Super Bowl Sunday: Giants vs Patriots

With five seconds left in the game Tom Brady throws a hail Mary to the endzone hoping to score a last second touchdown to give the Patriots another Super Bowl victory. The ball gets batted around for what seemed like an hour, it almost gets caught by Caveman Gronkowski. But the ball hits the ground and the Giants win Super Bowl XLVI.

Since August it has been an up and down season for the Giants. Great players were lost. Rival teams picked up better players. News breaks out that Eli has confidence in himself and thinks he is an elite quarterback (the nerve). Injuries to Goff, Thomas, Tuck. Osi's contract dispute. Osi's surgery. The first lost to the Redskins. Cruz's emergence as a premier receiver. The loss to the Seahawks. The amazing comebacks. Beating the Patriots in Foxboro. Losing a heartbreaker to the 49ers and the Packers. Getting killed by the Saints. Beating the Cowboys in Dallas. Losing to the Redskins again. Talks of Coughlin getting fired. Cruz's 99 yard TD catch and run against the Jets that turned the entire season around. Beating the Cowboys to win the NFC East. Then that momentum continuing through the playoffs beating the Falcons, Packers, and 49ers. After all of this the Giants kept a level head and won the Super Bowl.

Well, at least your wife won't trash your receivers... 

This was a competitive game through and through but what the key for the Giants victory was that they made the big plays when they needed to. Whereas the Patriots couldn't execute in those crucial moments. For instance a Cruz fumble that was negated because they had twelve players on the field. Also, the Welker drop comes to mind. Not only did those drops hurt the team's chances for glory, but it made supermodel wife, Gisele, mad. How dare they! Doesn't everyone know that her opinion is valued over everyone elses? Even if that opinion violates "the code of the brotherhood".


Eli's beautiful throw down the sideline and "Super" Mario Manningham's incredible catch was the play of the game. It was those kinds of plays that gave the Giants the edge they needed. It wasn't anywhere near as good as the helmet catch but it was still one of the best balls in Super Bowl history. 

The Giants defensive line wasn't as dominant as I expected they only had two sacks and eight QB hits.  However, they did force an intentional grounding which resulted in a safety, and they forced a jump ball which was picked off by Chase Blackburn.

The Giants secondary also kept up the good work and did a great job covering the Patriots "playmaker" receivers. By playmaker I mean they force Brady to be a playmaker. 

We may be in Indy. But this looks like a Cleveland steamer.

The running game opened up a bit because of the Patriots defensive plan but Bradshaw and Jacobs did a good job picking up yards. Even though he wasn't really supposed to, Bradshaw scored the game winning and looked like he took a dump on the field while doing it. Maybe it was a subconscious demonstration of him dropping a deuce on the Patriots.

The Giants kept their collective heads on a swivel and recovered two Giant fumbles in big moments.

So what have I learned?

Unless he completely falls apart, Eli should never be questioned as a quarterback. Yes some of his decisions are suspect and they can be questioned. But the discussion about him being a great quarterback, being a great leader, and being a winner should stop after Sunday night's game.

Same goes for Coughlin.

Steve Weatherford, a.k.a. the Ed Hochuli of punters, was the best free agent pick up this year. His performance this year was downright Feaglesesque and his assault on field position helped the Giants defense all year.

Chase Blackburn was a close second. Since he re-joined the Giants he has made great plays.

But here is the most important thing I learned. There is no other team that is equally rewarding as it is frustrating to be a fan of. But I wouldn't trade it to be fans of any other team.

Congratulations, Giants it has been one hell of season and an even better finish. I hope they celebrate this win like Rob "Rocket Scientist" Gronkowski "uhhhh... Yo soy fiesta! Huh-huh-huh."

Look! Gronk have shirt! Make Gronk Laugh! Huh uhh huh huh

NFC Conference Championship: Giants at 49ers

The 49ers don't miss tackles. Holy crap they were a tough team. They were resilient and hard hitting. Just ask Eli who got hit twelve times and got sacked six times. Seriously, at times he looked like a bullied 5th grader. But he never got rattled. Even after being under constant pressure he kept his cool and didn't make mistakes, even after attempting fifty-eight passes. Eli Manning is a machine and I'm not afraid to say it. He has proven that he is the heart of this scorching hot Giants team.

"Eli Manning is not afraid to kill a sucka."--Eli Manning

However, Eli wasn't the only quarterback being hit. Alex Smith got reacquainted with the Giants defense getting sacked three times and getting hit six. However, Alex Smith is not a machine. He was a human that got beat up by bigger and stronger humans. Just like the undercover SF police dressed as Giants fans, the Giants pass rush kept things reasonably in check. Vernon Davis had two big catches but there isn't much you can do to stop him. Not even penicillin can stop this VD. 

After a bunch of punts and a few scoring plays the game was tied at 17 and the contest headed into overtime. After a few possessions of watching the two defenses dominate their opponents I thought, this game will be decided on a screw up. It's either gonna be the Giants or the 9ers. Then it happened... Kyle Williams loses the football because of a tackle by Jacquain Williams. This was the second fumble from Kyle Williams. The first being a bouncing ball that hit off his knee. Sometimes a team needs to get those breaks. Some call it luck... and others call it luck. But I've heard luck be defined as, "When hard work meets opportunity." (Yes that was Lee Corso in the NCAA Football games.) But the Giants were able to capitalize on these mistakes. That you cannot take away from this team.

"I hate New York."- Joe Buck

So with one great snap adjustment by Weatherford and one good kick by Tynes the Giants are heading to the Superbowl again (much to the dismay of Joe Buck). And surprise, surprise they are facing the New England Patriots again. Thank God it's on NBC so we don't have to listen to Buck's riveting commentary. "Manning under pressure. Escapes pressure. Throws downfield, and caught by Tyree." 

So what have I learned?

-The offense and defense are both playing with so much intensity and heart. They are feeding off of one another and have created a winning atmosphere that motivates everyone on the field.

-I also learned that this mind set comes directly from Coach Coughlin. The players never lost faith in him, They never stopped playing for him.

Luckily the Patriots defense if much more flexible than the 49ers. This means we should be able to see the high flying Giants offense that has been around all season. Hopefully, this results in some much needed salsa dancing.

The Pats do present some problems, however. Those problems being Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. This two headed monster did some damage against the Giants last time they met in November. I think they key is to contain those guys. They also have hit Brady early and often. If he's on his ass every set of downs it will rattle his cage a bit. Maybe mess his hair up a bit. The Giants also need to unleash the offense that was bottled up against the 9ers, which will not be difficult on the Pats defense.

The Giants have a very good shot of winning the entire thing. The most unlikely of seasons is coming to a close on February 5th. Not bad for a 20/1 shot in July. 

Divisional Weekend: Giants at Packers

The Giants have taken out the 15-1 defending world champion Green Bay Packers. They are on their way to San Francisco to play the 49ers for the NFC Championship and a ticket to Indianapolis.  It looks like JP2 was right when he said about the Packers, "We're going to win. 100% percent we're gonna win, because we're the best."

"This is my touchdown dance. Michael Boley did it on Sunday."

On Sunday they were better than the Packers. The Giants only allowed 20 points to a powerful Packers offense that averaged 35 points a game this season. They also beat the Packers in the turnover battle with 1 turnover to 4. It should have been by more but trust me I'll get to that. Manning out threw Aaron "Discount Double Check" Rodgers, and he was only sacked once to Rodgers' 4. I'm not sure what the actual Discount Double Check gives you but I bet it doesn't provide coverage from getting crushed by the Giants defense. I'm also pretty sure the insurance doesn't cover B.J. Raji's mouth that called out the Giants O-line. Especially since he only had two tackled and got stiff armed by Bradshaw.


It's never a good sign when the team's leading rusher (by over 20 yards) is a white quarterback, and it's also counter-productive when the Packers receivers drop 8 passes. I would say the Giants got lucky but the fact is that the Giants got screwed so many times by the officials. They got screwed so many times even Joe Buck was defending the Giants. The world must be coming to an end.

Good call. Looks legit.

In a previous post I said that complaining about the officials was pointless, coincidentally it was after the first Packers game, but this takes the (cheese?)cake. The fumble that we all knew was a fumble but it was ruled not a fumble, that was bullsh*t. Osi's helmet to helmet hit which wasn't late and didn't make any contact with Rodgers helmet, that was bullsh*t too. Actually I wouldn't mind if they called that penalty if they called a few of the late or helmet hits on Eli. It's a good thing he's so manly and tough. Fortunately, the Giants overcame the NFL's attempt to make the Packers champions again. Suck it, Goodell.

So what have I learned?

There actually isn't much I learned this week that I haven't learned the last few weeks. They are playing physical football and taking advantage of what the other team gives them.

The secondary had some issues tackling that can hopefully be fixed for the 49ers game.

I learned that the turning point of the game was Nicks' Hail Mary catch at the end of the first half. He looked like Dennis Rodman grabbing a rebound.

All Nicks needs to do it kick a cameraman on the sidelines. (or Toni Kukoc)

Hakeem Nicks has been on a tear this post season because of all the attention Cruz has been getting.

Hopefully Cruz will get less attention so we can all see some Salsa dancing.

I'm also very happy that Chase Blackburn's back. He lacks some of the physical tools but he's a tough, smart player who constantly finds himself at the right place at the right time. 

Looking ahead to San Francisco... I'm glad the Giants are playing them instead of the Saints. The last time these teams played, the Giants were depleted and were nowhere near as hot as they are now. Even with all that the game went down to the wire.

It will be a knock-down, drag-out fight but I like the Giants chances on Sunday. The G-Men are on a roll and I think that will continue into Indy. I just hope that the officials don't have a personal interest in who wins the game.

Wildcard Weekend: Giants vs Falcons

There really isn't much I can say about this game, in fact the only thing I can say is "BALLIN!". The Giants took the Falcons out of the game mentally early and then piled onto the score in the second half. It turns out that the Falcons are worse away from home than a nervous fat kid at sleep-away camp. Their powerful offense couldn't get into a rhythm mostly because of the Giants dominant front four. In fact, the front four was so dominant they shut them out. The only Falcons points scored were because of an awful Eli penalty.

This might be the most intimidating thing ever.

Imagine if the Giants played this well all season long this season would have been far less frustrating. However it is nice seeing the team come together at such a critical time. It was the entire team that got the credit for the win, not just Eli of JP2. The running game stepped up big time and had their best day running all season. The secondary kept the lid on Roddy White, Julio Jones, and Tony Gonzales. So much so that a frustrated Roddy White get in the face of Corey Webster. The Giants defense also kept Michael Turner under wraps only letting him run for 41 yards.

So what have I learned?

I learned that the Giants are the ultimate team. I don't mean this in terms of ability, I mean in that they feed off of each others energy. When the D plays well, the offense plays well. And vice versa. Another point along the same lines is that the defensive line is a catalyst to the Giants success. When they play well it seems to inspire the entire team.

I also know that Osi better savor this year and leave it all on the field because it may be his last wearing big blue.

Rex Ryan, Rob Ryan, Matt Ryan: you've been targeted for Termination.

Do you remember in the first Terminator movie when the Terminator killed every Sarah Connor in the phone book just to make sure he got the right one? Well I learned that the Giants are doing that with the name Ryan. Rex and Rob pissed them off so much that anyone unfortunate enough to bear that name will be in for a world of trouble. Luckily there is a Ryan on the Packers. Ryan Grant.

Speaking of the Packers, the defending world champions, I wouldn't be surprised if the Giants leave Lambeau Field with a ticket to the NFC Championship Game. Now, I'm not ready to crown them Super Bowl Champs just yet but I was very impressed by how they played on Sunday. If they put together that same effort I really like their chances to win the game. The Giants only lost by three the last time they played and they appear to have gotten better as a team.

Let's keep it going G-Men! "We fly high, no lie, you know this."