Super Bowl XLII

[bjorn_skurj]

Why is it absurd? We still talk about the

[ZenLunatic]

Just wanted to say to all the Giants fans that didnt even believe in their own team. You know who you are. I told you so. Always believe.

[Sir Stewart]

Sure, they will talk about the 2007 New England Patriots, but very few absolutely none of those conversations will omit the way their season ended.

Fixed it for ya.

[Guest Jules]

So, going 18-0, while also breaking all sorts of league records, is a lesser accomplishment than going 14-6?

Yes it is, particularly when one of those 14 wins came in the SUPERBOWL.

[Lammycat]

as a life long giants fan I got to watch my team find a way to hang in there

all season and then with the chips on the line finally gel and play to their absolute utmost ability. We got to see a quarterback finally play

up to his ability and shake free the shadows of his father and brother. I get to cherish a victory with my son the way my late father got

to cherish with me and my brother our past championships. the giants won, what was billed as unwinable, as huge underdogs, what was

arguably the greatest superbowl game ever. history.

I agree with everything. Especially the "arguably" part of the greatest Super Bowl game ever.

 

This is not to diminish the feeling of satisfaction for Giant's fans at all, but up until the last 5-6 minutes of the game I found it to be a rather placid game. Both teams played well enough but overall it was nothing remarkable in my eyes. I'm talking about the game, not the impact of the win.

 

A lot of folks keep saying "greatest Super Bowl game," etc. and I just don't see it. Again, nothing to do with the outcome or the teams even, but the quality of the game/play itself.

[Good Old Neon]

New England had a hell of a year, but it was the kind of a year that is not consummated unless they win the Super Bowl. (See also, New York Yankees; World Series.) The Giants started the season looking really bad, took a back seat all year to Dallas and Green Bay, beat both Dallas and Green Bay, whom they were not supposed to beat, at their home stadii, then beat the Best Team in the Whole Wide World, Ever. I confess bias, but to me, that's a more compelling story than one of near, but thwarted, perfection. Sure, they will talk about the 2007 New England Patriots, but very few of those conversations will omit the way their season ended.

 

I would agree with the Yankees comparison if the Yankees played an otherwise perfect season, won every single game leading up to the World Series (while breaking all sorts of records)

[Guest Jules]

If they did that, but lost the World Series, I would still lend greater weight to that accomplishment than any one game, up to and including losing the World Series.

[Good Old Neon]

I agree with everything. Especially the "arguably" part of the greatest Super Bowl game ever.

 

This is not to diminish the feeling of satisfaction for Giant's fans at all, but up until the last 5-6 minutes of the game I found it to be a rather placid game. Both teams played well enough but overall it was nothing remarkable in my eyes. I'm talking about the game, not the impact of the win.

 

A lot of folks keep saying "greatest Super Bowl game," etc. and I just don't see it. Again, nothing to do with the outcome or the teams even, but the quality of the game/play itself.

 

I would say it was one of the greatest 4th quarters in Super Bowl history, maybe not the greatest game. The first three quarters were fairly uneventful

[Lammycat]

I would say it was one of the greatest 4th quarters in Super Bowl history, maybe not the greatest game. The first three quarters were fairly uneventful

[Guest Jules]

Wrong.

[Lammycat]

I can think of at least five Super Bowls I've watched that I've thought were more exciting, overall, than yesterday's. I still enjoyed the game and it had a great finish, but it was lackluster throughout in my opinion.

[Sir Stewart]

It was a messy game, for the most part. At least it moved quickly, though.

[Good Old Neon]

Eye of the beholder and all.

 

I

[Sir Stewart]

So, onto more important matters...

Gisele: 'If the Pats Lose, I'll Run Naked Through Mid-Town Manhattan'

[Good Old Neon]

So, onto more important matters...

Gisele: 'If the Pats Lose, I'll Run Naked Through Mid-Town Manhattan'

 

I knew this cloud had a silver lining....

[MattZ]

Given everything that was on the line and the many different subplots (NY v Bos, Shockey drinking beers and Boss going 46 yards, Peyton upstairs, Coughlin almost fired, Perfect Season, David vs Goliath, Spygate, Seau gunning for a ring, etc.), I'd say that it was one of the best games I have ever seen. Even the sloppy play was infused with an intensity unlike any in a game that I can remember.

 

And Eli won the MVP for that last drive. I dont think anyone thought the Giants would march down the field and score a TD to win. He orchestrated that drive, and he deserved the MVP.

 

It's football. The QB gets too much credit and too much blame. Regardless.

[benjamin]

I would say it was one of the greatest 4th quarters in Super Bowl history

 

Best 4th quarter I've seen since the St. Louis Rams / Tennessee Titans Super Bowl

 

[Spawn's dad]

if breaking up 19-0 isn't historically significant, then 19-0 can't be either.

[Guest Jules]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lppqjbC96eA

[Sir Stewart]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lppqjbC96eA

I am still in shock.

[bobbob1313]

How so? As a Massachusetts native (now residing in NH), I’ll be the first to admit there are some a-hole fans out there, but, I challenge you to find me a team who does not have its share of asshole hangers on. The supposedly “classy” Colts fans were pretty quick to boo a thirteen year old if I remember correctly. I’m not sure how the Patriots where presented in other states, but on the local affiliates, they’ve been exceedingly humble and gracious throughout the season.

 

"We're only going to score 17 points? OK. Is Plax playing defense? I wish he had said 45-42 and gave us a little credit for scoring more points."

 

And I've been saying this for a while, and people get really annoyed, but Boston sports fans (NE included)n are the worst. Maybe no the ones living in the area, but the hundreds of thousands of assholes outside of NE who root for them certainly are.

 

Without the help of Google, who won the ’73 Super Bowl?

 

The Miami Dolphins. They won both the 72 and 73 super bowls. Most people should know this.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lppqjbC96eA

 

Good god, that is beautiful. Goosebumps, honestly.

 

A great story on this Super Bowl that sums up my feelings perfectly.

 

Ugly duckling Super Bowl turns on Swann-like catch

 

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- For most of it, this game was garbage. It was bad passes and dropped passes and ineffective running backs. It was false-start penalties and dumb coaching moves and Tom Petty looking old at halftime.

 

That's the way it was for three quarters, but that's not a fair time to assess a work of art. Imagine someone taking away Leonardo da Vinci's paintbrush after he had finished just 75 percent of the Mona Lisa. Think of what we'd have missed.

 

David Tyree's improbable catch was one of the final touches on a masterpiece. (US Presswire)

David Tyree's improbable catch was one of the final touches on a masterpiece. (US Presswire)

Now go back to this sloppy Super Bowl after three quarters. Imagine turning the channel. Reading a book. Going to bed.

 

Think of what you would have missed.

 

You would have missed Eli Manning and Tom Brady going one-on-one. Manning driving the Giants 80 yards for a go-ahead touchdown. Brady driving New England 80 yards for a go-back-ahead touchdown. Manning getting the ball with 2 minutes and 42 seconds left, 83 yards from the end zone, most of this pro-Patriots crowd wanting him to fail.

 

Manning refusing to fail. The Giants winning Super Bowl XLII 17-14. The Patriots losing 19-0. The 1972 Dolphins winning their sole claim to Super Bowl perfection.

 

Think about what you would have missed if you'd given up on this God-awful Super Bowl after three quarters, or even after 57 minutes when Brady gave the Patriots their final lead, 14-10, or after 58 minutes when the Giants faced fourth-and-1 from their 37 and the game was one tackle from being over. The Patriots didn't get that tackle. Brandon Jacobs powered for 2 yards. Drive alive.

 

Three plays later we saw one of the most incredible plays in NFL history. That might seem like a mouthful right now, but mark my words. What happened next will live as long as The Catch by Dwight Clark, The Immaculate Reception by Franco Harris and the Music City Miracle by the Tennessee Titans.

 

Miracle is the wrong word to describe anything on a football field -- which is too bad, because there were two miracles on this one play. It was Manning refusing to be sacked on third down even though half the damn defense had him in its hands. Manning stepping out of a sack, spinning out of a sack, the play dead and then not dead, Manning sacked and then not sacked. Manning now in the clear, now spotting David Tyree almost 40 yards down field, now throwing the ball up for grabs. No other way to put it. Manning saw Tyree, saw Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, and threw the ball in between both of them. May the better man win.

 

Tyree won. He won with the kind of catch we've never seen in the Super Bowl, a unique catch from the family of catches Lynn Swann was making in Super Bowls in the 1970s, juggling and falling and somehow channeling Tchaikovsky. Tyree pulled one of those when he pulled in Manning's prayer, leaping at the 24 and grabbing the ball with the fingertips of both hands and then being reduced to the fingertips of one hand because Harrison was clawing at the other one. Tyree then used the fingertips of that one hand, that right hand, to pin the ball to his helmet as he was falling down. It was the kind of catch most people couldn't make with a Nerf football in their front yard. Tyree made it with a pigskin at the 24-yard line with 59 seconds left in the Super Bowl.

 

"What can you say about that play?" Harrison said. "We have the quarterback sacked, and then he steps out of it. And then (Tyree) makes an incredible catch. It's just unbelievable."

 

At that point it was over. We just needed an ending. Eli Manning was too comfortable, too confident, and the Patriots defense was too battered. After holding the Giants to a single field goal for three quarters, New England's defense had caved in. New York was nearly finished with a 172-yard fourth quarter. Manning waited until third-and-11 to hit Steve Smith for 12 yards, and then on the next play he stared down a blitz and found Plaxico Burress behind Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs for 13 yards and the game-winning touchdown with just 35 seconds left.

 

The worst Super Bowl in forever had become one of the best. Maybe the best. If that's an exaggeration, forgive me. Blame it on the mind-altering juxtaposition of this fourth quarter with the miserable three that came before it.

 

The first three quarters had Patriots genius Bill Belichick refusing to kick a 48-yard field goal, instead going for it ... on fourth-and-13. And failing. Think Belichick would like those three points right now?

 

The first three quarters had Smith bobbling an easy catch into a New England interception. It had Brady throwing above, behind and below open receivers. It had Burress backing up his big talk earlier in the week by dropping two passes. It had Manning and running back Ahmad Bradshaw botching a simple handoff, resulting in a fumble that 6-foot-5, 250-pound New England linebacker Pierre Woods couldn't grab because the 5-9, 198-pound Bradshaw wanted it more.

 

It was hideous, this game.

 

And then it was historical. It was beautiful. It was a football Mona Lisa, and make no mistake: In that painting, she's smiling.

[Sir Stewart]

That's some bad writing.

I had to stop at "Miracle is the wrong word to describe anything on a football field -- which is too bad, because there were two miracles on this one play."

[bobbob1313]

I'm not sure I see why it's terrible writing, but OK.

 

I actually like Doyel. Believe me, there are much worse sports writers.

[Sir Stewart]

I'm not sure I see why it's terrible writing, but OK.

 

"At that point it was over. We just needed an ending."

Is this Yogi Berra's pen name?

[Sir Stewart]

Maybe I'm nitpicking - I gotta harp on something today.