Best Super Bowl Ever?

Since Sunday a lot of national writers have come out and said that the Steelers victory over the Cardinals was the best Super Bowl ever, including one Peter King. I'm not buying it and think that this is just an over reaction to an entertaining game. In fact, I think that writers who are calling this the greatest game ever should probably turn their press passes in and try a different career path.

Here's are a few of my reasons:

Too much controversy: Just like the Steelers' Super Bowl win a few years ago, too much controvery surrounds this game. From the two challenges thrown by Cardinals head coach Ken Wisenhunt (both of which were overturned), to the James Harrison interception return for a touchdown, to the "fumble" by Kurt Warner and even the game winning catch, which I clearly think was, in fact, a touchdown. Each of those plays could have gone the other way and some of them probably should have.

The officiating: How can you overturn one fumble by Kurt Warner earlier in the game by going to instant replay and then not even review an almost identical play a few minutes later with the game on the line? The NFL has yet to give a good explanation for this other than to say that someone up in the replay booth said the play was a fumble. Okay, then, why was the Santonio Holmes touchdown catch reviewed on the field by the referees? It makes no sense to me.

The coaching: Wisenhunt's decision not to recieve the ball to start the game was really odd. Would you rather have your questionable defense on the field to start the Super Bowl or your explosive offense? Hmmm, let me think about this one. Also, why was Larry Fitzgerald nearly invisible until the last 12 minutes of the game? Here's an idea for you: try to get your best reciever involved early in the game.

The officiating, part deux: Were there enough penalties and play stopages for you? But I'm not even going to get into specific calls that they did make. Instead, what about the two that they didn't make. First, on the Harrison interception for a touchdown, you have an Arizona player clearly getting blocked in the back right near an official. That non call changed the game, in case you didn't realize. Second, after Holmes' catch to put the Steelers up with 35 seconds left, he does some cockamammy touchdown dance and then uses the ball as a prop, which should be an automatic 15 yard penalty. I think the official was too busy celebrating with the Steelers to throw the flag, though.

So please spare me the talk about the greatest Super Bowl ever. This was an entertaining game with an amazing finish but it doesn't stand up to the Patriots first Super Bowl in 2001. This was right after 9/11 and we had the Patriots being introduced as a team, U2 as the halftime show, Ty Law picking of Warner for a clean TD, the Patriots defense completely shutting down Marshall Faulk and the so called greatest show on turf, Tom Brady securing his place in history as one of the youngest Super Bowl MVP's, the original "we shocked the world" game, and a last minute drive by the Patriots where John Madden repeatedly said that the Patriots should just run out the clock and go into overtime as Adma Vinatieri is making a last second field goal to win the sport's biggest game.

You know what? As much as it pains me, I'd even go as far as to say that last year's Super Bowl was even better for the sheer magnitude of what it meant. You had an 18-0 behemoth coming in against a hot New York Giants team that somehow found a way to shut down the Patriots' record setting offense, while making big play after big play to score the winning touchdown in the last minute of the game.

Anyway, here are some of the highlights from the game. Pay attention at the 3:16 mark for the illegal block in the back. This is also where you can see Fitzgerlad coming down the sidelines and getting blocked by his teammates on his own sideline. Way to cost your team the Super Bowl, guys.

And the Winner Is. . .

Well, Super Bowl XLIII is finally over and the Steelers have their record breaking sixth Lombardi Trophy. Oh, wait, the Cardinals won? Oh, hey congratulations to them on their first Super Bowl win. Hmm, so the Steelers did win? Are you sure? In addition to the wild shoot out that we witnessed in the fourth quarter, there is also a bit of controvery and it appears that for the second time in four years, Pittsburgh has come out on top of a game that had some questionable calls.

Anyway, here are just a few thoughts on the Super Bowl as I wonder if Kurt Warner might have been able to pull off a last second touchdown with five seconds remaining and the ball on the Steelers 29 yard line:

As it relates to the last play by the Cardinals where the official on the field ruled it a fumble by Warner, I'm not sure what happened. When the play first happened, I called it a fumble. When they showed it on the replay, I was even more convinced that it was a fumble. The rule is that a coach can not challenge any play in the last two minutes of the game because any close or potentially controversial call is automatically reviewed. So on a play that Warner appears to be clearly moving his arm forward, fumbles the ball and it's recovered by the opposing team in the last ten seconds of the NFL's biggest game, there is no review. Can you please explain to me how that makes sense?

And if you're Arizona head coach Ken Wisenhunt, how do you not charge onto the field and demand a stop in the play so that the referees can get the call correct? Instead, you choose to just stand there and get screwed over.

I also don't understand how 11 Arizona Cardinals can't chase down James Harrison on his 100 yard interception return. That was a poor display of effort by those guys. I just don't understand how someone with mediocre speed can break away from the pack. Where are the Cardinals' wide receivers, tight ends and their running back on the return? Seriously, check out the photo to the left. Why isn't 81 involved in the play at all on the run back? He's only five yards away from him. Are you telling me that he couldn't catch him from behind? And as far as Harrison goes, how do the referees allow him to stay in the game in the fourth quarter after throwing several punches at one of the Cardinals during a punt?

If you watch the Super Bowl for the commercials, you've got to be disappointed. Being in marketing and advertising, I don't understand how an agency could come in, pitch some ridiculous concept and have people agree that these commercials are good. Perhaps that's why some of these companies are also making layoffs, going into bankrupty and begging for a government handout.

Before the Steelers go and enshrine Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, let's not forget that he was caught with marijuana earlier this year and has admitted smoking it. I'm not sure how he's avoided a suspension by the NFL but he now has something in common with Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps.

I don't see the Cardinals making a return trip to the Super Bowl any time soon. I have to imagine that their division will be tougher next year, with Seattle, San Francisco and St. Louis all making offseason changes and brining in new draft picks. And while their run to the Super Bowl was fun to watch, I don't see that they can catch lightning in a bottle two years in a row.

Watching Ben Rothlesberger play quarterback has me wondering how long he'll be in this league. I have no clue how he escaped the grasp of the Arizona defense on numerous plays but that same kind of sand lot scrambling will eventually lead to a serious injury and that's a fact. Rothlesberger is now the second youngest quarterback to ever win two Super Bowl's, which is bested only by Tom Bray's three in his first five years.

As I'm typing this post, Curt Schilling is on WEEI radio talking about the Steelers victory. Apparently he's a big Steelers fan from his days in Philadelphia. Listening to him talk has made me decide that I don't want him back if he decides to pitch next year. Seriously, just keep you mouth shut for once, Curt.

Anyway, congratulations to the Steelers. You persevered all year and were able to beat two of the worst playoff teams to ever appear in the post season in San Diego (division winner at 8-8) and Arizona (division winner at 9-7) while miraculously avoiding having to play the likes of New England, Indianapolis, and New York- it pains me to say the Giants but do you really think the Jets are any threat to the Steelers?

My Super Bowl Prediction

I've finally broken down the offenses and defenses of both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. I've studied film of the special teams players for each Super Bowl representative, as well as their running games, wide reciever play and how they each use their tight ends to camoflage screen passes. I've analyzed the coaching careers for both Mike Tomlin and Ken Wisenhunt, how they came into the league, whom they were mentored by, where they got their breaks and how they like their coffee. I've even taken it a step further and looked at the ownership and fan base of each team, how they play on the road, in good weather, in bad weather and what time of day each team plays their best. But you know what? None of it means squat.

All you need to know is that while the Arizona Cardinals are gearing up for the biggest game of their lives, the Pittsburgh Steelers are still looking in their rear view mirror at the New England Patriots. How else do you explain the t-shirt to the left? Because everyone knows that you still have to go through the Patriots to be considered the best. This is similar to the feeling of winning the World Series and not beating the Yankees in the process. It's just not the same.

So while the Steelers are laughing at Tom Brady and the Patriots and planning their Super Bowl parade, I believe that Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Kurt Warner and the Edge will be the ones laughing at the end. Screw the stats, screw the defense, screw the fact that Kurt Warner is one of the most over rated players ever, screw the fact that the Cardinals haven't been here before, screw the fact that they'll be considered the worst Super Bowl winner ever, I'm picking them.

Final Score:
Arizona Cardinals 38
Pittsburgh Steerls 21

This is the NFC's Super Bowl Representative?

Over the last month, I've really been ragging on the Arizona Cardinals. For one, they won the weakest division in the NFL at 9-7 so right away you know that they're not very good. More importantly, this was a team that came to Foxboro the second to last week of the year and got completely embarassed 47-7. As I've written before, the score wasn't even that close.

They had a decent win at home the first week of the playoffs against an up-and-coming Atlanta Falcons team and then watched Jake Delhomme of the Carolina Panthers put on a turnover clinic for their benefit. Back at home last week, they gritted out a tough win against the Philadelphia Eagles and Donovan McNabb's mother to earn their first trip to the Super Bowl.

I was embarassed for the Cardinals when they lost to New England, I was embarassed when they made the playoffs and now I'm embarassed that they're in the Super Bowl. Which is why I think I'm going to pick them to win. Then the Patriots can say that they beat the Super Bowl champions. Although, they can say the same thing about the previous year, too. I feel sick.

The Road to the Super Bowl

This week's AFC and NFC Championship games feature one that looks like it will be an old fashioned grudge match between Pittsburgh and Baltimore and one that features two teams that didn't even win ten games in the regular season. The only real appealing Super Bowl match up that there is would be Philadelphia against Pittsburgh and that's one of the reasons that I'm picking against both of those teams this weekend. The love fest between Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb is making me feel uncomfortable and I don't think I could take two teams from the same state playing in the sports biggest game of the year. Plus, I pretty much hate both of these teams (I know, that's real objective, huh?)

Even though it's championship weekend, winning team is still in CAPS.

Philadelphia at ARIZONA
I can't believe that I'm doing this but I'm picking the Cardinals. Less than a month ago the Cardinals came to Foxboro and got embarassed 47-7 and the score wasn't even that close. The fact that they've rebounded from that loss and won a home playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons and then went on the road and embarassed the Carolina Panthers, with some help from Jake Delhomme, says a lot about this team. I know that Philly beat the defending Super Bowl champs last weekend but that was a beat up and worn down Giants team that they were playing.

BALTIMORE at Pittsburgh
If my prediction is correct, we'll have a Super Bowl that virtually no one will care who wins outside of each home town, along with a team that was only in the playoffs because of a better conference record than the Patriots. While Pittsburgh seemingly destroyed the Chargers last weekend, there were just too many fluky plays in that game to say that the score reflected the actual play on the field. I think that Ben Rothlesberger is more banged up than we're being led to believe and I think that Willie Parker is one big hit away from going out for the game. The Ravens defense is relentless and if they can control the field position game it will give rookie quarterback Joe Flacco the confidence he needs to earn his first trip to the Super Bowl.

So it'll be Arizona and Baltimore in this year's Snoozer Bowl.

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.

Super Bowl XLII Preview, Part IV

Well, I was going to try to get to Part XLII of my Super Bowl coverage but IV is as far as I'm taking it. I'm not a Giants fan by any stretch of the imagination (as if you couldn't tell) and even I'm feeling depressed for the whupping that I believe the Giants are going to be taking come Sunday night. I've compared the quarterbacks, the defense and the offense of each team and the Patriots have an edge in each of those categories.

Now I'm going to give some general thoughts on the game that don't quite fit into any one category, as well as my Super Bowl prediction at the end of this column. Just a hint: I'm not picking the Giants.

Let's start with the strength of schedule for each team. The Giants played teams that were a combined 132-124 this year, which is pretty impressive. However, the only team that they beat with a winning record (9-7 or better) were the Washington Redskins 24-17 in week three. They later lost to the 'Skins near the end of the season. The Giants also lost to Dallas two times, Green Bay and the Patriots. Basically, they didn't beat any good teams during the regular season. And no, I don't believe that the Redskins count as a good team.

By comparison, the Patriots played teams that were a combined 120-136 (hey, they can't help it if they have to play the Dolphins twice a year). As you may recall, the Patriots won all 16 of their regular season games against teams like San Diego (38-14), Washington (52-7), Dallas (48-27), Cleveland (34-17), Indianapolis (24-20), Pittsburgh (34-13) and the Giants (38-35). That's seven wins against quality teams for the Patriots as opposed to one win against a quality opponent by the Giants. Record aside, who's played best when it's mattered the most against quality opponents? I'd say the Patriots have by a margin the length of the Mississippi River.

So now let's take a look at the coaching matchup, where Tom Coughlin comes in as a career 103-89 coach for a .536 winning percentage and 7-6 in the playoffs over a twelve year span. Bill Belichick's coaching career spans 13 years with a 127-81 record for a .611 winning percnetage. However, in his last eight years with New England, Belicheat is 91-37 for a .711 winning percentage and is 14-2 in the playoffs, including three Super Bowl titles. Equally as important, since coming to New England in 2000, Belicheat has a 12-2 record when coaching after an off week. Those two losses came in the 2001 and 2002 seasons, meaning that the Patriots have won seven straight games under Belicheat when coming off a bye week.

I'm not sure I'm buying into the whole argument that the Giants almost won the season finale when these two teams met in the New York so they only have to make a few less mistakes to pull off the upset of the century. Don't the Patriots also have the same amount of extra time to correct their mistakes, as well? And how long do you think it will be before the Patriots realize that nearly all of their recievers can basically outrun the Giants secondary? Are you confident that with two weeks to prepare for a rematch against the Giants that Belicheat isn't going to draw up some ridiculous play that you've never seen before that will ultimately be the dagger in the Giants' back?

Oh, right, I forgot, the Giants almost beat the Patriots the last time they played. Are you sure? The Patriots turned a 12 point second half deficit into a ten point lead in the fourth quarter before giving up a late TD. And the Patriots ended the game by taking a knee on several straight plays. On their last five possessions of the game, the Patriots punted once, scored three touchdowns and ran out the clock as time expired. Are you sure it was that close of a game?

In their last meeting, it should also be noted that Laurence Maroney ran 19 times for 46 yards in one of his worst showings in the second half of the season. But do you know one of the reasons his output was so low? You're probably thinking it was because of a tenacious Giants defense but it's not. It's because three integral elements of the Patriots rushing game were inactive for that game, including the entire right side of the offensive line, Nick Kaczur and Stephen Neal, as well as tight end Kyle Brady, a blocking specialist. And it should also be noted that the Patriots held Giants running back Brandon Jacobs to 67 yards in that game, as well.

I've heard a lot of people compare this Giants team to the 1985 Patriots team. For those of you who don't remember, the 1985 Patriots went on the road and won three playoff games against the New York Jets, Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins. They had no business winning any of those games, especially in Miami where they traditionally played terrible. That was the start of the Squish the Fish phrase, which came with a complete line of clothing, as well. Picking the Patriots to win in Miami in the 1980s was sort of like expecting the current New York Giants to go into Green Bay two weeks ago and win. That's how big of a win it was for the Patriots. My, how the Dolphins have fallen. The Patriots later played the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl, in a game that was over by half time, and ended up losing 46-10 to a team that was far superior to the Patriots in nearly every facet of the game, much like the current matchup.

I've searched high and low for a silver lining that would allow that Giants to pull off the huge upset and the only thing I can find is an eery similarity between the Giants and the 2001 New England Patriots, who shocked the world by winning the Super Bowl over the greatest show on turf, the St. Louis Rams. I remember how everyone was picking the Rams to completely blow out the Patriots but then the team refused to be introduced by name before the opening kickoff, opting instead to be introduced as a team and then we stayed with the Rams for the first half and then we were neck and neck in the second half. We had the ball with under two minutes to play and John Madden was telling the Patriots to run out the clock and take their chance in overtime. But there was Brady, leading the Patriots down the field with the calmness and accuracy of Joe Montana, players were making insane catches while diving out of bounds, the clock was ticking and before we could even fathom what was happening, Adam Vinatieri was kicking a 48 yard field goal to win the Super Bowl and we were all standing on Boylston Street in the freezing cold waiting for the team to drive by on Duck Boats.

Does Eli Manning, the guy who threw 20 INTs this season, have it in him to pull off this upset? Can Tom Coughlin, the coach who was almost fired after an 0-2 start to the season, come up with the blueprint to beat the Patriots and stop this record breaking offense from going down as the greatest team ever? Will Plaxico Burress back up his 23-17 Giants win statement with the game of his life while playing with a swollen knee and bad ankle? Can the Giants pass rush get to Tom Brady and repeatedly force him to make mistakes? Can the Giants defense stop the numerous offensive weapons we have? I say no, emphatically. And if an eery similarity to the New England Patriots team of 2001 is the only thing you've got going for you, I don't see this game ending well for the Giants.

NEW ENGLAND 41 New York 21

Super Bowl XLII Preview, Part III

I've gone through the quarterbacks and the defense of each team in my last two Super Bowl preview posts and, in my opinion, the Patriots come out with the advantage in both categories. However, you're entitled to be wrong by having your own opinion if you so choose. Now I'm going to break down the offense of each team and there's one phrase I'm going to continue to repeat throughout this post (and it's not a good thing if you like the Giants): record setting offense.

On the regular season road to 16-0, the Patriots racked up offense like no team in NFL history. They set the single season scoring record by a team with 589 points, they set the single season touchdown record by a team with 75, their quarterback set a single season TD record, their wide receiver caught the most TDs ever by a wide reciever in one year, and they set the most records ever set in one season. I think that they also set the record for number of 1972 Miami Dolphin players that have embarassed themselves by commenting on the Patriots season.

By comparison, the New York Giants have. . . Ummm, . . . Well, they've. . . ahh . . well they did score 373 points this year. Oh, that's probably not a good example because the Patriots scored over 200 points more than that. Wow, that's a lot of points to score over another team in only 16 games. To be precise, the Patriots actually score 13.5 points more per game than the Giants. And you were wondering why the early Las Vegas lines had the Patriots as +12 favorites. In fact, during the regular season, the Giants outscored their opponents by a combined total of just 22 points. Yes, 22 points over a 16 game schedule. The Patriots, by comparison, outscored their opponents by 315 points. And no, that is not a misprint.

Similar to my observations on each team's defense, I'm going to break down each offense by four categories and their rankings in each category: yards per game, rusing yards, passing yards and average points scored per game. Maybe if you're a Giants fan you don't want to look at these numbers:





Again, sorry for the fuzziness but it's the best I can do. I can't even believe that I'm going to talk about the running game of the Patriots when we have MVP Tom Brady throwing TDs left and right but we have actually developed a legitimate running game lately. Laurence Maroney in the last five games, including the two playoff games, has rushed for 550 yards, an average of 110 per game. In the other 10 games he played this year, he rushed for 529 yards total, for an average of 52.9 yards a game. Double his earlier average and you still don't get to the 110 yards rushing that he's been averaging lately. And that's not even counting the threat that he is out of the backfield on short screen passes where he's able to use his explosive speed more effectively because there are less of his own team mates to run into.

I won't lie to you when I say that the running game of the Giants is a concern to me. Their two feature backs, Brandon Jacobs (1,009 yards rushing with four TDs) and Derrick Ward (602 yards rushing with three TDs) are a formidable duo that have rushed for more than 1,600 yards combined this season. But let's keep in mind that the Patriots, in the last two games, have held Jacksonville, the league's second best rushing team, to 80 yards rushing and then they held San Diego's seventh best rushing attack to 104 yards.

The Giants also have Ahmad Bradshaw out of the backfield and he's somewhat of a wildcard. The Giants mainly use him in the second half of games in the hopes that a defense will be tired down and more likely to miss tackling the semi-elusive Bradshaw. You know what I think, though? There's a reason that he's not the starting running back and it's because he's not very good. The Giants didn't even begin relying on him until the second to last game of the regular season in a snow game in Buffalo. And if the Giants are down by 10 or more, do you really think that the Giants are going to be running the ball?

For wide recievers, the Giants feature Plaxico Burress (70 catches, 1,025 yards, 12 TDs) and Amani Toomer (59 catches, 760 yards, three TDs). I know that Burress had a monster game against the Packers in the NFC Championship Game with 11 catches for 151 yards. But he never found the end zone in the game or any of the Giants' three playoff wins. In fact, in the other two playoff games combined, Burress only had five catches for 43 yards. Burress also has a bad ankle, as well as swelling in his knee, that has prevented him from practicing this week. But apparently his mouth still works because he spouted off about the Giants winning the Super Bowl 23-17. Maybe his brain is also broken because the Patriots haven't scored fewer than 20 points in a game all year. Does he think a suspect defense, one which gave up 38 points to this same team a few weeks ago, is going to somehow contain this offense to 17 points? And he's also assuming that we will be employing the use of a field goal kicker in his final score. I'm not even sure the Patriots invited Stephen Gostkowski, their field goal kicker, to the Super Bowl.

By comparison, the Patriots record setting offense features Randy Moss (98 catches for 1,493 yards and a record setting 23 TDs), Wes Welker (league high 112 catches for 1,175 yards and eight TDs), Donte Stallworth (46 catches for 697 yards and three TDs) and even Jabar Gaffney (36 catches for 449 yards and five TDs). Whew, that's a lot of catches, a lof of yards and a lot of TDs.

I understand that Randy Moss has been completely neutralized in the first two games of the playoffs and that has me a little concerned. But the goal isn't to make sure that Moss gets thrown the ball a certain number of times. The goal is to win and the Patriots have done that, convincingly.

Tom Brady said that, "I thought San Diego played extremely well. I think Jacksonville did a great job. I'm sure that Randy was a big point of emphasis. I'm sure for the Giants he'll be a big point of emphasis . . . but I never lose track of him." That's right, he never loses track of him. Look for Moss to go deep early and often in the Super Bowl because we all know that the Giants don't have the speed or talent to keep up with him.

And, just for fun, let's say that the Giants do limit Moss during the Super Bowl. Who's stopping Welker? Who's stopping Stallworth? Who's going to guard against Maroney, who's had a huge month? Who's going to keep track of Kevin Faulk and make sure he doesn't stick a dagger in your back when you're not looking? Who's going to keep track of Jabar Gaffney, who has caught some huge touchdowns for the Patriots this year? Who's going to stop Mike Vrabel when he lines up as a tight end? Did you know that the Patriots also have one of the best tight ends in all of football in Benjamin Watson? Who's going to guard Watson while the rest of the defense is running around like chickens with no heads trying to figure out if they should cover Moss deep or let him go in the hopes that it's a play designed for Welker coming over the middle? Pick your poison because this team has too many weapons to be stopped by a middle of the road defense. Case in point:



Now I know that you're thinking that the offense of the Patriots has trailed off recently and you know what? You're right. In their first nine games, they scored 355 points, which was by far the most in the league and nearly as many as the Giants scored the entire year. However, over their last nine games, including the playoff games against Jacksonville and San Diego, the Patriots scored 286 points, down significantly from their first nine games but still best in the league over that time frame. Know what else? Every single one of their last nine games was played outdoors, in the Northeast, where rain/sleet/snow/wind/cold played a factor in almost every game. Super Bowl XLII is being played in Arizona in a stadium with a retractable roof that features what the league is calling a fast track, meaning the speed of New England recievers is going to be put on full display. If I were the Giants, I would be afraid, very, very afraid.

So now that we've established that the Patriots have the much better quarterback, a better defense and a far superior offense, I'll be breaking down some intangibles in the next Super Bowl XLII Preview where I'll even make my pick and scoring prediction. Stay tuned.

Super Bowl XLII Preview, Part I

The two week break between Championship Sunday and Super Bowl Sunday is living up to the hype as being one of the worst stretches in all of sports. There's no football games to preview, baseball is still a month away from Spring Training and the C's are suddenly looking like the C's of old and are currently in a 4-4 stretch against some of the worst teams in the NBA.

With little relevant to talk about, I thought I'd start breaking down the Super Bowl preview with some cold, hard facts. I'm not really sure what's going on in the world today but somehow people are starting to jump on the New York Giants' bandwagon. That's fine with me if you want to cheer for the future loser of Super Bowl XLII but consider yourself warned.

To start off my series of Super Bowl previews, I thought I'd do a quick quarterback comparison. And I already know what you're thinking- Tom Brady is a far superior quarterback than Eli Manning and you're right. Is another Manning really in the Super Bowl? This really is Bizarro world. Anyway, while I will eventually get to the head-to-head Brady/Manning comparison, here are some numbers for you to divulge while wondering if it's really a good idea to get a huge Giants tattoo on your chest:

Quarterback Number 1: 262-480 for a 54.6 completion rate, 3,193 yards passing, 23 TDs and 20 INTs for a QB rating of 73.9.

Quarterback Number 2: 297-529 for a 56.1 percent completion rate, 3,336 yards passing, 23 TDs and 20 INTs for a QB rating of 73.9 QB.

You can probably guess that neither of those quarterbacks are Tom Brady. What you probably didn't know is that quarterback number 1 is Rex Grossman from 2006, while quarterback number 2 is Eli Manning from 2007. Just a guess on my part, but there is no way that anyone can possibly feel good about their starting quarterback being compared to Rex Grossman.

Does anyone remember the year Grossman had last year? Well, let me remind you- he was mired in a QB controversy the entire year because of his shaky play and the only thing that allowed him to keep his job was that the defense of the Bears was phenomenal the entire year, carrying the team for games at a time. That is, until they ran into a juggernaut of an offense in the Indianapolis Colts and got destroyed in the Super Bowl by a score of 29-17.

And in case you're wondering, Grossman was 20-28 for 165 yards, one TD and two INTs in the Super Bowl. I think that Eli Manning would be lucky to have numbers that good against the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

So, now let's get to the real quarterback comparison.

Quarterback Number 1: 398-578 for a 68.9 percent completion rate, 4,806 yards passing, 50 TDs and eight INTs for a QT rating of 117.2.

Quarterback Number 2: 297-529 for a 56.1 percent completion rate, 3,336 yards passing, 23 TDs and 20 INTs for a QB rating of 73.9 QB.

I hope I don't need to tell you that quarterback number 1 is Tom Brady and quarterback number 2 is Eli Manning, once again. Beyond the fact that they both play quarterback, there's really not much of a comparison, is there? I think that Brady has more in common with Luke Skywalker than he does with Manning. Brady threw for nearly 1,500 yards more than Manning and you could double Manning's number of TDs and still be four shy of how many Brady threw. Coincidentally, you could also double the number of INTs that Brady threw and still be four shy of the number that Manning threw. And Brady's QB rating was more than 40 points higher.

Everyone is also talking about how great Manning has been the last three games and I will give him credit for those wins. He's managed the games against Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay especially well while not throwing any interceptions during that time. But he's only thrown four TDs in those three games. Brady, in two playoff games this year, has thrown five TDs.

I'd also like to remind everyone that this game will be played in warm weather, which the Patriots haven't seen since they played on a clear night in Buffalo, winning 56-10 on November 18. Since then, they've played in snow, sleet, rain and freezing cold in just about all of their last eight games. In a stadium that is expected to be dry and warm, Brady will be able to once again go deep at will. Do you remember the record breaking play where Brady threw his 50th TD and Randy Moss caught his record breaking 23rd TD? If not, it's the one where the play before, Moss got wide open a dropped a sure TD. The very next play they ran the exact play and Moss again burned his man for the TD. Look for that play early and often in Super Bowl XLII.

So, take heart, Giants fans, you're basically going into Super Bowl XLII with Rex Grossman leading the way. I have a feeling some of those bandwagoners may be jumping ship soon.

Much more to come next week where we'll break down each offense and each defense. If you're a Giants fan thinking that you'll have a possible chance to redeem yourself in those categories let me warn you- it's going to get ugly. And I'll wrap the Super Bowl hype up with a final pre-game rundown complete with my predicted score.