Superbowl Afterthoughts

A few thoughts on the Superbowl. The game was close and very intense down to the very last play. I enjoyed seeing Eli lead his team with a fourth quarter comeback. But, there were many key moments that stood out to me.

Mario Manningham made an amazing catch that may very well have kept the Giants hopes alive. The pass was perfect from Manning. Manningham cradled the ball in, got both feet down, and made perhaps the biggest play of the night for the Giants.

Also the sad story of Jake Ballard trying to get back into the game even, though he most likely tore his ACL. NBC showed a clip of Ballard on the sidelines trying to run and get back on the field. Ballard's knee however, couldn't take it and he crumbled to the ground, agonizing in pain. It's sad to see a player get hurt in the last game of the season, especially in the Superbowl. Good thing the Giants pulled off the victory though, I'm sure Ballard feels a lot better about things now that they won.

Another kind of odd story to me, why is Giselle Bundchen is making headlines, trashing the patriots wide receivers for not catching the ball? Sure, Welker should have made the catch, and maybe that would have gave the Patriots the ability to clinch the game. But, there is no way you can put the blame on the receivers alone. Brady had a horrible safety in the first quarter, and threw a nasty interception late in the third quarter. So to put all the blame on the wide receivers is not fair and I'm sure Brady himself knows he should have done better.

A kind of disturbing article I read today, was that the Patriots had some star players caught partying and having fun just hours are the game. I support athletes being able to do what they want in their free time, but when you just lose the Superbowl, don't go out and party like you just won it. This disrespects your teammates. To go out and party just hours after a hard loss makes it seem as if you don't care about the game as much as they do. You would never see Tom Brady do this, he has three Superbowls and knows when it's time to celebrate, losing to the Giants again, does not qualify as one of those moments.

Just some quick stats to wrap this post up, I read that the Giants are 4-0 in the Superbowl when Bill Belichick is on the sidelines. Interesting stat because he won two as a coordinator with the Giants, under Bill Parcells, and of course lost the two as the head coach of the Patriots. Another point to make is Eli's ability to turn it on in the fourth quarter. He led the Giants back on amazing fourth quarter comebacks in both Superbowls, something he has really grown accustomed too. All in all it was a great Superbowl and I am looking forward to next season. Especially since no lock out is looming.