You should know by now that the New York Giants are Super Bowl Champions! The second meeting between the Giants and the New England Patriots was another instant classic with the Giants pulling out a 21-17 win.
The Giants moved ahead 9-0 early when Tom Brady was flagged for intentional grounding in his own end zone making it 2-0. They followed that score when Eli Manning connected to Victor Cruz on a two yard TD pass.
Brady looked out of sync all game until he led his team down the field three times in four drives. A Stephen Gostkowski field goal put the Pats on the board. Then Brady got hot, completing a Super Bowl record 16 straight completions, and mixed in were two TD passes. To close out the half, Brady and the Patriots offense looked unstoppable with a 96 yard drive capped off by a four yard Danny Woodhead TD reception. Brady then continued his hot streak at the start of the third quarter with another scoring resulting in a 12 yard score to Aaron Hernandez making it 17-9 in their favor.
The Giants played tough defense throughout and while it looked like they were going to break at times, they hung in there and kept it close. They later added two Lawrence Tynes FGs to bring the score to 17-15.
A pivotal moment in the game was one play on a drive late in the fourth. The Patriots’ offense looked to be in position to kill the clock and leave the Giants with little to no time on the clock. On second and 10, deep in Giants’ territory, Brady’s pass to Wes Welker would have given the Patriots a first down and the ability to take significant time off the clock. The pass, a little high perhaps, skimmed off the sure-handed receivers hands (Welker had 122 receptions in the regular season, led NFL).
Later the Giants scored on an Ahmad Bradshaw TD run. Bradshaw tried to take a knee to leave Brady and the Pats with no time left but he fell into the end zone. 21-17 Giants (failed two point conversion).
Now it was Brady’s turn. With 57 seconds on the clock and one timeout, he certainly tried but his receivers added more drops to the list. Deion Branch was in position to make a huge play on a Brady pass with no cornerbacks in sight but could not come up with it. Brady launched a last second Hail Mary to no avail and the Giants beat the Patriots again when it mattered most.
Final Words…What a great game! I would sign up to see these two teams play again. However, I have a beef with Giants’ Nation. Years ago you said Eli Manning wasn’t clutch, he gets nervous, and his body language is bad during games. You also wanted Tom Coughlin gone as your head coach. Well, two Super Bowl trophies later…What do you think now?
It seems like New York has warmed up to Eli. Good. He deserves your respect. Tom Coughlin on the other hand has earned the right to stay the head coach as long as he so desires. Be grateful.