Super Bowl XLVI - Pats (13-3) vs Giants (9-7) 02/05

[Rondo2287]

There isn't a doubt in my mind that if one of these 3 things take place the Pats win last night

1. Healthy Andre Carter

2. Healthy Gronk

3. The Pats play against the Manning that throws the interceptions instead of the good one

Or we actually recovered one of the 3 Giants fumbles. 

[kozlodoev]

There isn't a doubt in my mind that if one of these 3 things take place the Pats win last night

1. Healthy Andre Carter

2. Healthy Gronk

3. The Pats play against the Manning that throws the interceptions instead of the good one

Unfortunately, the Manning that throws interceptions never seems to appear in big games. Wish I could say that for Brady.

[Rondo2287]

There isn't a doubt in my mind that if one of these 3 things take place the Pats win last night

1. Healthy Andre Carter

2. Healthy Gronk

3. The Pats play against the Manning that throws the interceptions instead of the good one

Unfortunately, the Manning that throws interceptions never seems to appear in big games. Wish I could say that for Brady.

Two games in a row that I think he has made just terrible decisions on deep balls.  Its one thing if he makes the right read and the ball gets tipped and picked off or something thats football. But the bad decision making is inexcusable.

[kozlodoev]

There isn't a doubt in my mind that if one of these 3 things take place the Pats win last night

1. Healthy Andre Carter

2. Healthy Gronk

3. The Pats play against the Manning that throws the interceptions instead of the good one

Unfortunately, the Manning that throws interceptions never seems to appear in big games. Wish I could say that for Brady.

Two games in a row that I think he has made just terrible decisions on deep balls.  Its one thing if he makes the right read and the ball gets tipped and picked off or something thats football. But the bad decision making is inexcusable.

I don't understand why he feels the urge to go for the big play at least once per game. That's not what makes him a good quarterback. Just play good, solid, fundamental football -- especially when you have the lead.

[Eja117]

There isn't a doubt in my mind that if one of these 3 things take place the Pats win last night

1. Healthy Andre Carter

2. Healthy Gronk

3. The Pats play against the Manning that throws the interceptions instead of the good one

Unfortunately, the Manning that throws interceptions never seems to appear in big games. Wish I could say that for Brady.

Wait...do you mean he never gets to the big games? Or he doesn't throw interceptions in big games?

Cause they're both sort of wrong

[Eja117]

There isn't a doubt in my mind that if one of these 3 things take place the Pats win last night

1. Healthy Andre Carter

2. Healthy Gronk

3. The Pats play against the Manning that throws the interceptions instead of the good one

Unfortunately, the Manning that throws interceptions never seems to appear in big games. Wish I could say that for Brady.

Two games in a row that I think he has made just terrible decisions on deep balls.  Its one thing if he makes the right read and the ball gets tipped and picked off or something thats football. But the bad decision making is inexcusable.

I don't understand why he feels the urge to go for the big play at least once per game. That's not what makes him a good quarterback. Just play good, solid, fundamental football -- especially when you have the lead.

Wait. Are you guys saying it was a bad decision to throw down field to Gronk in single coverage against a LB and that you don't want Brady doing that?

[kozlodoev]

Wait. Are you guys saying it was a bad decision to throw down field to Gronk in single coverage against a LB and that you don't want Brady doing that?

When Gronk is playing on one leg? Absolutely. (even more so if you're going to underthrow him horribly, though that's beside the point).

But it's the circumstances that make this read especially bad. What makes the Pats good is that the "situational football" they talk about all the time. You don't want to make this throw on a 1st and 10 when you're up 2 points in the fourth quarter. You're on your own 43rd, your priority should be to put points on the board.

[kozlodoev]

There isn't a doubt in my mind that if one of these 3 things take place the Pats win last night

1. Healthy Andre Carter

2. Healthy Gronk

3. The Pats play against the Manning that throws the interceptions instead of the good one

Unfortunately, the Manning that throws interceptions never seems to appear in big games. Wish I could say that for Brady.

Wait...do you mean he never gets to the big games? Or he doesn't throw interceptions in big games?

Cause they're both sort of wrong

I meant to say that Manning never seems to play poorly in big games, whereas Brady has a pretty bad history of recent fizzling.

[Eja117]

Wait. Are you guys saying it was a bad decision to throw down field to Gronk in single coverage against a LB and that you don't want Brady doing that?

When Gronk is playing on one leg? Absolutely. (even more so if you're going to underthrow him horribly, though that's beside the point).

But it's the circumstances that make this read especially bad. What makes the Pats good is that the "situational football" they talk about all the time. You don't want to make this throw on a 1st and 10 when you're up 2 points in the fourth quarter. You're on your own 43rd, your priority should be to put points on the board.

Somehow that guy with one leg got pretty far down the field. If he can't catch it one on one against a LB he probably shouldn't be in the game.  It was a more likely catch than the Giant that caught that miracle on the sideline or Tyree's catch and nobody criticizes Eli for those

[wdleehi]

Wait. Are you guys saying it was a bad decision to throw down field to Gronk in single coverage against a LB and that you don't want Brady doing that?

When Gronk is playing on one leg? Absolutely. (even more so if you're going to underthrow him horribly, though that's beside the point).

But it's the circumstances that make this read especially bad. What makes the Pats good is that the "situational football" they talk about all the time. You don't want to make this throw on a 1st and 10 when you're up 2 points in the fourth quarter. You're on your own 43rd, your priority should be to put points on the board.

Somehow that guy with one leg got pretty far down the field. If he can't catch it one on one against a LB he probably shouldn't be in the game.  It was a more likely catch than the Giant that caught that miracle on the sideline or Tyree's catch and nobody criticizes Eli for those

In both cases, the Giant's player had the inside spot. 

[Cman]

So, as a Pats fan, I'm bummed that the Pats lost.

What I'm almost more bummed about is that the team that talked the more trash won. The team that "faked" injuries earlier in the season won. The team that probably boasts more Jets fans than any other team but the Jets, especially in the last few weeks (think about that for a few seconds) won.

That type of stuff just kills my sense of karma in the world.

Faked injuries?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1PZnIiGyOg

[Cman]

Those who question the whole "dynasty" thing in regard to the Pats, will be doing so because they have an odd definition of the word.

This is a QB/Coach pairing under the Krafts that have gone to the Super Bowl five out of ten years, and won three out of five.

Sorry, but very few people who know football and it's history can make a convincing argument against this team being a "dynasty".

Completely agree.

There is no question that the Patriots are a dynasty/have been a dynasty the past 11 years. Getting to the Super Bowl this year cemented that.

Winning the Super Bowl this year would have been nice icing on that cake, and would have elevated the BB-Brady combo as the best combo ever.

[PosImpos]

but to say the regular season is meaningless unless it's followed with a ring is selling a lot of very talented and worthy people short, as a Super Bowl berth is so prized because it is earned by the excellence of regular season play.

Yet how can this be true when the Giants did not play excellent football on a consistent basis in the regular season?  They were actually outscored by their opponents in the regular season.  It was their excellent post-season play that mattered.  All they had to do was win a fairly weak division in the regular season.

There are very few absolutes in this life, but my statement is generally true the majority of the time ... very rarely does a team play poorly, (or even mediocre),  and make it to the Super Bowl, but there are always exceptions.

There may be weak divisions here-and-there, but the better teams usually make it the farthest, or at least the teams that play the best overall ... I'm pretty sure you know that, and understand the point I was making.

This particular Giants team was an anomoly and not the norm, and like Tim Tebow, (who is presently fundamentally lacking in many of the skills needed to be consistently successful in the NFL), just found ways to win at the right times.

More power to them.

Were they really an anamoly, though?  When the Giants won it all back in 07, they had a pretty weak regular season record.

Last year, the Packers won it all as a 10-6 Wild Card team.

A few years ago, the Cardinals came very close to winning it all despite being 9-7 and winning a very weak division.

[PosImpos]

There isn't a doubt in my mind that if one of these 3 things take place the Pats win last night

1. Healthy Andre Carter

2. Healthy Gronk

3. The Pats play against the Manning that throws the interceptions instead of the good one

Unfortunately, the Manning that throws interceptions never seems to appear in big games. Wish I could say that for Brady.

Yep.  Eli, like the entire Giants team, is a completely different beast in big games.

[Eja117]

Wait. Are you guys saying it was a bad decision to throw down field to Gronk in single coverage against a LB and that you don't want Brady doing that?

When Gronk is playing on one leg? Absolutely. (even more so if you're going to underthrow him horribly, though that's beside the point).

But it's the circumstances that make this read especially bad. What makes the Pats good is that the "situational football" they talk about all the time. You don't want to make this throw on a 1st and 10 when you're up 2 points in the fourth quarter. You're on your own 43rd, your priority should be to put points on the board.

Somehow that guy with one leg got pretty far down the field. If he can't catch it one on one against a LB he probably shouldn't be in the game.  It was a more likely catch than the Giant that caught that miracle on the sideline or Tyree's catch and nobody criticizes Eli for those

In both cases, the Giant's player had the inside spot. 

I don't get what you're saying here exactly. Apples and oranges?