Just about everyone predicted that the New England Patriots would have a field day against the New York Giants, running away with Super Bowl XLII and jumping into football history with a completely undefeated 19-0 season. Too bad for Tom Brady, because the Pats ended their season with an overall record of 18-1 and that one loss is easily the most costly of them all.
As I predicted, the New York Giants are the newly crowned Super Bowl champions. I expected a higher scoring affair — my prediction called for a 33-27 final — but the Giants emerged triumphant regardless, winning by a final score of 17-14. This is only a three point difference from my expected spread, so I still think that I was pretty much on the money with this one.
The opening drive of the game — a nearly nine-minute affair that ended with the NYG field goal — really set the tone for the rest of the game. I knew that one of the keys to the game would be the Giants controlling the clock and keeping the ball out of Tom Brady‘s hands. That helped, to be sure, but you’ve got to give a heck of a lot of credit to the defensive unit of the New York Giants. They not only shut down Tom Brady (the sustained level of pressure must have been unbearable), but they also all but eliminated the threat of Laurence Maroney. No passing game and no running game results in very few points. In fact, the score was a miserly 7-3 (for the Pats) going into the fourth quarter.
The last two points of my previous post really came through, because the Giants rode their crazy road game momentum, while the Patriots sort of stumbled into the Super Bowl Sunday. Antonio Pierce and James Butler had great defensive games, but the sleeper star had to be David Tyree. He pulled down the Giants’ first touchdown and then nabbed an incredible reception during New York’s game winning drive. Anyone who saw that highlight would agree that Tyree really “used his head.”
Kudos to Eli Manning, Tom Coughlin, and the rest of the New York Giants organization. After starting the season with two straight losses and finding their way into the playoffs as a fifth-seeded team, it was clear that the odds were against them. But they remained resilient and persevered. They really did adhere to the philosophy that impossible is nothing.
The New England Patriots are going to come back next fall hungrier than ever. Could we see 18-1 followed by 19-0?
I don’t think the Patriots will be in the same position next year. It will be interesting to see if they are able to sign Moss to a new deal or if he bolts for more money.
My prediction – based on nothing at all – for next year’s Super Bowl is Cowboys versus Chargers. A healthy Chargers team would have beat the Patriots this year.
Part of the reason why I was rooting for the Giants was because they eliminated the two teams that I really wanted to cheer for: the Cowboys and the Packers. I thought the ‘boys had a good chance this year, so it’ll be interesting to see how Romo and T.O. do next year.
This Super Bowl was a matchup of two teams that I really dislike. I was torn between wanting the Pats to win so the 72 Dolphins would shut up already and the Giants to win as I like seeing the underdog pull the upset.
Like you mentioned about the Pats, the ‘boys were stumbling into the playoffs and not playing well at all. Maybe Jerry Jones will try to sign Moss to line up next to T.O. next year? 🙂
My bet was right too! The underdog wins again…
I have the same tendency too if too groups that I don’t like particularly play against each other I favor the underdog just for the fun of it.