February 4, 2008
NFC East rules! best Super Bowl ever
Congratulations to the Giants for their gutsy win in the Super Bowl last night.
Lamont's get-together involving cousins and friends to watch the game broke, surprisingly, 5-2 in terms of rooting preferences in favor of the supposed underdog Giants. By game's end, family friend John was kicking himself that he hadn't put $500 on the 12-1/2 point underdogs.
We all agreed the spread was crazy, treating the Giants like no-accounts that had no business being there, even after they had beaten Tampa, Dallas and Green Bay on the road.
I am also picking up from neighbors a unanimous backing of the Giants, for a gamut of reasons, including a feeling the Ravens got jobbed by the zebras in their match vs. the Patriots.
For me, it was NFC East pride, where we hate-but-know the Giants, Cowboys and Eagles, and realize that our teams are battle-tested within their own conference, which sent three (!) out of its four teams into the postseason this year.
The most stunning moment for me was David Tyree's fourth-quarter catch, shown in part below, when he grabbed the ball in the air behind his head and bought it safely pressed against his helmet, cradled carefully above the turf to avoid an incompletion.
Cousin Michael, rooting for the Patriots, shook his head and had to admit, "I think that's the best catch I've ever seen."
This may be the second Immaculate Reception in Super Bowl history.
The catch began with some of the wildest football theater in a long time -- Eli Manning's improbable escape of a certain sack to get free and lob the ball to Tyree.
Just before, unheard-of Giants rookie tight end Kevin Boss (who?) got free for a long reception, and just after, Plaxico Burress, who ate the Packers for dinner two weeks ago, caught the go-ahead touchdown, where he was so wide open the only question was could he get a case of nerves and drop the ball. Fox showed a fabulous piece of tape showing Manning and Burress practicing the exact winning play prior to the game.
Joel Achenbach writes about "The Catch That Replaces The Catch:"
I've wasted a lot of my life watching football and can't recall ever seeing a greater catch. Sure, there have been circus catches before, including receivers catching the ball behind the back of a defender. We've seen one-handed catches galore. But this was on the biggest stage in the final minute of a game wiith his team trailing. And head to head with The Catch, this one was better. Eli Manning had to elude a more violent pass rush than Montana -- Manning almost went under, but tore himself away and managed to toss that prayer downfield. And although both Clark and Tyree had to make leaping grabs, by comparison Clark's catch was schoolyard stuff, something you'd see in flag football. Tyree's practically caught the ball with the back of his neck and his shoulder blades.
YouTube has a fantastic clip here: Here's another photo:
It was obvious to Michael and Lamont, rooting for the Pats, that Coach Belicheck erred in the first half going for it on fourth down unsuccessfully -- instead of trying a field goal. Brady had been under pressure all game and it should have been clearer that this was not going to be a Patriots' pointfest.
Lamont feels this coaching error cost the Pats a tie at the end of regulation. "My team won! I just won a dollar from your father. To think that there were two Mannings in two years" (winning as Super Bowl quarterbacks). She mentioned seeing an interview crediting father Archie Manning and brother Peyton with Eli's development. I read today ("Once more, a Manning puts the M in MVP") however that Archie credits his wife with his sons' gridiron prowess: "Manning pulled what Brady used to do in the fourth quarter," Mom continued. How did she rate this Super Bowl? "The most exciting one -- really -- even compared to the ones the Redskins were in." I have to agree, based on the heroics and theater on the final Giants drive. P.S. Lamont considers the Patriots to in truth have had a 17-2 season, considering the Ravens to have beaten them during their controversial visit to Baltimore Dec. 3. Congrats to the no-names on the Giants -- Boss and Tyree and Strahan's less glamorous defensive teammates -- for putting on a rare Super Bowl that is a struggle down to the wire vs. a blowout. Hats off to the Redskins' rivals, whom I cannot recall ever rooting for before, and let's have some respect for has to be the NFL's strongest division in terms of coaching talent. Good for Tom Coughlin righting himself after his rocky finish in Jacksonville and rocky start in New York to sell his players on a vision of success. And watch for the Redskins to make a move on Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spangnuolo for Washington's head coaching vacancy after his brilliant plan that saw pressure roaring down on Brady all night long. PS Update on Michael Wilbon, whom I blogged about here -- he suffered a heart attack, I would guess linked to the stress of the post-Sean Taylor backlash in part, and writes a humble and insightful column on people he's attacked in print have treated him in kindly now that he is in distress: A Life-Changing Turn of Events.
"I give their mother all the credit. I call her the great equalizer. She's calm, she never gets upset, she always makes good decisions. I think that's carried over to them."
