30 Seconds

30 seconds. 30 seconds away from a perfect season! Unbelievable. Give all credit to the Giants. Everyone said going into the game that it would be won or lost in the trenches, that the key was the Giant defensive line getting pressure on Brady. And that's how it worked out. Without the pressure, Brady lights it up. They played a great game and the Patriot line had no answers.

The Pats got three wins, each by a field goal. Now they lose by one. One of the key decisions of the game was New England facing 4th and 13 in the third quarter and choosing to go for it rather than attempt a 49 yard field goal. The miss the conversion and come away with nothing. Now, obviously it's a long attempt. But were Vinatieri there, do you think he might have gone for the kick? That ends up being the difference in the game. How long will that decision haunt Belichick's dreams?

Moss says that Patriots just couldn't match the Giants' intensity. All week I kept thinking the Pats were just a bit too cavalier about the whole thing. Brady's response to Plaxico's prediction of the score epitomized it. Just brazenly saying they would score a lot more than 17. (How much do they wish that part of Plaxico's prediction had come true?) After a whole season of never talking about the possibility of perfection, they talked about it a lot the week before the Super Bowl. They just seem to have lost a bit of their focus, got a little bit too caught up in the atmosphere and the moment, and ultimately got a little too full of themselves. They got to 18-0 seeing themselves as a flawed team constantly striving to make fewer mistakes next week. Humble pie was the theme of the season. They got to 18-1 seeing themselves as a team who would have no problem scoring a lot of points and a team going for its place in history. I guess they got the second one, just not the way they expected.

Still, they had the lead with 30 seconds left. What a way to end such a great season. They had so many opportunities to put the game away. Samuel had a game-ending interception in his hands, and dropped it. If they finish off the sack of Manning, it's over. But he escapes somehow and makes a big pass to Tyree to set up the touchdown. Just like last year's AFC title game, all they needed was one play from the defense at the end, but again the Patriots couldn't quite finish off a Manning.

Damn.