All season long, especially in the playoffs, the New York Giants had to hear how their team wasn’t a top team or that their team could not win in the playoffs.
Well, not only did the Giants win in the playoffs, but they shocked the world by winning Super Bowl 42 against the heavily favored New England Patriots by a score of 17-14.
The Patriots came in with a record of 18-0, looking to match the ’72 Miami Dolphins as the only team to go the whole season without a loss; the Giants on the other hand treated this game as though it was just another roadblock in their search for the franchise’s third title.
The game started out with the Giants winning the toss and electing to receive the opening kickoff. The Giants on their first drive of the game went on a long 16-play drive that ended in a field goal to give them a 3-0 lead with 5:03 left in the first quarter.
The Patriots then came back with an impressive drive of their own as running back Lawrence Maroney scored a touchdown from 1 yard out to give the Patriots a 7-3 lead.
After scoring only 10 points, the two teams punted the ball a few times and each team turned the ball over once. The Giants and Patriots, after what was kind of a boring first half, headed into the locker room with the Patriots leading 7-3.
At halftime, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers performed and put on a pretty good show, they sang four songs, but among those songs that were sung, “Free Falling” was my favorite one to hear. The performers even invited the fans in attendance down to the field to be a part of the show. It was a really good performance, but it was nothing compared to how the rest of the game went.
After halftime, the Patriots got the ball and took a bunch of time off the clock. During their possession, they were forced to punt. During a TV timeout, however, Patriots coach Bill Belichick decided to throw the challenge flag saying that the Giants had 12 men on the field.
Sure enough, after referee Mike Carey reviewed the play, it was determined that the Giants did indeed have 12 men on the field. The ruling prompted the refs to throw a flag on the Giants, which gave the Patriots a fresh set of downs. The Patriots continued the drive but nothing ended up coming from it as the Giants sacked Tom Brady.
The Patriots went for it on fourth and 13 but they didn’t make it and had to turn the ball over on downs to the Giants.
The Giants took over but were unable to do anything and were forced to punt.
The Patriots on their next drive started from their own 5-yard line, but they too were forced to punt.
The Giants took over and were determined to take the lead. Eli Manning started out his team’s ninth drive by hitting tight end Kevin Boss for a 45-yard gain. On the same drive, the Giants were facing a third and four, Manning hit receiver Steve Smith for a huge first down. Manning then capped off the drive by throwing a touchdown pass to receiver David Tyree to give the Giants a 10-7 with 11:05 remaining in the game.
After the Giants took the lead, the two teams both punted.
With the Giants leading 10-7, Brady and the Patriots took over on their own 20-yard line. Brady hit receiver Wes Welker for five yard gain to start the drive, and ended the drive by throwing a touchdown pass to Randy Moss to put the Patriots back on top 14-10 with 2:42 to play in the game.
The Giants took over again on their own 17-yard line needing more than a field goal to win the game. Manning started off the drive by hitting Tyree for a 32-yard gain. Smith got into the act a few plays later by catching a pass for a first down on third and 11. Manning finished off the drive by hitting a wide open Plaxico Burress for a touchdown to give the Giants a 17-14 lead with 35 seconds left in the game.
After Burress hauled in the pass, everyone that I was watching the game with, went crazy as we were all rooting for the Giants to win.
So here the nation was on the edge of its seats waiting to see if “The Golden Boy” Tom Brady could pull off yet another Super Bowl comeback.
After the kickoff, the Patriots had 29 seconds to at least try to tie the game. The Patriots tried their best but on fourth and 20 Brady’s pass fell incomplete meaning that the New York Giants were the Super Bowl Champions.
I can truly say that the Super Bowl win by the Giants is a classic example of the underdog stunning the favorite. I was happy to see the Giants knock off such an overrated and arrogant team like the Patriots, who had a phenomenal season but just couldn’t get it done in the clutch.
So what does this title mean for the Giants? It means that they are now the defending champions and will wear a target on their chest going into next season. However, for now they can just savor their victory.