NFL Round Up 02.05.08: Super Bowl Edition

Posted by Emmett Wilks on 02.05.2008

The biggest event in all of American Sports. How Eli ascended to greatness. And what to make of the Patriots now. All this and more in the Super Bowl Round Up.

OH MY GOODNESS! I guess right now, that is about all that can be said for a wild Super Bowl Weekend. Before we delve into the game, let me first apologize to the readers out there for a lack of an article last week. My computers hard drive failed on me, leaving me without a computer. The Geek Squad of Best Buy proved to be woefully inefficient and I have just gotten a new unit back today. So without any Internet or Word access (even the free computers in my apartment building had lost Internet) I was unable to even begin a Super Bowl preview. But rest assured, I am not so arrogant to believe that I was to only Super Bowl preview worth reading, so I hope everyone got good info elsewhere on the site. Now, onto the Round Up.


QUICK NOTES

I know just well enough that the Super Bowl is more than just a football game but rather a major national media event. But serious FOX, Ryan Seacrest, Paula Abdual, and Randy Jackson featured so prominently. If someone did not know what day it was, they very well could have mistaken the day for the Emmy's, or an American Idol commercial. It looked so forced and just plain sad. The joke was that you can't talk X's and O's for 4 hours. Well then, here's an idea. Cut Pre-Game coverage down to two hours if you cannot fill it all with football. Call me crazy, but that just makes sense to me.

Keeping with the Idol theme, Jordan Sparks did kick the night off well with a great National Anthem. The same cannot be said for Tom Petty. Do not get me wrong. I love that band, but it was just too mellow and even boring for a halftime show. The sad part of this is there are no performers under 35 who were likely even considered. There is plenty of great, talented young musicians out there, but none good enough for the Halftime show. Just sad.

Again, for those who wanted to stone me to death a few weeks ago by saying I enjoy the Joe Buck and Troy Aikman broadcast team, I just won't be bothered with your unfair assessments of them. I thought they did a very good job on Sunday for the game and laid the game out very well.

I thought the commercials this year were pretty funny, but not totally memorable. Bud Lights Wine and Cheese party early one was pretty good, "Going out for a cheese run," was my favorite line of the day. I think I'm going with most of the Internet crowd however when I pick the Coke commercial with Underdog and Stewie Griffin balloons chasing a giant balloon Coke, only to be bested by Charlie Brown. Just a great ad that seems to be getting universal love right now.

Let me say flat out that Eli Manning deserved the MVP award for that game for engineering the winning drive. But with that being said, the real MVP's of that game was New York's defensive line, who played the games of their life on Sunday. Lead by Michael Strahan, Fred Robbins, Osi Minorca and Justin Tuck, the Giants pressured Brady all day, knocking him down an astounding 23 times. For a game of this magnitude, all of the Giants front line should share in the MVP.

This is not an attack on all members of the great ‘72 Dolphins, but too many of them came across as really shallow and self centered this week leading up to the game. This has nothing to do with champagne toasts or anything like that, but an arrogance that came across them when they discussed the Patriots that just seemed so silly. Remember folks, while the ‘72 Fins are the only undefeated team ever, they played the softest scheduel for a championship team ever, with their opponents mustering a .470 winning percentage and they were still the underdog going into the Super Bowl. Yes they were unbeaten, but the NFL has fielded at least 5 better teams since they played. I hope I don't see an undefeated team for some time, just to avoid listening to these cocky and self-righteous old men brag about what they did so long ago.

I didn't think much of it when it first happened, but Bill Bellichick should not have left the field till the game was finally over. I initially forgave him because he wanted to avoid all the ridiculous hoopla and media frenzy, but there was one second left on that clock, and if Randy Moss was nearly crucified for the same act 4 years ago, then Bellichick should not get preferential treatment.

I'll say it, Plaxico Burress' emotional post-game interview chocked me up a bit as well. In a day of great cynicism for anything and everything, it was great to see genuine emotion from a great player. Special congratulations to you Plaxico, you earned it.

Last bit, I do want to say that I really truly love the Super Bowl. It is the biggest day in American sports, and is also the most important non-Holiday for this great country. It is an election year, and people will become a little divisive and overly argumentative this year. But the Super Bowl is a time when we all come together for a nice party, great football, and funny commercials. For me this year, watching the game with my fiancée, it really couldn't have been any better. I love the Super Bowl.

A WIN FOR THE AGES


The clear formula for a Giants win was simple; don't have Eli have a dumb turnover (Check) and get pressure on Brady (Double Check). But this is football, and QB will always get the chicks at the end of the big game. It was like watching a different QB than the one New York snagged in the 2004 NFL Draft. From day one, Eli had been plagued by decision making that only force one to scratch their head. But something happened in that season ending lose to the Patriots. A confidence developed in Eli, one that finally allowed him to be the leader he needed to be on that team. And just like that, Eli became the quarterback Giants fans have been waiting for 15 years to see again. He had one playoff interception, a bobbled pass in third quarter was not really his fault and resulted in nothing for the Patriots, making his dumb playoff turnover's 0 this postseason. Simply incredible. I know right about now the wind blowing New York fans are singing Eli's praises, despite their nearly constant criticism of him, but I am still stunned he pulled this off. His mistakes over his career were often times so mind bogglingly inane that raising questions about his future were totally legitimate. But he has silenced a great amount of criticism with that performance. In what should forever be known as "The Scramble," Manning, on one play, lifted himself into football immortality by escaping three Giants defenders and completing a 32-yard first down pass to David Tyree on 3rd and 5. The play is right up there with The Catch and The Immaculate Reception, and Elway's Helicopter as one of the greatest plays in NFL playoff history. He is still a mild-mannered Southern boy who has a fraction of the personality his brother, but Sunday, none of that mattered. He was on top of the football mountain, a place that no one (come on Giants fans, until the 4th quarter you were waiting for the worst too) and I mean no one expected this season. Before we start prematurely crowning Eli though, let's be clear that he still needs to attain some greater consistency before he can hope next to brother Peyton or Brady as one of the games elites. Remember folks, Trent Dilfer has a ring. But nothing can be taken away from Eli now. You shut us all up Eli, and you can keep that smile as long as you like.


STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK

A few weeks back, I wrote a What If if the Patriots don't go all the way and win the Super Bowl. I had no answer then, and still have no answer now. This is a monumental letdown for the Patriots organization. Over the last 7 years, they went from the Little Team That Could to become the greatest juggernaut the NFL had ever seen. The Super Bowl was supposed to be a coronation for them onto the throne of Great Team of All-time. What happen? That's simple. The Giants front vastly out played the Patriots' o-line, and as any football fan will tell you, the game is won and lost in the trenches. But delving deeper, what happened. The Giants D-line is very good, league leaders in sacks, but were they that good to render the NFL's greatest offense to naught. Unfortunately for the Pats, they won't even be remembered as the best 18-1 ball club either. Both the ‘84 Niners and the ‘85 Bears posted the 18-1 mark and won a Championship. What happened? No matter how the game played out this year, it still seemed when you watched the Patriots, even when they were against the wall during the Ravens and Eagles games, that they would still win. I never felt that certainty in the second half of the Super Bowl. I don't know why, but it was something in the air Sunday night that let everyone know that this just wasn't going to happen. All of the emotions were addressed. The anger was Teddy Bruschi's the utter disappointment was Bill Bellichick, and the disbelief of Tom Brady, who stood with no real answer at the podium, searching to secure any explanation for this, the day he never thought would come, losing a Super Bowl. Football is never won or lost on one play, and the Patriots know this. On 23 drop backs, 23, Brady was sacked or pressured before he could get the ball off. I just do not have the words to understand this. The Patriots are still a dynasty, but this team, the 2007 Patriots were supposed to be something more, something greater. If the Pats should dust themselves off and win next year, maybe this will be forgotten. But unfortunately it won't be. Let's be real, the Pats aren't going to be unbeaten in the regular season next year. We all will then sit and reflect years from now about when we almost saw sports history slip away.
Been a great season. Catch next week after the Pro Bowl and for all the off-season happenings. Till next week, have a good one.