I don't really know what I'm supposed to say here.
The Giants' pass rush was nonexistant. There were points to be had on almost every drive. New York put the ball on the ground three times. The defense played as well as you could have possibly asked for. The running game was good enough to keep the defense honest. There were players open. The Patriots had chance after chance to put the game away. But they couldn't get it done. And once again, the Giants came through in the clutch and scored the game winner late after a ridiculous circus catch. That's pretty much all there is to it.
I don't have it in me to say much more than that. Fan Notes after the jump.
- Tell me that Tommy B didn't look pissed off when they came out. It was probably because of the hat hair in the starting lineup announcements.
- The only ten minutes that lasted longer than the period in between the National Anthem and opening kickoff was the last time I hopped on a treadmill in 2005. 10 minutes and half a mile later, that was the end of my stint with exercise.
- I don't know about any of you - but I took a great deal of comfort in that grey hoodie.
- How much money was won and lost worldwide on the opening coin toss? 10 million? 20?
- Where do you think Tiquan Underwood watched this game? Poor guy.
- Antuan Molden on Hakeem Nicks and Sterling Moore on Victor Cruz...eek.
- That said, though, Cruz was a relative nonfactor all game, other than his TD catch.
- 3rd and 13 on the Pats 42 in 1st quarter. Mark Anderson comes up with a huge sack for a loss to force a punt. That set the tone and the Giants were relatively ineffective on 3rd down overall.
- Steve Weatherford is the best punter in the NFL, hands down. I know that is the equivalent of being the smartest kid on the short bus, but still...
- 1st New England play from scrimmage results in a safety. I had absolutely no idea what was going on with that play and I still don't.
- Is it me, or did every member of the Giants offense have like 8 inches on the entire Patriots secondary?
- Jerod Mayo was in PERFECT position to intercept the quick slant to Cruz that put the Giants ahead 9-0. He just forgot to turn around, look for the ball, and be aware of what was going on. He just kind of jumped and threw his hands up. Not a great look, Jerod.
- Very sad to see Kevin Faulk inactive yesterday. Knowing that he had to watch what is likely his last game as a Patriot from the sidelines isn't a fitting end for his career.
- I wonder how the unstoppable force that is Jason Pierre-Paul feels this morning after spending an entire game getting absolutely owned by one man that most people probably haven't even heard of. Helluva game, Brian Waters.
- Seriously, we heard Waters' name once, when he was called for a holding penalty. Other than that, whoever he was up against was like me at speed dating five years ago: nothing.
- She's not naked, GoDaddy.com. You aren't going to fool me. Not again.
- Not gonna lie; I was kind of hoping this game would be 35-0 after the first quarter. Not exactly the start I was looking for.
- They are making movies out of board games now? BATTLESHIP? Really?
- I was a fan of the "Missing Cat" Doritos commercial, though. Anything that promotes the disappearance of cats is something I can fully get behind.
- Do you think people will ever stop drinking Coke? Do they really need to advertise so heavily?
- Also - Coke is NOT what people reach for after their favorite team loses. Trust me.
- I'll tell you when I just kind of knew the Patriots were in trouble - when Tommy B's second straight pass was batted down in the middle of the 2nd quarter. The camera cut to a closeup of his eyes, and he just had a look like, "Huh. Not really sure what's going on here."
- The Giants ran a lot of the quick out plays I originally expected from the Patriots, with a tremendous amount of success. Those short plays set up those deeper in-routes beautifully. It was exactly the opposite of what I was expecting - which is probably one of the reasons it worked so well.
- DANNY WOODHEAD!! Who said he'd be a Patriots Unsung Hero this past week? I don't remember, but whoever he is, he's a genius.
- Tommy B - longest drive in SB history. 16 completions in a row. Yawn. More records for Brady.
- Whatever happened to the Bud Bowl? Now THAT was a halftime show - not some afroed guy in a toga repeatedly ruining any chance he may have of reproducing by playing crotch trampoline on a tightrope.
- I honestly don't think that Madonna sang one lick until "Like A Prayer" came on. It must be nice to get paid insane amounts of money to basically just stand there.
- I never noticed how much Cee-Lo Green looks like Vince Wilfork.
- Madonna said she was going to "bring the gay" to her halftime performance. I don't know exactly what that means, but I'd put the gay factor of that show at about a 4.
- HALF. TIME. ADJUSTMENTS. BOO YA.
- Aaron Hernandez's touchdown dance really is awesome. He doesn't just make it rain; he goes to the safe, opens it, takes out the money, and THEN makes it rain. Sometimes it's a turn-knob combination. Sometimes it's digital. And sometimes it's a thumb print. The only thing that never changes is that there is always money in there. Lots of it.
- PAT CHUNG! How you like dem apples, Nicks??? WOOOO! I think Nicks was spitting blood after that hit.
- That Chung hit is the kind of thing you just put on replay over and over again when you're especially mad at the city of New York - which, for me, is all the time. Especially now.
- Gronk would have come up with the ball on that Tommy B pick if he was healthy. I don't want to make excuses, so I won't speak to his injury any more.
- Who was that guy they cut to in the middle of the third quarter right after Tynes's field goal? Did you see that guy's forehead? Good lord! He has to be a Manning.
- Latest sign that I'm a horrible human being: I was cheering like a blonde at a Texas high school football game when Jake Ballard went down.
- It became obvious very early in this one that the game was going to come down to whoever has the ball last. And for the most part, that was true.
- At least 8 games this season took years off my life. Yesterday must have taken another ten off. For all intents and purposes, I should be dead before July.
- I'd love to see a study on the counteractive effects adrenalin has on alcohol. I must have had 15 beers throughout the course of the game and I was sober as a nun the entire time. What a waste.
- How does Tommy B's block taste, Osi? That can't feel good.
- Of all the times for Wes Welker to drop the ball...
- The Pats were just up-and-down offensively all game. They mixed long, sustained drives with 3-and-outs and other longer drives that ended in no points at all. The Giants deserve all the credit in the world for not allowing any offensive rhythm.
- Also, penalties absolutely killed us. They almost always allowed a drive to continue, negated turnovers, or resulted in points.
- All I could think on that amazing Manningham catch was, "Please, no. This can't be happening again. I can't live through this again. Please, God, No."
- And yet, it happened again. I now have to make room in my own personal hell for that Welker drop next to that Asante Samuel drop in 2008. That drop didn't cost us the game - but if Welker makes that catch, I'm feeling a lot less awful today, I do know that much.
- How many ridiculous catches is this team going to pull down against us? Must this happen every single time? The only solace I can take from that Mario Manningham catch is that it was just a spectacular grab, and one he could definitely make again if he had the chance. It wasn't some million-to-one freakshow like it was four years ago.
I watched this game at my friend's house uptown. I ended up walking home, all the way back to Brooklyn from 87th Street. That's about 9 miles, and it took me over three and a half hours. As I walked, the city of New York its usual mix of drunken revelers celebrating in the background and people who hadn't even watched the game passing me on the sidewalk, I went through the whole gamut of emotions. Sadness, depression, rage, and eventually, just numbness. I even longed, for a brief moment, for those days of the mid-90s when this team was absolutely terrible and I was absolutely ecstatic with a regular season win over the Bills. This isn't healthy. The amount of sleep I'm going to lose over this one is completely disproportionate to what kind of impact this game had on the world in general. Millions upon millions of people didn't care about this game in the slightest and went to bed afterwards without any problems whatsoever. The world will continue to turn, and in the grand scheme of things this Super Bowl will be long, long forgotten.
There are also Patriots fans out there who are happy when the Pats win, but when they lose it isn't the end of the world to them. They are upset for a while, but after a few days of sulking they are back to normal again and are looking forward to all of the other amazing things that life has to offer. Watching football is still fun for them. It still has its rightful place on priorities lists and allows them to spend Sundays outside or with family instead of alone in a dark room screaming at the television, pouring my soul into a team that doesn't even know I exist. You have no idea how much I envy those people - I would love to make the life change necessary to allow Patriots football to be fun for me again, but I simply don't know how.
I'm going to try and have have more on the game later in the week. But I just don't have the energy or the willpower to deal with this right now. I feel nauseous and it's all I can do not to start crying at my desk.
Congratulations to the Giants. Once again, the better team prevailed. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find a noose.