0. A SB rematch next year would only be a lose-lose for the Patriots. Win, and Giants still have the 2-1 advantage, and it is like saying, "Ok, we let you have one, we felt bad". If they lose, it is a lot like swatting a fly, and Brady's legacy takes a severe hit and Eli leaps ahead of him. I've never feared a game as much as I would if this played out again next year. The thought makes me drop my head.
