Super Bowl XLII lived up to the hype, but not in the way most people expected. The New York Giants rode a ferocious defense to a stunning 17-14 upset of the previously unbeaten Patriots.
Some Cold, Hard Football Facts from one of the greatest games of all time.
Statistics be damned: this was an even matchup. The big question coming into this game was whether the Giants and Patriots would be their regular-season selves or their playoff selves. In the regular season, it was no contest – the Patriots absolutely dominated them in every possible way. But in the postseason, New York not only won but won in diverse and different ways than they had pre-January. And New England hadn’t dominated a game since crushing Pittsburgh. Based on their playoff numbers, it was an even match – and it played out like one. If anything, the Patriots looked outmatched – there was absolutely nothing fluky about the win, save perhaps for the improbable game-winning drive. A top-10 Super Bowl, for sure, possibly a top-5.
The Eli Manning to David Tyree pass late in the fourth will go down as one of the Super Bowl’s 10 best plays ever. Kids growing up in the 1970s all practiced the tumbling, stumbling catch Lynn Swann made for the Steelers in Super Bowl X against Dallas. This might be the greatest play since then, especially since it required two miracles – Manning to shake loose of not one but two sacks, and Tyree to make a one-hand-and-a-helmet catch while New England’s Rodney Harrison tried to pry it free.
Someone on the NYG defense deserved MVP. Eli Manning had another excellent game, but the Giants’ defense clearly deserved the game ball in this one. Why not Justin Tuck, who had a huge first half (two sacks, a forced fumble)? Or even a symbolic choice for Michael Strahan (one sack), the leader and still-dominant player on the defense? The Giants held the Patriots to 4.0 yards a play – that’s an incredibly low number, better than the No. 1 defense in the league (Pittsburgh) averaged over the regular season.
The Patriots got a taste of what they delivered in 2001. The parallels to the Patriots-Rams Super Bowl of a half-decade ago were made all week, and they proved to be spot on. Just as the 2001 Patriots did, the Giants used a ferocious defense and an efficient effort from their maturing QB to shock the more talented and more explosive opponent.
The Patriots’ offense didn’t have the yin to go with its yang. Remember that one big play New England had on offense? Didn’t think so. Their longest play all day was a 19-yard pass to Wes Welker. The Patriots were fairly efficient (50 percent on third downs, 60.4 completion percentage), but they were 0-for-the-Super Bowl on shots down the field. When the Patriots were beating teams early in the season, they were doing it with a relentless offensive consciousness that was notably absent over the past month – and certainly not there Sunday.
It is going to be a loooooong offseason for the Patriots. This is two years in a row that they’ve seen their season come to an end on a come-from-behind drive by the other team – not something you want to wake up with every day for the next four months. And while the “Spygate” stuff seems likely to turn into a league-wide exploration of the role of subterfuge, it’s going to follow the Patriots nonetheless. Expect some mass defections from the Pro Bowl this week from the Patriot players, who won’t be in much of a mood to hula dance.
Steve Spagnuolo has to get the Redskins job now. The Redskins would be crazy not to offer the Giants’ defensive coordinator their head job after that performance. He turned a team with a good pass rush and an average secondary into world-beaters, and would take a valuable asset away from a division rival. And if Steve Mariucci and Jim Fassel are the other guys, why not go with someone who has the potential to be something greater?
Score one for simulations. There was one accurate CHFF Sim Bowl among the 101 Super Bowls we fabricated on whatifsports.com, a 17-14 win for the Giants. That one required OT, but in eerie true-to-life fashion the Giants scored the tying touchdown on an improbable late drive with seconds to spare.
The time of possession battle was oddly misleading. New York had the ball for two-thirds of the first half and got outscored by four points. Then New England had the ball for two-thirds of the second half and got outscored by seven points. A weird happening in a very weird game.
Tom Petty was not inspiring. How much did they have to pay those young hotties to pretend they were into “Runnin’ Down a Dream” during the Heartbreakers’ halftime set? Or are people so desperate to be on TV that they’ll do anything? Bring back Prince, and enough with prerecorded national anthems like the one Jordin Sparks “sang” prior to the game.
New England’s kickers left much to be desired. Stephen Gostkowski, who has been great on kickoffs all year, booted one out of bounds in the second quarter and gave the Giants great field position (the drive would end in the one interception). And he was not trusted to kick a 49-yard field goal midway through the third quarter, three points that they would need at the end of the game. Punter Chris Hanson was brutal as well, averaging 32.5 yards a punt and failing to plant a single one inside the 20.
Both teams were running on empty. The longest run all day was 13 yards by Ahmad Bradshaw, and neither team finished with 100. The Giants tandem of Bradshaw and Jacobs was 23-87 (3.78 average), while the Patriots were 16-45 (2.8).
No QB has ever turned the corner quite as fast as Eli Manning. We’re considered Eli bashers here at CHFF because, well, the facts pointed that way right up until late December. Manning was truly terrible during the regular season, turning it over more than any other QB despite a great offensive line and a ball-control offense. He was turning it over like a gunslinger in a game-manager’s offense. His passer rating was worse than Rex Grossman, for God’s sake! Yet he turned in a run that will be remembered for all time. Kinda gives you shivers, truth be known.
The Big Play Battle – and the game – went to New York. The Giants had two Big Plays to New England’s one, the difference being Kevin Boss’ 45-yard catch that keyed the Giants’ first TD of the fourth quarter. Both teams had one turnover.
Congratulations, Jeff Feagles. The NFL’s all-time leader in consecutive games played (OK, consecutive games punted) won his first Super Bowl. After 320 regular-season games and over 1,500 punts, he got the ring at age 41. And he did his job well, pinning the Patriots inside the 20 twice and hitting a 55-yarder among his four punts.
Chalk another one up for Pete Prisco and humans everywhere. Poor Bonzo the Idiot Monkey (and us idiots at CHFF central as well) both picked the Patriots, while Prisco of CBS Sports.com proved to be the king of prognosticators in 2007 with another correct pick in the Giants.
Archie Manning has got to be waking up with a smile for the rest of his life. Can you even imagine watching both of your kids win Super Bowl titles in back to back years? It’s like the Simpson sisters both having hit albums, with the difference being that they have no talent and the Mannings have plenty. At football, not singing.
It’s amazing how one play can change thousands of lives. If the Patriots sack Eli Manning on that third-and-longish play late in the fourth, the Giants probably miss on fourth down and the Patriots win their fourth Super Bowl. A half-second extra in the grasp, and the ref blows the whistle. A half-foot less on the throw, and the Patriots knock the pass down. Instead, it’s complete, and everything changes. Guys will retire that might have come back, and vice versa. Players, coaches, executives make a whole different set of decisions. Everything changes. Whoa. For a second there, we thought we had human emotions. Whew. Nipped that in the bud.
