Eli Matures At Patriots Expense, The Better Team Wins

Posted by Jeff Sack on February 4th, 2008 filed in Opinions

“1) The Aerial Attack must return: It was very nice to see that Laurence Maroney is capable of being a 100 yard a game running back. But that is not the offense that took this team to an unbeaten season. Brady must return to being the quarterback who broke Peyton Manning’s single season record for touchdowns. Ideally you want to see the “Wonder Twins” Brady and new BFF Randy Moss back in form, but Gaffney and Welker are certainly up yo the task, if Moss can not get open. Brady must throw a minimum of 3 touchdowns, and stay away from the interceptions.

5) Get Inside Eli’s Head: The Patriots created a monster in the last week of the season, when Giants quarterback Eli Manning realized he could go toe toe with New England and remain competitive. Now along with the physical tools he always he had he has confidence. Some first quarter blitzing and some early sacks, could take that confidence away very quickly.”

http://www.nflgridirongab.com/2008/02/01/5-keys-to-the-new-england-patriots-winning-the-super-bowl/

The New England Patriots season ended with a whimper not a bang. Maybe no play was a more accurate snapshot than New York Giants rookie defensive tackle Jay Alford sacking Pats QB for a 10 yard loss on second down, during the futile last Patriots drive. Tom Brady was mortal after all, there would be no miraculous comeback as he had engineered in previous Super Bowls. But the game was lost long before that sack, long before Eli Manning’s touchdown drive in the series before, putting the Giants ahead 17-14. The game was lost in the first half when the Patriots did not deliver that knockout punch.

As I wrote in a previous article referenced above, the New England Patriots created a monster on the last game of the regular season. Yes, New England remained perfect winning the game 38-35, but Manning gained confidence in that game. And that confidence just kept growing, as New York first got past Tampa Bay, and Jeff Garcia, who was destined to lose. But then they won two games, that nobody expected them to, in Dallas, and on the “frozen tundra of Green Bay, Wisconsin.” For the first time in his NFL Career, Manning’s confidence matched his skill-set, he now knew he could win. He would go 19/34 for the game for 255 yards, 2 touchdowns 1 interception. And the monster New England created in Week 17, destroyed their march to perfection, and all talk of “Best Team Ever.”

But it was not just Eli that won the game for New York, their defense played just as big a part. The sack by Alford was only the last of five, the most given up in a game by New England all season. The aerial attack never materialized Brady who I wrote in my previous article had to throw three touchdowns, threw just one. The regular season MVP went 29/48 for 266 yards, 1 touchdown. The most prolific quarterback during a regular NFL season, never appeared Sunday, Randy Moss had the one TD but had only 5 receptions for 62 yards. Wes Welker had a nice game, catching 11 passes for 103 yards, but it was not enough.

The New York Giants were the better team on February 4, 2008, and deserved to win. Eli Manning a guy who just a few months ago, was thought of as a player who would never fulfill his potential, proved his critics wrong. He deserved to be the Super Bowl MVP. In the biggest game of his life Eli Manning proved he was a champion after all.

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