Giants Win
Feb 3
A few thoughts:
- Congrats to the Giants. They were very impressive at the end of the season and the playoffs and deserved this win.
- The Giants receivers were the difference in the game. They made Manning look good, making several spectacular catches. Manning should not have been the MVP, his receiving corps should have been.
- This was not a great game. It was exciting, but it wasn’t what I would call great execution. Each team blew chances (the missed sack on the last drive, the wide open Burress that Manning missed in the fourth after the Giants had taken the 10-7 led and forced the Pats to punt, the under-throw of Moss at the end, the fumble that the Pats recovered but had taken away from them because the refs were slow to realize the play should have been dead and the Giants player took the ball back in the scrum, etc) and the two defenses held, grabbed, pushed and pretty much dared the referees to call penalties, which they generally did not. I really hope this isn’t a trend and the NFL goes back to the boring, clutch and grab nonsense of the late 90s.
- The Pats were really let down by their offensive line. I know the Giants front seven is very good, but the Pats o-line just played miserably. The Pats linebackers were supposed to be the weakness, not the offensive line.
- If God was just, He would have let the Pats win so that we would never have to hear from the 72 Dolphins or their fans ever again.
- Joe Buck can ruin games in two sports. Well done, Joe.
#1 by tgirsch at February 3rd, 2008
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The problem with receiver corps as MVP is that no one receiver stood out. Toomer, Burress, and Smith each had a couple of fantastic catches in clutch situations (even though Smith’s catch should have been offensive pass interference), but no one receiver dominated the game. This year, I think Manning was the right MVP pick, because even though his receivers helped him out, he stayed cool under pressure.
Agreed that it wasn’t a great game, agreed that the Pats choked, and agreed that Joe Buck is awful.
I’d like to see the 72 Dolphins record fall, but I don’t want it to a fall to a quasi-dynasty like the Pats. I want to see it fall to some perennial doormat like the Cardinals or the Bengals or maybe even the Saints.
Anyway, as the old saying goes, that’s why they play the games.
#2 by Ted at February 4th, 2008
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Clearly, the Giants defense, especially front 7, were the difference in the game. They held Patriots to 14, harrassed Brady all game, and pretty much shut down Maroney.
In all other 18 Patriots games this year, you score 17 on offense and you lose.
#3 by Kevin at February 4th, 2008
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Ted
I can see that argument, but I think that they two defenses played pretty close, so I think the difference in the game was the handful of fantastic plays the Giants receivers made. Without those plays, the Giants aren’t even in this game. It was an overall team win, though
#4 by tgirsch at February 4th, 2008
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OK, now that the commenter’s name is at the top, instead of having it say “by Kevin,” maybe we could change it to read “Kevin writes:”
#5 by tgirsch at February 4th, 2008
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And I still want a header at the top that lets me navigate to the next post or the previous post…
#6 by Ted at February 4th, 2008
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you are never satisfied
#7 by tgirsch at February 4th, 2008
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Said the kettle to the pot
#8 by Kevin at February 4th, 2008
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And more to the pint, yu have exactly the same access to the templates that I do
#9 by tgirsch at February 4th, 2008
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Yes, but (A) I forget that, and (B) I don’t speak WordPress.
Heck, I barely speak HTML (or, for that matter, English).
#10 by digglahhh at February 5th, 2008
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This was a great game. Sure I’m biased (and about to sneak downstairs to catch some of the parade).
When was the last Super Bowl that was this good?
New England is a real, not a quasi-dynasty. Even with this loss.
That Manning to Tyree play will be replayed in media runs up to subsequent Super Bowls as often as any other play.
I didn’t know you could throw a flag to ask the refs to call a penalty when one was not called initially. There was no question Blackburn was still on the field, but I was shocked that it was review-able.
I was livid that they had single coverage on Moss when he caught to go-ahead TD. But, I assume the Pats fans felt the same way when they left Plaxico matched-up without any help/