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[StaedlerMars]

Woohoo!

[KvP]

That fuckin' game took years off my life.

That sack evasion + 32 yard pass was poetry in motion. Giants earned this one.

[Narr]

Yeah, that last drive by the Giants definitely convinced me, they deserved to win that game.  I have to say that that was probably the most dramatic and entertaining football game I've ever seen.

I agree with this 100 fold.

My dad was the only one in the house rooting for the Patriots, which I secretly think he was doing to be an obnoxious asshole like he always does whenever the whole family gets together.  He kept saying it was because of the "historical significance" the Patriots having a perfect season would mean.  I told him, "What's more historical?  Perfect season 2 or the underdogs ironically named the Giants defeating probably the best football team to ever take the field in the most important game of the year?"  I think I won out.

I believe that was the single best football game I've ever watched in my life.

[Uber Ritter]

I think this game hurt more than Tom Brady's pride.  That defense was brutal.  I mean, Manning was really awesome in the 4th quarter (that pass was probably the best moment of the game) but I think that the Giant's defence deserves a -hell- of a lot of the accolades for taking down the Patriots.

I was rooting for the Giants, and that last bit of the game they earned their rings, trophy et al., but I felt bad for ragging on the Patriots so much the first half when I saw the look on every Pat fan in the room's face after that last touchdown.  It was almost heartbreaking.  I have to say that around 3:00 minutes from the end I would have been happy to see either team win.

[Blue Kitty]

Hoped for the Giants to win, and they did, mostly since I did not want the Patroits to have a perfect season

after the game everyone screamed, "WHERE IS YOUR PERFECT SEASON NOW BRADY?!?!" at the screen.

[Boro_Bandito]

I screamed it right at the touchdown, I didn't wait for the damn game to end, the doom was right there on screen.

[Inlander]

Great game, proof that you don't need a million points for a contest to be absolutely gripping, and a real relief after last year's snore-a-thon. The Giants definitely deserved to win, and in fact if they hadn't I don't think their offensive team (heh, "offensive") would've been able to look their defensive team in the eyes. As it was, the attack ran hot-and-cold for most of the game but obviously peaked when it counted. And that get-out-of-jail move by Manning and the catch by whatsisname in the drive leading up to the last touchdown was the best single moment I've seen in American sport.

However, it also illustrated something that's always struck me about American Football: there seems to be very little value placed in the game on actual genuine tackling skills. I guess it's understandable, as unlike in Rugby Union or League all you have to do is knock the player over and nine times out of ten that player isn't trying to beat you with fancy footwork, but all the same: Manning had, what, three or four players on him before he managed to pull himself free? And every single one of them was grabbing at his torso or his shoulders. All the Patriots needed was for just one of those defenders to go for Manning's legs instead and there's no way he would've got out of there. Drive over, Patriots win.

Still, I don't want to take anything away from Manning's skill and tenacity, or indeed the performance of the Giants as a whole. The best team on the night won.

[BobJoeJim]

I have to say that that was probably the most dramatic and entertaining football game I've ever seen.

I believe that was the single best football game I've ever watched in my life.

I have to disagree.  It was a good game, sure, but I swear to god I don't think it was the best football game between the Giants and Patriots this season.  Week 17 was a better game than tonight.  As for better Super Bowls in recent memory, I'd take Rams/Titans a few years ago, with the stop on the one yard line on the last play of the game as being better.  Other football games that were far better, off the top of my head, include Boise State vs. Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl and USC vs. Texas in the Rose Bowl.

[OnewingedAngel]

I partially agree. The game was only really good in the 4th quarter, where the Pats/Titans game was entertaining the whole time.

I disagree with it being better than their first meeting, this definitely held more tension as it was the culmination of the Patriots hard work.

I really don't think the Pat's are all that good. They've won 3 bowls, but all three games were very close. Closer than they should have been for the "top team". I think Brady is a good, not great QB and the wins aremore due to Bellicheck's phenominal coaching than anything else. Even if he does get accused of cheating.

[Storm Rider]

I have to disagree.  It was a good game, sure, but I swear to god I don't think it was the best football game between the Giants and Patriots this season.  Week 17 was a better game than tonight.  As for better Super Bowls in recent memory, I'd take Pats/Titans a few years ago, with the stop on the one yard line on the last play of the game as being better.  Other football games that were far better, off the top of my head, include Boise State vs. Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl and USC vs. Texas in the Rose Bowl.

The Super Bowl I believe you're thinking of was actually Rams/Titans, and I think it was... 2003? Not positive on that one though.

[DonInKansas]

Storm Rider's got that one.

Excellent game to watch; I love watching good defense and the Giants beat the crap out of the Patriots.  Definitely as entertaining as could have been expected.

[Alex C]

However, it also illustrated something that's always struck me about American Football: there seems to be very little value placed in the game on actual genuine tackling skills. I guess it's understandable, as unlike in Rugby Union or League all you have to do is knock the player over and nine times out of ten that player isn't trying to beat you with fancy footwork, but all the same: Manning had, what, three or four players on him before he managed to pull himself free? And every single one of them was grabbing at his torso or his shoulders. All the Patriots needed was for just one of those defenders to go for Manning's legs instead and there's no way he would've got out of there. Drive over, Patriots win.

It's part sloppy tackling and part knee jerk reaction by defensive players to try stripping the ball when going after ballcarriers (especially QBs) in situations where they believe they have the play contained and because the NFL has rather strict roughing the passer rules. Plus, unlike in rugby the only shot you have at forcing an immediate change of possession is when they're still on their feet, although freelancing like that is exactly the kind of thing that drives coaches absolutely bananas and was rather surprising to see happen with a team like the Patriots. Hell, in Tampa Bay and Indianapolis I've often read that Dungy spends as much time on practicing "spilling" (taking angles in such a way that even if you miss the tackle the ball carrier will be funneled towards the middle of the field and thus towards other defenders) as much as they spend practicing actual tackling, so I'm sure that the obsessive Belichick was a thousand different flavors of pissed off after that lack of discipline. Whatever the reason, they definitely paid for their inability to finish that play.

[bff]

I started to smell upset as soon as I saw Bellichek wearing the red sweatshirt. 

[Narr]

I have to disagree.  It was a good game, sure, but I swear to god I don't think it was the best football game between the Giants and Patriots this season.  Week 17 was a better game than tonight.  As for better Super Bowls in recent memory, I'd take Pats/Titans a few years ago, with the stop on the one yard line on the last play of the game as being better.  Other football games that were far better, off the top of my head, include Boise State vs. Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl and USC vs. Texas in the Rose Bowl.

it's more than just the physical numbers of what happened in this game that made it exciting for me, I suppose.  The fact this is the Super Bowl makes it more exciting than the last meeting between these two teams because this time, it was more than simple pride at stake.

You had THE UNDEFEATED Vs. The Ultimate Underdog.  You had Perfection against Redemption.  You had NFL Coach of the Year against a guy that was almost fired between this season and last.  You had one of the most reliable quarterbacks of all time against a guy just about EVERYONE wrote off as inconsistent.

Back to back super bowl MVP brothers.  /salute to Archie Manning.

It's the ultimate underdog story.  It's like the Steelers' run to the big game a couple years ago, but this time against even bigger, even nastier teams.  The only "easy" game for the Giants in this whole playoff run was against the Buccaneers.  They had to play the best team in their conference with the Cowboys and had to play against a resurging elder statesman of a quarterback in his home city, where he's got probably the best home record of all time for any single player, and then "the best team that has ever played" with the 2007 Patriots.

[Blue Kitty]

I forgot where it was, but when they were talking about Eliah Manning they said, "Not much of a looker, just close your eyes and pretend he is Tom Brady"

[Storm Rider]

Tom Coughlin definitely keeps his job, that's for sure. I'm still not a particular fan of his methods, to be honest.

[Narr]

I don't get the Coughlin hate, to be honest.  I think he's got a bad rep going for him, for being a hard-ass.  He's done a pretty good job in the NFL, I'd say, even if they hadn't won today.  How many other coaches out there can boast taking an expansion team into the Playoffs in their 2nd and 3rd year as a team?

[BobJoeJim]

Narr, I get what you're saying and of course it's huge that this was the Super Bowl as opposed to a regular season game.  That week 17 matchup, though, was the most entertaining regular season NFL game I think I've ever seen.  16-0 was on the line, and both teams played their hearts out; the Giants did everything they could to try to keep the Pats from perfection (obviously they made good on try two today), and just barely fell short.  At the time, I was complimenting the game for having a "Super Bowl level of intensity".  Not only that, but it was a fantastic football game, played very very well by all four units, offense and defense of both teams; it was high scoring but not because the defense was bad.  By contrast, the Super Bowl today was in my opinion rather sloppy.  It was low scoring, but not because of remarkable defense.  I give kudos to the Giants D-Line for great pressure all day, but New England also really didn't look sharp, and when the Giants had the ball (except for the first, and last two, drives) it was pretty painful football to watch, basically what happens when bad offense and bad defense are combined.  The finish was exciting, and the play was pretty solid in the fourth quarter, but most of the game was just mediocre football.  It happened to be close because the mediocrity was evenly distributed between both teams, but it wasn't particularly good or entertaining.  At least, not in my opinion.

And Storm Rider, obviously yes I meant Rams/Titans.  Patriots/Titans would have been an... unlikely... Super Bowl matchup, lol.  I guess, despite my arguments that it wasn't a great game, this Super Bowl *is* still affecting me somewhat.  Otherwise I don't know where that slip could've come from.

[StaedlerMars]

Now that my heart has slowed down quite a bit:

You know the scenario where it's a crowded room and everyone around you is a fan of the other team, and you're the only one wearing your teams hat?

That was me for the Giants. No jokes. And this was in the student union, which was fairly crowded.

To me the Giants victory wasn't as important as the Patriots being stopped in their tracks, and quieting down my hooligan new england (no offense) fans who've been jerking it over Tom Brady for the past months. The fact that the Giants managed to do it makes it so much better.

Also, I'm not that big a fan of sports fans, but last night made me get what it was all about.

Any Given Sunday

[valley_parade]

The best part of last night was after the Pats lost, immediately congratulating the two Giants fans in the bar, and spraying them with tiny bottles of champagne.

Here's my question..why would the Pats punt on 4th and 2, but then go for it on 4th and 13? Doesn't make sense!

[bff]

new england (no offense)

Bet Tom is glad he made fun of Plax for predicting the Pats would ONLY score 17 points

[Mazlow01]

I started to smell upset as soon as I saw Bellichek wearing the red sweatshirt. 

Me too! I was shocked he changed the shirt.

[Leinad]

That game was the most boring game of my life until 3 minutes from the end, I swear. We seriously stopped watching and started playing in the street until it was almost over. I just wish the game as a whole had been more exciting, then I wouldn't have felt cheated.

[Ozymandias]

Man.

I don't watch football. I generally don't care.

But I enjoyed the fuck out of that game. That was an epic match. I always feel bad rooting for a team (because they nearly always lose) but the Giants pulled it out. Their defense couldn't keep their hands off Tom Brady. It was nuts and I enjoyed it every time he went down.

[Narr]

Narr, I get what you're saying and of course it's huge that this was the Super Bowl as opposed to a regular season game.  That week 17 matchup, though, was the most entertaining regular season NFL game I think I've ever seen.  16-0 was on the line, and both teams played their hearts out; the Giants did everything they could to try to keep the Pats from perfection (obviously they made good on try two today), and just barely fell short.  At the time, I was complimenting the game for having a "Super Bowl level of intensity".  Not only that, but it was a fantastic football game, played very very well by all four units, offense and defense of both teams; it was high scoring but not because the defense was bad.  By contrast, the Super Bowl today was in my opinion rather sloppy.  It was low scoring, but not because of remarkable defense.  I give kudos to the Giants D-Line for great pressure all day, but New England also really didn't look sharp, and when the Giants had the ball (except for the first, and last two, drives) it was pretty painful football to watch, basically what happens when bad offense and bad defense are combined.  The finish was exciting, and the play was pretty solid in the fourth quarter, but most of the game was just mediocre football.  It happened to be close because the mediocrity was evenly distributed between both teams, but it wasn't particularly good or entertaining.  At least, not in my opinion.

And Storm Rider, obviously yes I meant Rams/Titans.  Patriots/Titans would have been an... unlikely... Super Bowl matchup, lol.  I guess, despite my arguments that it wasn't a great game, this Super Bowl *is* still affecting me somewhat.  Otherwise I don't know where that slip could've come from.

I get where you're coming from.  I disagree on the it being sloppy because of the offenses, though.  The New England Patriots had the best offense of all time and were being completely shut down.  I have never seen the Patriots' O-line crumble like that in the 8 years since they picked up Bellichick.  Brady isn't that great of a quarterback when he's got that much pressure on him.  (Of course, there's not a lot of quarterbacks who ARE in that situation.  He was getting absolutely manhandled.)  The Patriot's D was doing pretty solid themselves, up until that last drive.  I won't even say they did a BAD job except on the game-winning touch-down.  The miracle throw and miracle catch from Manning to Tyree was magical.  There's no other way to describe it.  You can't say the Patriots didn't do all they could to stop it, either.  3 guys had their hands on Manning, and Tyree had a defender on him the whole time, somehow managing to catch the football with his helmet.  To me, this game was proof that lots of punts doesn't make a game boring.  I love the old-fashioned scuffles, where guys just pounded each other in the mouth until one of the two teams just crumbles.  That's what I saw last night.

I disagree with all the sports announcers that are saying these Patriots will now just be a footnote and don't deserve to be mentioned alongside the "best teams of all time."  Yeah, the Super Bowl is incredibly important and it's what puts the stamp on good seasons, but as much as I hate them, the 2007 Patriots are one of the best teams to ever play, or will ever be fielded in professional football.  I don't see their loss at the end so much a fall as I see it a true David and Goliath match-up.

It did finally dawn on me today, though, that this football season is officially over.  I don't count the pro bowl.

My hopes for next year:
The Arizona Cardinals will finally have a .500 season.
The Patriots don't make the playoffs.
Peyton Manning gets the single season TD record under his belt again.
Philip Rivers dies in a fire, and the end result is the Chargers winning the Super Bowl.

[Storm Rider]

Where the hell are the Chargers supposed to get a quarterback capable of winning the Super Bowl? Turner can't magic one out of thin air, and Volek's a pretty good backup but he's not capable of leading a playoff team.

[Narr]

Magic.

[Darkbluerabbit]

I forgot where it was, but when they were talking about Eliah Manning they said, "Not much of a looker, just close your eyes and pretend he is Tom Brady"

Am I the only one who does not get the appeal of Tom Brady?  He looks like such a meathead.  Eli is sort of cute, like a confused puppy.   

I don't follow football all that closely, but I can actually say that watching the Super Bowl was worth it this year.  I mostly watched to see how stoned Tom Petty would be at halftime, but then the game turned out to be pretty entertaining.  I did not waste my evening.