Did I know it 'could' happen? Sure. Did I 'know' the Patriots were lucky to win some of their regular season games and proved themselves to be both human and beatable? Absolutely. Did I buy in to the whole Team Of Destiny and Greatest Sports Team Ever brouhaha? Positively.
Despite the fact I had a gnawing worry over the last few games that they had shown themselves to be beatable and weaknesses had been exploited... Depute that it was only a matter of time before some coach put all those weaknesses into one game plan... Despite that The Giants Coach Coughlin already almost did it just a few weeks ago and now had an opportunity to fine tune it... Despite the fact it didn't look good from the start of the game... Despite the fact the Giants looked better than they should be and the Pats looked worse than they are... Despite all that, and not because of their past close wins but because of them, the Pats appeared to be on a course to their 4th Super Bowl win in 7 years. The closer other teams came to winning, the more unbeatable the Patriots appeared to truly be.
And I say all this as a Green Bay Packer fan. I am a hometown fan of the Patriots, born and raised here, but not one of the uberfans of the team that Boston tends to put out. A lifelong fan of Coach Vince Lombardi, I came to respect Belichick as a gifted coach second only to Lombardi. I became a fan of this team for some of the same reasons I love Green Bay: they are a team, not a collection of arrogant prima donnas and superstars. The first of Belichick's wins at the Super Bowl had the team take the field that night announced simply as "The New England Patriots!', not coming on - one by one - to hear their names announced. That, more than any one play or game or win, made me a fan. Prior to that I had rooted for Green Bay when the two teams met at the Super Bowl and went to the first Monday Night Game the next season to see them fight again. I still rooted for Green Bay against The Tuna and Bledsoe and Co. and was happy when the Green Machine were once again victorious. Yet I found myself passionately getting caught up in the Patriots this year, wanting to see them don the mantle of Greatest Team Ever. While some others began to root against them because of the coach's arrogance or quarterback's dating models, I saw a team made up of superstars who still played as a team and passed credit around liberally. A coach who, although tight lipped and defensive, was not a bragging and arrogant peacock as we have all seen others do with less coaching talent. I thought this team's just rewards were to be remembered as The Best.
Did the Giants Offense win that game? Not so much as the Patriot's Offense lost it. One can't entirely blame the Pats Offensive Line, although they were pretty beaten up and gave Brady no time to stay in the pocket, protected, and find his target. They also didn't break any holes open for the running game - and with no running game the Giants could focus on stopping the Pats receivers. With no time to throw, there was also no time for the Pats receivers to break free...
Did the Patriots' Defense blow it? They held a Super Bowl worthy team to 17 points... Kind of tough to say they didn't do their job... yet I can't help thinking about that last Giants drive. All they needed to do was stop a) the big play, and b) a march down the field ending in a touch down. They had stopped the Giants from doing that for 3 quarters already. yet they didn't do it when it was most needed.
Did the coach lose it? He didn't go for 3 when he could have earlier in the game, and didn't use his last 34 seconds for a few plays to get a field goal at the end, either. All or nothing, the way he has played his 8 years here. Why didn't he address the lack of a running game and well covered receivers until so late in the game? Finally, in the 4th, they decided to change from their season long 3-pronged attack and simply go with something that works: quick 10 yard quick throws up the middle. They finally did, and they scored. Why didn't we see that in the 1st half after they realized their deep receptions were not going to happen and they really had no real running game coming together? And where was the 'no huddle offense' which would have tired out that Defensive Line of the Giants earlier? Can we blame him for the loss? No, but he doesn't get off scott free, either. We now know that he is human and not a football god.
Maybe it was Brady? Did he play injured? Stoically play with limited motion or in pain, unable to be his normal Tom Terrific? Would we have won if he admitted an injury? No.
And it wasn't Boston's Mayor Mumbles Mannino jinxing the team with a planned-too-early Super Bowl celebration. Or Tom's current model galpal Giselle jinxing the team as Dallas' Tony Romo was 'jinxed' by another famous galpal.
The Patriot's were still the best team of this season. They were undefeated for 18 and 5/6 games. For 99% of the season (a season longer than the 72 Dolphins' season - a season in an era of free agents and salary caps - a season designed by the former Commissioner of Football for 'parity' among teams). They even faced and beat the Giants prior, so we know the Giants aren't 'better'. But the Giants were certainly better when it counted, this Sunday the 3rd of February 2008.
The Patriots have no one person or area or jinx to blame - they just didn't play well enough to win against a team that was pumped and confident, playing its best football of the year, and one that knew the Patriots were not unbeatable. They hammered away and fought for every down. They never gave up, never wore down, and never doubted themselves. In the end, the Giants were the better team on Super Bowl Sunday.
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