Well, that was unexpected. I’m so torn now. I want the Patriots to go down, but for that to happen the rival Giants must win. I guess its better than the Cowboys getting there.
And the Chargers? They got one game closer then remembered that Norv freaking Turner is their head coach.
At this point, I’d rather the Patriots win it all, because falling one win short of perfection is just disappointing.
(I’d feel the same if the Packers were 18-0, and I’m a Bears fan.)
However, I’m intrigued by the Younger Brother Complex narrative of this matchup, especially since the Giants really gave the Pats a hell of a game at the end of the regular season. I’d be just fine if Eli were able to look at Peyton after a Super Bowl victory, show him the ring and say “Why’d it take you so long to get one of these, huh? And all you had to do was beat Rex Grossman.”
As a Giants fan, I never saw this coming. Just prior to the Giants game against New England I was saying that Eli had been given enough time and that maybe the Giants should start looking elsehwere. A few people told me I was being hasty and reminded me that it took guys like Terry Bradshaw and brother Peyton longer than it took Eli to develop.
Then it was like someone suddenly flipped a switch and Eli turned into the steadiest QB in the NFL. In the playoffs Eli is 53-85 602 yards, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions.
Very odd that Vegas would make the Pats 14 point favorites considering everything that has gone on the last few weeks.
Next to the Browns, I am a Patriots fan. I am also a Belichik fan. But there is one additional consideration in my feelings about this Super Bowl.
There is no way that I want to see Coughlin win a Super Bowl.
I am happy for Eli Manning. I think the sports press generally and the NY press specifically have been pretty hard on him and unfair. He’s a human being and he did, after all, choose NYC over San Diego. That’s a deal I’d never make.
Still, let’s not go anointing Eli the second coming, yet. His success these playoffs is largely because of his sudden understanding of how not to turn over the ball, but the Giants have gotten where they are because their pass rush is wicked and the running tandem of Jacobs and Bradshaw has stepped up.
14 points is a bit much, considering their last meetup was much closer. But the Pats have too many ways to compensate when one leg falters. Bottle up Moss, you get Welker; bottle up Welker and Moss, you get Stallworth, somehow bottle up the top three and you still get smoked by Gaffney. Get to Brady, like the Bolts did yesterday, and Maroney and Faulk destroy you. Offense sputters for a bit, the D steps up.
Watching the Giants do to the Patriots what the Patriots once did to the Rams would be exciting. I just don’t believe it’s going to happen.
As much as it pains me to root for a team from (ugh!) New York City!, this time I have to.
Can’t let those snooty Bostonians take the World Series and the Super, now can we?
I don’t think it’s time to elevate Eli to those heights, but it’s a mistake to diminish for any reason at all what he has done. Jacobs and Bradshaw have stepped up, yes. But they’ve also been put in position to score on the ground due largely to drives that Eli has directed.
My head tells me that the Patriots have come too far at this point. Losing the Super Bowl would make the entire run up to that point a waste of time and those blabbermouths from Miami would still hold bragging rights. That being said, I’m no longer surprised by what the Giants can do, and if they were to win, it wouldn’t be the big huge upset some people think it would be.
Still, let’s not go anointing Eli the second coming, yet. His success these playoffs is largely because of his sudden understanding of how not to turn over the ball
Um, understanding how not to turn the ball over and actually not turning the ball over are two different things. I think the coaches (Coughlin included, you crybabies) deserve as much credit as Eli and Bradshaw and Jacobs and Burress and Tuck and Boss and Webster and everyone else on the team.
And Oliver – I’d root for the Skins if they were in there. Not the Cowboys, never the Eagles, but the Skins…hey, why not?
I’m with Kodos423. I don’t like the Redskins, but I don’t hate them the way I do the Cowboys. In fact, if it were the Cowboys against the Patriots, I wouldn’t have even watched.
So you don”t have to hope for the Giants to win. Just hope for the Patriots to lose.
I live in San Diego, and your comment about Turner was unfair. I suppose it’s his fault that three star players were injured? Losing to a 17-0 team by 9 points on the road with all those injuries was a success by any reasonable standard.