18 Big Wins...

[Appa23]

This is a tangent, but I don't think Manning should be the MVP. Since no one defensive player stood out (other than maybe Matthews) I think it should have been Tyree. Had a TD catch & if he didn't make that spectacular catch, we would still have the greatest ever debate.

Justin Tuck stood out. He disrupted everything the whole game.

Well, he disrupted everything in the first half, with 6 tackles, 2 sacks, and that forced fumble.

If you want to give him the MVP for setting the tone and as a rep for entire D-line, then it is one thought.

However, Tuck was fairly quiet in second half (one tackle), and was often seen on the sideline, especially on that last (only) Patriot last drive.

MVPs are decided in the second half of close games.

Tyree catch was amazing, but he never makes that catch if Eli does not power away from several Patriot defenders and heave the ball where only Tyree could catch it.

Plus, I heard that Eli entered the huddle to start that drive by saying, "Hey, isn't that John Candy?"

[lilclyde54]

With the score 10-7 in the fourth quarter, I told the people I was with that I had already gotten my wish (a good competitive game) and anything that came along from this point on was gravy. Boy, was that some TASTY gravy.

[Vandal]

Okay, I'll be the lone voice for Patriots Nation.

First of all, great game by the Giants. They are the better team and they certainly deserved to win. That was one of the better Super Bowls because of the tough defense both teams (especially the Giants) played. No one's going to look back and say that the officials were awful (SB40) or the weather played a part (SB 41) or the QBs were awful (SBs 40/41).

Brady took a pounding and still managed to put his team in a position to win. It took a dropped interception by Samuel, some great passing by Eli (how did he avoid the sack?) and the most incredible catch in Super Bowl history to derail the Pats express. Manning's throw was a late floater over the middle (3 big no nos) that was practically Favrevian. It worked and it may be the stuff of legends.

I know most of you don't like the Patriots or their coach and that's understandable. Beliichick has shown an arrogance that is unsurpassed. He rarely seems to enjoy himself and he comes off as a first-rate a-hole (yes, America, we see it, too). If had to choose a neighbor, I'd take Tom Coughlin in a second. If I had to choose a head coach, I'd take Bill the Thrill (altough his star has diminished based on recent events both real and imagined).

No, they are not one of the greatest teams of all time, but they did find 18 ways to win. Don't you sit there every week and hope your team wins? Every week! Of course you do. These guys did it. It was a great thing to witness. Until yesterday.

Coming into this game there was no sense of entitlement. No destiny. Most of us could see that they were slipping and the rest of the teams were catching up quickly.

C'mon, men, just one more game! Find a way. One more!

But they couldn't do it.

So, America, enjoy your newest sweethearts. They deserve all the accolades and parades and kudos you can throw their way.

Then comes the hard part. The Giants become the marked team. Sunday night games. Monday night games. In the cross-hairs every week.

It's a long way down.

The Pats will reload. The deadwood will be gone. Fresh horses and all.

You'll still hate the team. Still hate the coach. (Hey, some of us fans are okay. Really!)

Enjoy your run, Giants fans. You deserve it.

By the way, having seen every game Tom Brady has played in as a pro, this has to be the lamest, most uninformed post I have read on this board:

Simple. He simply showed that he's an average quarterback. His stats look good only because he's had receivers who can run after they catch a 2 yard pass. As for the long ball, he's weak as hell, and only has had success when he's got a receiver (like Moss) who can run under his airballs.

Shut down the receivers, you automatically shut down Brady.

I can't even read it and keep a straight face.





Who can bite me: Arlen Specter and Mercury Morris

[Appa23]

Okay, I'll be the lone voice for Patriots Nation.


Coming into this game there was no sense of entitlement. No destiny. Most of us could see that they were slipping and the rest of the teams were catching up quickly.

I'm glad that this was the senitment of the Patriots' fans, but it clearly was not the sentiment of the Pats' players and coaches.

Bellichick does a short handshake prior to the end of the game with Coughlin, but does not stay around to congratulate any of the Giant players? He never congratulates the Giants for a great win in his post game comments. Peopel have put up with the a-hole attitude and poor sportsmanship based on his football "genius". Now, with growing reports of cheating, former Pats employee Walsh may pull back the curtain to show that his "genius" was nothing more than violating the basic rules of fair competition.

Meanwhile, Pats players were inviting Giant players to their vicotry celebrations prior to the game. Tom Brady snubbed shaking hands with Eli Manning prior to the game. Richard Seymour talked trash right before the Giants' winning drive. HGH-addict-extraordinaire Rodney Harrison whines that the Pats only lost because the Giants got all of the breaks.

If the Pats do not lose Moss (they will cut Stallworth free), they should have another impressive offense. However, their defense was incredibly exposed (especially the slow LBs and short DBs). They have the advantage of having 7-8 "certain" wins from the AFC East, but it will be tougher sledding with the rest of the schedule next year.

I was amazed that they could capitalize on other teams' mistakes enough to avoid that one loss (or more) against lesser competition that blemished the 1985 Beas and 1980s 49er teams. 18-0 was impressive. However, it is sad that sportsmanship took as much of a beating by the Pats as did most of their opponents.

[ToLiveIsToFly]

Then comes the hard part. The Giants become the marked team. Sunday night games. Monday night games. In the cross-hairs every week.

It's a long way down.

As long as people think you'll be a halfway-decent team, if you play in NYC you already get the Sunday Night, Monday Night, Thursday Night, etc games. Next year won't be any different on that front. (I'm thankful for it because it means I can see 4-5 regular-season games a year even here in Chicago).

A marked team, yes. But also a team that only recently has figured out how good it can be, and a team with 3 good offensive rookies who are only going to get better.

I bet we finish the regular season better than 10-6. Let's hope Eli finally figures out how to play at home.

I'm surprised I haven't heard anybody comparing Eli to Phil Simms. Both talked about as the future QB of the team for a long time, both show flashes of absolute brilliance, both also showed how badly they could stink up the joint. I knew plenty of Giants fans in the 2 weeks leading up to SB20 who were convinced the team would be better off without Simms. And then he played the game that shut everyone up.

[silverscreenselect]

I bet we finish the regular season better than 10-6. Let's hope Eli finally figures out how to play at home.

I'm surprised I haven't heard anybody comparing Eli to Phil Simms.

The Giants are a team on the way up. Except for Strahan (who I can't see coming back again--what does he have to gain) and Toomer, the main contributors are all young.

My take on the Giants all year was that their problems were almost all mental, and most of that Eli. Once they got their act together, they were tough.

If Spagnuolo goes to Washington, that will hurt in more ways than one. Our local Atlanta Falcons again demonstrated the same judgment that earns them worthless high draft choices every year by deciding that they couldn't wait an extra week to talk to Spagnuolo and instead rushing out to hire yet another retread loser.

As for Phil Simms, one difference between Simms and Eli is that Simms played for some very bad teams his first few years behind some very bad offensive lines. He took more of a physical beating than practically any quarterback I have ever seen. That man was tough. Eli has played on decent teams and gotten pretty decent protection his entire career, which doesn't explain some of his really horrible mistakes.

Hopefully, the playoff run has gotten all that behind him.

[peacock2121]

Okay, I'll be the lone voice for Patriots Nation.

First of all, great game by the Giants. They are the better team and they certainly deserved to win. That was one of the better Super Bowls because of the tough defense both teams (especially the Giants) played. No one's going to look back and say that the officials were awful (SB40) or the weather played a part (SB 41) or the QBs were awful (SBs 40/41).

Brady took a pounding and still managed to put his team in a position to win. It took a dropped interception by Samuel, some great passing by Eli (how did he avoid the sack?) and the most incredible catch in Super Bowl history to derail the Pats express. Manning's throw was a late floater over the middle (3 big no nos) that was practically Favrevian. It worked and it may be the stuff of legends.

I know most of you don't like the Patriots or their coach and that's understandable. Beliichick has shown an arrogance that is unsurpassed. He rarely seems to enjoy himself and he comes off as a first-rate a-hole (yes, America, we see it, too). If had to choose a neighbor, I'd take Tom Coughlin in a second. If I had to choose a head coach, I'd take Bill the Thrill (altough his star has diminished based on recent events both real and imagined).

No, they are not one of the greatest teams of all time, but they did find 18 ways to win. Don't you sit there every week and hope your team wins? Every week! Of course you do. These guys did it. It was a great thing to witness. Until yesterday.

Coming into this game there was no sense of entitlement. No destiny. Most of us could see that they were slipping and the rest of the teams were catching up quickly.

C'mon, men, just one more game! Find a way. One more!

But they couldn't do it.

So, America, enjoy your newest sweethearts. They deserve all the accolades and parades and kudos you can throw their way.

Then comes the hard part. The Giants become the marked team. Sunday night games. Monday night games. In the cross-hairs every week.

It's a long way down.

The Pats will reload. The deadwood will be gone. Fresh horses and all.

You'll still hate the team. Still hate the coach. (Hey, some of us fans are okay. Really!)

Enjoy your run, Giants fans. You deserve it.

By the way, having seen every game Tom Brady has played in as a pro, this has to be the lamest, most uninformed post I have read on this board:

Simple. He simply showed that he's an average quarterback. His stats look good only because he's had receivers who can run after they catch a 2 yard pass. As for the long ball, he's weak as hell, and only has had success when he's got a receiver (like Moss) who can run under his airballs.

Shut down the receivers, you automatically shut down Brady.

I can't even read it and keep a straight face.





Who can bite me: Arlen Specter and Mercury Morris

I want vandal to be my fan.

[minimetoo26]

NY has always been a "what have you done for me lately?" place. The team knows it's back to work after the parade is over, because the fans are unforgiving.

As for the Patriots' fans, at least the possibly fair-weather ones attending the Super Bowl, they were coming up to my husband before the game and chatting, and would talk about the Burress prediction, and would ask him how much he though the Patriots would win by. When he answered that the Giants had a chance, they'd look at him blankly as though they hadn't considered the possibility! Steve was kinda bummed on Friday, saying no one was picking the Giants among all the chatterers out there, and I told him about the camel who picked the Giants and was 8-2 in the playoff predictions. So it seems the camel knew more than the 61% of the country who predicted New England!

[littlebeast13]

I was hoping (I can't really say rooting) for the Patriots to win for a couple of reasons. First off, I would like to see a complete perfect season sometime in my life... even if it is by the team everyone loves to hate. Second, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the Pats since they were the team that put an end to the short-lived Greatest Show on Turf so that St. Louis could go back to being what it really is.... a baseball town who dabbles in hockey during the offseason.

And I lost any love I might have for Eli Manning when he made the ridiculous draft day demand back in 2004. So much for karma.... it should have been Philip Rivers hoisting the trophy....

lb13