David Slays Goliath

Well, it's taken nearly two days for me to come out of my shock-induced coma and start to formulate some type of coherent response to the total and complete destruction of the almost-greatest-team-ever. And you know that if you have to say almost-greatest-team ever, then you're not the greatest team ever. And the Patriots put that on full display Sunday night in Super Bowl XLII. I give full credit to the New York Giants for winning this game. They came in as huge underdogs with very few people picking them to even stay close in this game. By all accounts, the game was viewed as more of a coronation for the Patriots than an actual contest. And yet, the Giants controlled the tempo from their opening drive, implementing an incredible game plan and completing a two minute scoring drive that I'll probably be subjected to see for years to come, similar to the ball going through Bill Buckner's legs. I feel sick.

Here are my thoughts on the game while wondering if I should have turned off the TV after my son threw up on my Red Sox Championship shirt in the middle of the fourth quarter:

∙ I saw zero emotion on the Patriots as they were introduced and that had me worried right away. You've got Alice Cooper blaring over the loud speakers as you're being introduced for the biggest game of your life and you come walking (yes, walking) out of the tunnel like you're on your way to the gas chamber. I remember back at the 2001 Super Bowl how prior to being introduced as a team Tom Brady was standing in the tunnel, jumping up and down and then he inexplicably starts headbutting one of the players next to him and everyone is getting fired up, including the guy he's headbutting, which turned out to be Drew Bledsoe. I saw none of that type of emotion before or during the game. Brady did have a nice new haircut, though. Is it just me or is he kind of a girly man?

∙ That was an incredible opening drive by the Giants. While they only scored three points, they held the ball for more than nine minutes or 15 percent of the entire game. Again, they cut to Brady on the bench a few times and he looked totally emotionless. His hair still looked good, though.

∙ Belichick definitely could have benefited from having an illegal video tape of the Giants' walk through practices because he was totally and completely out coached in this game. Did he spend the two weeks before the Super Bowl in Mexico partying with Jessica Simpson? Seriously, what gives with his game plan and in-game coaching? That was by far one of the worst coaching jobs I've ever seen. It rivals Grady Little leaving Pedro in the game in the 2003 ALCS against the Yankees. Let's have a recap of some of his blunders:

1. Going for it on fourth and 13. Statistically, fourth and longer than 10 yards is successful 18 percent of the time. Statistically, kicking a 48 yard field goal is successful 55 percent of the time. Why not attempt the field goal on a dry field, indoors with no wind and a kicker who was booting them from 55 yards prior to the game. That's poor coaching with a little bit of arrogance mixed in. When you do stuff like that, you deserve to lose by three points.

2. I guess if your original game plan is to establish a running game that's fine, even though I don't understand why you would do that with Brady and company. But after the first half when your team and, especially your quarterback, was taking a beating, I think you need to start making some adjustments. I saw nothing different in the game plan in the second half, which is fine if you're playing to lose. In all, Brady was sacked five times and knocked down an additional 18. Yes, 18. While the fault lies with the offensive line, it would have been helpful to come out in the second half with a different approach, like possibly using the tight end to block or going more to the shotgun offense where you only need a two or three step drop to get rid of the ball. I can't even remember the last game that Belichick was so completely outcoached.

3. Hey, I understand that the Giants technically had too many guys on the field during the Patriots' punt but he had absolutely no bearing on the play. That's just petty on Belichick's part. When you do stuff like that, you deserve to come away with zero points.

4. What the crap is Ellis Hobbs doing defending Plaxico Burress in single coverage on the winning touchdown? Either someone missed their assignment or that's poor coaching. Hobbs should never be man to man and now more than 97 million people know why.

5. The Patriots take the kickoff with 35 seconds remaining. Why not let the ball go into the end zone and take your chances from the 20? Instead, Laurence Maroney runs it out of the end zone, hits two of his own guys and then gets tackled, at the 26 while waisting six seconds. And on their final sequence, with three timeouts, why are the Patriots throwing deep? Why not try a few crossing routes to Welker or Faulk that go for 15-20 yards each? Remember, we didn't need to score a TD there. We just needed a field goal. Although, with Belichick passing up on the previous field goal, I'm seriously wondering if they even activated him for the game.

6. I've never seen Belichick wearing that red shirt before. What was he thinking? Where was the hoody? Red may work for Tiger on Sunday but it doesn't work for Belichick. Not to mention that he looked ridiculous in it.

7. The only explanation that I can think of for Belichick leaving the field, and his team, with one second remaining is that he's a sore loser. He was clearly told to go back to the sidelines for the final play and he ignored the referee. On a night when he was clearly out coached and his team clearly out played, Belichick was also out classed. If the situation had been reversed and Tom Coughlin pulled that stunt, the Patriots would be talking about how disrespectful it was for decades to come. That was flat out classless.

∙ The officiating crew did an exceptional job in this year's Super Bowl. There can't be any finger pointing, plays that could have been called either way or phantom calls that cost one team the championship.

∙ I've seen enough of Peyton Manning to last me a lifetime. Seriously, did we need to see him after every one of Eli's complete passes? I'm not sure if it was Joe Buck or Troy Aikman but I also don't believe that Peyton is happier watching his brother win the Super Bowl than he was winning it himself last year.

∙ The Giants drive that won the game was pretty unbelievable. The Patriots had three chances to pick off Manning, the easiest one being dropped by Asante Samuel. I still have no idea how Manning escaped the grasp of several Patriots to get the pass off to David Tyree. More importantly, I have no idea how Tyree comes down with that catch.

∙ Wow, Tom Petty as the half time entertainment. I didn't even know he was still alive until they announced him. How about 'Free Fallin' as the new theme song for the 2007 Patriots?

∙ In general, the game had very little flow to it and the fault lies with the NFL and the network, FOX. Case in point, at the end of the first quarter, there is a four minute commercial break. The Patriots score from the one yard line on the first play of the second quarter, followed by the extra point. Then there's another four minute commercial break. After this break, the Patriots come back and kick off to the Giants. Following the kickoff, there's another four minute break. That's a total of three plays that took a combined 20 seconds mixed in with 12 minutes of commercials. That's a ridiculous amount of time between plays and the NFL needs to step in and fix it. And please don't tell me that advertising revenue is at stake when every third commercial is for a show that airs on FOX.

∙ The Giants were 8-16 on third down conversions. Third downs have been the Patriots' Achilles heel all year and they couldn't step up and shut down the Giants on third downs in the Super Bowl, either.

∙ In the past, people have watched the Super Bowl for the commercials. And if that's the case, you have to be disappointed. I don't understand the selling point of half of these commercials and have a hard time imagining an ad agency being able to convince an executive team that screaming squirrels would make a good ad campaign. I don't recall seeing one commercial for a product that I purchase and that makes me kind of happy.

∙ Those Giants sure are a resilient group. Thanks for giving me the definition, FOX.

∙ I have a feeling that the Patriots will be a much different group next year. I'm even thinking that Randy Moss won't be back. He was pretty non-existent in the playoffs and only had a TD catch in the Super Bowl because the defender fell down. And when was the last time you saw him coming across the middle of the field, like Wes Welker? Donte Stallworth will certainly be cut because of his salary cap number and I'm not sure they'll bring him back at a reduced cost. Asante Samuel, who I think is over rated to begin with, may have purchased his ticket out of town with the dropped interception on the Giants' last scoring drive. Rodney HGHarrison, Junior Seau and Tedy Bruschi are all getting old, have a ton of regular season and post season mileage and they may have played their last games for the Patriots. Mix in the fact that the Patriots' secondary wasn't very good to begin with and they have some serious rebuilding to do.

∙ The Patriots are already 2-1 odds to win the Super Bowl next year, the Giants are 10-1. I can easily see the Giants going the route of the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers, who won the Super Bowl and then missed the playoffs the following year. The Giants play in a tough division and I have a hard time believing that all will be peachy keen with Coughlin, Manning and the New York fans and media again next year if they get off to another 0-2 start.

∙ Somewhere, Don Shula and his 1972 Miami Dolphins are still sipping champagne.

∙ Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in two weeks. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Stay tuned in the days and weeks ahead as I continue to relive the current misery and begin the countdown to the start of America's past time.