Back to the game itself for a moment, it was very obvious to me that the Patriots were completely not prepared for the game on the outset. A 12 men on the field penalty early in the game was the biggest reflection of that. Rob Gronkowski's high ankle sprain injury was the subject of the mandatory week-long hype and speculation, but "Gronk" ended up being a non-factor throughout the contest.
The Patriot offense did manage to get it going late in the first half, scoring a quick ten points to enter halftime with a 10-9 lead. The Giants on the other hand ran an effective mix of run-pass offensively, while Eli Manning was on target most of the day going 30-40 for 296 yards and the MVP to boot.
Obviously the play of the game was the catch made by Mario Manningham on the first play of what proved to be the game-winning drive for the Giants. Manning made a terrific pass to even get the ball to Manningham who was double-covered on the 38 yard reception. After the catch, Manning took chunks of yards from the Patriots defense - 16 yards to Manningham here, 14 yards to Nicks there - eventually putting the Giants in position to score the winning touchdown. A touchdown which Ahmad Bradshaw reluctantly scored while running the ball for a 6 yard TD.
Even though Chris Collinsworth called Bradshaw's TD "a mistake by the Giants", it proved to be vital since it meant not only that Brady and the Patriot offense had just 57 seconds left to score, but they had to score a Touchdown rather than a field goal. This proved to be too tall a task, and in the end the Giants walked away with the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
As far as this game's legacy, it will be largely remembered for Brady failing to join Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana as the only quarterbacks to win 4 Super Bowls. It will also serve as yet another dent in the Belichick armor in my opinion, since he's now 3-2 in Super Bowls as a head coach despite his Spygate tactics.
Many people are saying that this game will put Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning as "locks" for the Hall Of Fame now. I'm not one of those people and here's my reason why. Tom Flores and Jim Plunkett also won two Super Bowls within 4 seasons, yet neither one are in the Hall Of Fame. So why are Manning and Coughlin "locks" while Flores and Plunkett aren't? I don't get the logic in that?
Regardless, the Giants are champions today, and as a Bears fan it gives me hope watching a 9-7 team that was left for dead at one point, win the Super Bowl. It makes you wonder what else is possible?
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