The theme of the playoffs was "Who wants it more?" The answer in the Super Bowl was clearly the Giants. Two very obvious examples of this had to do with wrestling for the ball. On the Bradshaw fumble, it certainly looked like one of the Patriots had fallen on the ball to recover. But Bradshaw simply out muscled and out fought the Patriots in the scrum to come away with the ball. And on the key play of the game, Tyree comes down with the ball against his helmet and Rodney Harrison furiously fighting to dislodge it. But Tyree holds on. At key moments like that, the Giants just wanted it more.
One of the things that's always impressed me about New England, particularly this year, is its ability to adapt. They spend much of the season blowing away teams and being accused of running up the score. Then when defenses sell out to stopping that at all costs, the Patriots just shift gears and grind it out on the ground and with short passing. If you blitz, they throw screens. They take what you give them. In this game, I don't think they did a good job. The furious Giant pass rush gave the Pats fits all night. But did they start moving Brady around, rolling him out, getting him away from the rush? No. I read an article last week where Strahan I think was talking about the subtle ways Brady makes things hard for pass rushers, one of the best is varying the length of his stride while taking his five step drops. The result is that the rushers never know where Brady will be and so it's hard to zero in on him. But despite rush after rush, Brady kept dropping back and standing there. The Giants knew where he was going to be and zeroed in on him. Where were the adjustments?
The NFL is desperate to generate interest in the NFL Network. But they need to get better people if they want people to watch. I was watching a clip on nfl.com listing the top 10 Super Bowls ever. On the screen was the number of the Super Bowl. But the announcer got every one wrong, to the point where others on the set were ribbing the guy. I understand that they are Roman numerals, but come on. The NFL should at least hire guys who can read the numbers of the NFL's biggest games. Or be smart enough to provide the script for the reader with the numbers spelled out. Pretty embarrassing if you ask me.
Watching celebrities pick football games can numb the brain sometimes. I actually heard Gabriele Union pick the Patriots because she likes Victoria Secrets and Brady's squeezing a Victoria Secrets model. Hmm. I used to try pretty hard to pick games on this blog, and still try every week even if I don't publish my picks anymore. Ms. Union has a different way of doing things.
With Eli having now "arrived", winning his own Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP (faster than Peyton did), are the few commercials made in America that don't feature Peyton now going to fall to Eli? They're already doing those silly DSRL commercials together. Please, spare us. Speaking of ads, back in December I saw a print ad for a watch with Eli's picture and the phrase "unstoppable." At the time, it was quite funny because Eli was not exactly doing well. It was just before the week 17 Patriot game. Gotta admit, it's now pretty appropriate.
A lot of comparisons were made before the game to Super Bowl 36, with the Giants in the role of the Patriots and the Patriots in the role of the Rams. It obviously worked out that way, with the Giants pulling the upset on a clutch end-of-game drive by their previously unheralded quarterback. The Pats should beware since they're now playing the Rams. St. Louis has yet to recover from that loss. A team everyone thought was setup to dominate for years to come, quickly faded and has not done much since, having only won a single wild-card playoff game and having had only one winning season. An MVP quarterback thought to be among the best in the game, and perhaps one of the best ever, lost his starting job the following season and has ended up in Arizona.
Labels: NFL, NFL 2007
