I don't know how to characterize my reaction. Their entire run I was "quietly confident". That is to say that while I had a great deal of confidence in the Giants, I felt I had to respect the records of their opponents and how well they had played throughout the season. As far as the first round of the playoffs, I was openly confident about that. I really felt that while they may have had a worse record, they were a better team. I didn't think that just because Garcia had been a Giant killer in the past that it meant he would do that to this Giants team, but it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. I did however feel that the Giants and Bucs were both in similar situations where an "any given Sunday" mentality could benefit both teams. In the second round, I felt that if the Giants lost that it would be a much bigger disappointment for both myself and the Giants' players than losing to the Bucs, only because they had faced and lost twice already to the Cowboys. I was supremely confident from the moment I knew the Giants would play Dallas that they would win. Call it a hunch, but I did not think the Giants would lose three times to one team- if it wasn't their improved play down the stretch and into the playoffs that made me think that way, it was a strong belief in the idea that the Giants were "due". Then came Green Bay. That made me nervous. I truly believed these were two of the most evenly matched teams coming into this game. There were two things, however, that gave me some measure of confidence in the Giants.
1- It appeared to me that the Giants had been playing good "team" football for much of their season, but I felt it was extremely evident in the last two games of the regular season, and the first two games of the playoffs.
2- I truly believed that while the Giants were better than their record, I also believed Green Bay to be worse than their record. Where I felt the Packers had benefited from some good luck during the season, I felt the Giants had suffered some bad luck- lots of close games that they lost, lots of games that had an OBVIOUS turn on one play.
And during that game against Green Bay it appeared, at first glance at least, that those same fortunes would follow the two teams. When Tynes missed those two kicks, I felt that those were going to be those plays that, in the case of the really sloppy kick, was the bad luck (it was a relatively short kick that he makes all the time), and in the case of the close kick that almost made it, was one of those missed opportunities/turning points, that would lead to their downfall. But the fates have a way of having a sense of humor. The Packers who seemed to be prepared to dwarf the Giants (especially once they won the coin toss for over-time) would have some bad luck intertwined with that one big play that got away while lady luck would find itself cuddling right up to the very kicker she had scorned only one quarter ago. I sat watching with great dread as the Packers started with the ball, waiting for the strong arm of the legendary Bret Favre to launch missile to well within field goal range, if not into the end zone. Instead, Favre defied all of my expectations, and apparently the expectations of lady luck herself, went for a relatively short pass and reversed all of his previous good fortune. The Giants, who had not been forced into a single turn over for the entire playoffs and wouldn’t until the Superbowl, intercepted that short pass and were now on the offensive. I said aloud at this point, “The Giants CANNOT intercept Bret Favre and lose this game.” When they got stopped where they did, and I realized that a kick would have to be made from outside the 40 yard line, I groaned, but I was optimistic. Just like playing the Cowboys, I felt this team, these players were too hungry to lose- let alone three times in a row. I knew the stat given earlier in the broadcast- no opponent has ever kicked a field goal greater than 40 yards at Lambeau Field in the playoffs. But still, Tynes finally got that ball through the uprights- and I could breathe again. I knew now, however, that the Giants had quite a task ahead of them.
Before their opponent was even known, the Patriots were considered locks by many to win the Superbowl. I can’t blame them. The ’07-’08 Patriots were being tabbed as the greatest team to ever be assembled. Since I often think in baseball terms, they were rightly considered the “Murderers’ Row” of football. I continued to think, however, that these Patriots could end up with a very similar fate to the 2001 Seattle Mariners. An American League record 116 regular season wins behind them Aaron Sele was quoted as saying when they went to play the Yankees, "Today, (116 wins) means nothing… it’s all how you finish." Maybe being a Yankees fan has given me an heir of unending confidence, but I never forgot those words because he was right- the glory of their season, no matter how historic, would be somewhat irrelevant- literally trivial- if they didn’t win the World Series. Now, the Patriots, as an organization have more clout than do the Seattle Mariners, don’t get me wrong, but much of the same rationale applies here. Tom Brady, as of the day I write this story, if not THE greatest quarterback of all-time, one of them. However, all 18 of their wins in the regular season will play second fiddle to the fact that they went from being the true giants on the field to being defeated, quite soundly in some respects, by a wild-card Cinderella story. The Great Tom Brady was held to just seven points by the time the fourth quarter rolled around and by the end of the game had been sacked FIVE times. The New England Patriots out-sacked their opponents by better than a two to one ratio during the regular season (47-21). Through the entire postseason, the Patriots were out-sacked eight to five- with five of those sacks coming in one game: The Superbowl. The same Superbowl where the once lowly Eli Manning was never sacked, but more than that, personally eluded two big potential sacks; scrambling back to the line of scrimmage on the first, and becoming part of Superbowl and football lore for the rest of history on the second. If I have to explain this to you, I’m glad to see you made it out of your coma and/or were released from what I’m sure was a horrifying hostage situation, but I digress. With just over a minute to play the Giants have a third-and-five on their own 43(ish)yard line. Eli is barely in the pocket for two seconds before three Patriot linemen are pressuring him, each appearing to get a hand on him while the Giants attempt to push them back. It is Eli, however that sling-shots himself around and fires a shot down mid-field where David Tyree makes the greatest catch of his young career; pinning the football between his helmet and his right hand, going to the ground with a Patriot on top of him. Since this play, disgruntled Patriot fans have desperately tried to discredit the catch saying that Tyree never had control of the ball and that the ball itself touched the ground while he failed to maintain control, thus negating the catch. I have watched many replays since then, and the ball does touch the ground at one point. However, both of Tyree’s feet have touched the ground, and at that point, he has both hands on the ball and has clearly demonstrated control. To those same nay-sayers I contend that the defending Patriot (Harrison) committed an egregious foul after the catch by continuously wrestling with Tyree on the ground and swatting at it after the whistle was blown. I don’t know what the call is but I’m sure that has to be against some sort of rule. The touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress actually seemed somewhat anti-climactic, strangely enough, after all of the drama of The Catch, but it was what sealed the deal. Though I was extremely excited when Eli got the touchdown, I was still concerned about Brady. Shades of the two consecutive Hail-Mary passes to Randy Moss in their last meeting still managed to keep me riveted to the last (I believe) 35 seconds of the game(and he did try two pretty big throws on their last possession)- well 34 if you count the absurdity of Bill Belichick. What was that? At the time I was so excited and anxious that I was more confused than anything, but in hindsight I have to believe he was, in a sense, “icing” the Giants. He coached the New England Patriots to 18 straight wins and you mean to tell me he didn’t realize that there was time on the clock? He didn’t know that the clock was not running? Perhaps. I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt, but the evidence against him is too damning. If he was trying to reduce the amount of jubilation by getting in the way, I’d say it probably did a little bit. I know that where I was watching the game, we all stopped our dancing, hooting, and hollering to all ask each other what was going on. But, the ball was snapped and Eli took his knee, and the glory. Once again, I have too much baseball in my blood not to wonder/hope, that this reverses the damage done in 2004 by the Red Sox with their miracle. I believe it was Michael Strahan who said it before the game- either way history was going to be made. I’m just glad that it was my team that benefited.
The Highlights
But If You Just Want The "WoW" Factor
The Helmet Catch - Superbowl XLII - Watch more free videos
1 comment:
The Giants really clicked towards the end of the season and gained a lot of success from good coaching. The D-line for the Giants is impressiev and still will be but they are lucky that they just retained their Coordinator.
Post a Comment