NFL chat thread

[GA Russell]

Hillary Clinton thinks that the Giants' win is a good omen for her. It doesn't take long for the politicians to get in the act!

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/New...4822678-ap.html

[connoisseur series500]

Conn, sorry about your Pats. It was a tough game for you to watch, I'm sure. You're as gracious as ever.

Appreciate the message, Rache, really do.

I just feel the football gods were on our side all year. It was bound to turn. Being undefeated is an undesired curse. I just hope this loss shakes out all the transitory fans. I'm in it for the long haul, just as you are with your team, Rachel.

[Bright Moments]

Conn, sorry about your Pats. It was a tough game for you to watch, I'm sure. You're as gracious as ever.

Appreciate the message, Rache, really do.

I just feel the football gods were on our side all year. It was bound to turn. Being undefeated is an undesired curse. I just hope this loss shakes out all the transitory fans. I'm in it for the long haul, just as you are with your team, Rachel.

ditto what rachel said. u r a class act paul!

[rachel]

[7/4]

Conn, sorry about your Pats. It was a tough game for you to watch, I'm sure. You're as gracious as ever.

Appreciate the message, Rache, really do.

I just feel the football gods were on our side all year. It was bound to turn. Being undefeated is an undesired curse. I just hope this loss shakes out all the transitory fans. I'm in it for the long haul, just as you are with your team, Rachel.

At least you didn't suddenly explode into flames Conn.

[JSngry]

I just feel the football gods were on our side all year. It was bound to turn. Being undefeated is an undesired curse.

Well yeah, law of averages says you gotta lose at least once during the season. Better to lose one in the front 16 than later on, eh?

I will say this, though - if there's any franchise in American professional sports that can eventually pull it off, it's the Patriots.

[Aggie87]

The Patriots had plenty of time and 3 (?) timeouts at the end of the game to win the game; a questionable call in the 2nd quarter wouldn't have made a difference if they had played their usual comeback game.

I agree, the stuff that happened that early didn't affect the outcome. The Patriots had a 4 point lead with 2:40 left in the game, and couldn't keep Eli Manning - ELI MANNING - out of the end zone.

Giants deserved that win - total team win, nobody really seemed to stand out in my mind.

And to answer Mr. Deeley's earlier comment, I'd have given the MVP to the entire Giant's defense - if that's not allowable, then maybe Tuck, or even Strahan - whoever put the most pressure on Brady on the night.

Edited February 4, 2008 by Aggie87

[T.D.]

I just feel the football gods were on our side all year. It was bound to turn. Being undefeated is an undesired curse.

Well yeah, law of averages says you gotta lose at least once during the season. Better to lose one in the front 16 than later on, eh?

I will say this, though - if there's any franchise in American professional sports that can eventually pull it off, it's the Patriots.

I dunno...despite all the talent, and the brain trust, I have the feeling that the NEP "dynasty" has now jumped the shark. Needless to say, I could be completely wrong.

[JSngry]

I just feel the football gods were on our side all year. It was bound to turn. Being undefeated is an undesired curse.

Well yeah, law of averages says you gotta lose at least once during the season. Better to lose one in the front 16 than later on, eh?

I will say this, though - if there's any franchise in American professional sports that can eventually pull it off, it's the Patriots.

I dunno...despite all the talent, and the brain trust, I have the feeling that the NEP "dynasty" has now jumped the shark. Needless to say, I could be completely wrong.

For any other organization I'd agree. But this one?

We'll see......

[papsrus]

Pretty class move by BB running off the field before it was over--almost Moss-like. An ounce of dignity with all of the well-earned arrogance, perhaps? Guess not. He did manage to talk to a Fox reporter for a minute or two.

That's two years in a row of..."questionable" behavior in the face of post-season defeat by Belichick. I understand the intensity of the season, the game, and the disappointment, & I still have the highest respect for the organization's accomplishments this season, but still....just a little busg-league, I think, and not at all befitting the man & the organization.

Yep. Classy move.

Didn't everyone and his brother know that the game would hinge on how well they could protect Brady? I must have read a half dozen stories on that. How does the genius not figure out some schemes to counter the Giants pass rush, which everyone knew was going to be coming all night long? I think the Pats had just that one wide screen play (that worked about five times) and that was it.

They finally started going to Moss late in the game, but they should have been feeding him the ball more than they did.

And it looked to me like Moss could have jumped up to make a better play on that deep pass on their final series. All he did was keep running with his hands out. That's the whole idea of his height advantage -- he needs to out-jump the defenders on a ball like that. It was one of the few deep balls Brady threw that was right on the money. Pats would have been inside the 20 with enough time left to go for a TD and OT in the bag.

Congrats Giants. Great win for those guys.

[Aggie87]

Emmitt Smith just now: "The strength of the Patriots team just got....debacled!"

[vajerzy]

Great game. Possibly the best game I've ever seen. I'm an Eagles fan but I'm glad for the Giants and their fans. I'll always root for the NFC in the Super Bowl. But it also would've been nice to see an undefeated season- which is pretty remarkable in this day and age. Such parity in the NFL!

Anyway- good for the Giants- they deserved it.

[Quincy]

A lotta class Conn, but no surprise there.

Someone else who will be feeling a little more puffed up will be Ditka. I heard him at the end of the regular season answering the question "Are the Pats the greatest ever" with a sarcastic "yes," followed by how his '85-'86 Bears would have won by putting Brady on his back. Certainly pressure did make a big difference, and as you allude to, the Bears lost at their 1 game at a better time.

Very exciting game, and Manning escaping the rush & the catch by Tyree was something else. I almost hit my head on the ceiling, as I couldn't believe the catch or the avoiding the sack.

Ya know, the rushing out on the field with 1 second doesn't bug me. It just shows that the NFL is run by too many lawyers when you have to go thru the motions of the snap & sitting on it. Yeah yeah, I remember the Giants fumble by Csonka and the return by Edwards for the TD years ago, but really, sometimes I think the NFL should just turn the whole game over to cops, lawyers & executives and let them play the damn game. Luckily the way this one played, that probably won't happen despite the NFLs efforts.

[Big Al]

Easily the best Super Bowl I've ever witnessed. Sorry your guys lost, Conn. You show a lot of grace in defeat!

I wonder if Wade Wilson still thinks the "better team lost" when the Giants beat the Cowboys a few weeks back.

[jlhoots]

Somebody told me that a Giants win would be good for the stock market.

Should be a big rally on Wall Street tomorrow.

[nmorin]

One can point to a play here or there as very important (the non-recovery of the fumble early in the game, David Tyree's final-drive catch that might well be the best grab I've ever seen in a Superbowl), but the consistent reason the Pats lost was that the Giants pass rush got to Brady a lot--well-timed blitzes coming from odd angles and, even more importantly, getting to Brady when only rushing their front four. What happened to the Pats' usually rock-solid offensive line? Secondly, while Belichick is lauded as one of the finest in-game coaches in the history of the game, I was quite surprised that he didn't seem to make successful adjustments to give Brady more time.

Edited February 4, 2008 by nmorin

[sjarrell]

He did get Brady more time on that last Pats drive- they looked pretty formidable. I was surprised they weren't more concerned with running the clock down then.

That Tyree catch- and Eli's escape from certain doom to deliver it- was one of the best things I've ever seen. It was Favre-like.

[Chalupa]

I just feel the football gods were on our side all year. It was bound to turn. Being undefeated is an undesired curse.

Well yeah, law of averages says you gotta lose at least once during the season. Better to lose one in the front 16 than later on, eh?

I will say this, though - if there's any franchise in American professional sports that can eventually pull it off, it's the Patriots.

I dunno...despite all the talent, and the brain trust, I have the feeling that the NEP "dynasty" has now jumped the shark. Needless to say, I could be completely wrong.

I'm thinking the same thing. They will make the playoffs next year but only because they play in the weakest division in the NFL. However, the defense, especially the linebackers, needs some upgrading. Vrabel will be 33 next season, Bruschi will be 35, Thomas & Colvin will be 31, and Junior Seau will be 40! While they can still defend the run pretty well they can't keep up on the little slant routes across the middle. The Eagles exposed this during their game earlier this season. The Gmen exploited it well in both of their match ups this season. Rodney Harrison(turns 36 next season) has lost a step or 3. He wasn't quite the same player this year minus the steroids. On the O side Faulk is turning 32. Stallworth and Moss are FA's. They will re-sign Moss but it's gonna cost them big time against the cap which will limit the other personnel moves they need to make. The once impenetrable O Line looked very porous last night.

Also I wondering how this "Spygate" thing is going to play out.

Secondly, while Belichick is lauded as one of the finest in-game coaches in the history of the game, I was quite surprised that he didn't seem to make successful adjustments to give Brady more time.

Kind of hard to make adjustments when you can't steal the other teams signals

[Larry Kart]

One can point to a play here or there as very important (the non-recovery of the fumble early in the game, David Tyree's final-drive catch that might well be the best grab I've ever seen in a Superbowl), but the consistent reason the Pats lost was that the Giants pass rush got to Brady a lot--well-timed blitzes coming from odd angles and, even more importantly, getting to Brady when only rushing their front four. What happened to the Pats' usually rock-solid offensive line? Secondly, while Belichick is lauded as one of the finest in-game coaches in the history of the game, I was quite surprised that he didn't seem to make successful adjustments to give Brady more time.

When your O line is getting beaten by the other team's D line pretty much straight up, there aren't many adjustments you can make. Quick bubble screens and the like are the main adjustment, and that was tried, but the Giants linebackers and D backs were prepared for that and responded well enough. There were some first downs off of those plays, but no total breakdowns and resulting long gains, which is what the Pats got off of that stuff so often this season.

[John Tapscott]

It was a great game. Incredibly some sports reporter types are saying it was one of the worst Super Bowls ever. I can't understand that. It's all in the ending really and the ending couldn't have been better. I've got to admit that I was hoping for the Giants to beat the arrogant Pats (and Belichick - looks good on him, sorry Pats fans). Mentioning the obvious, but it was the Giants pass rush that made the difference. It might have been Belichick's arrogance that prevented him from making adjustments to his game plan. Only once or twice did I see Brady move sideways out of the pocket to throw downfield. That's one obvious way to bear the pass rush, scramble a bit, move the pocket, or move out of the pocket to make throws, which Manning seemed to do better than Brady. (CFL fans like GA Russell and I are used to seeing what scrambling QB's can do). Maybe Brady's ankle was bothering him more than they let on. Wow, I never thought I'd say it this year, that Brady would be outplayed by another team's QB. And the Giants' defense was rock-solid on third and short .

[ghost of miles]

Oh, it's a lonely town...

[catesta]

Now that was a Super Bowl.

Not only was I glad to see the Giants win, I was just as happy the game was not boring.

[Noj]

Congratulations Giants fans! I'm happiest for Jeremy Shockey and Tiki Barber.

Condolences to Conn.

[Jim Alfredson]

I'm happiest for former Michigan State star receiver Plaxico Burress!

[RDK]

Haven't watched much football over the last few seasons, but last night's game was terrific.

Being a big fan of the '72 Dolphins - hey, I was ten! - I'm fairly pleased that the Pats lost, though I do sympathize and even agree that several of those Dolphins players have become increasingly obnoxious over the years. It's really silly, though, to compare team of different eras and try to declare a "best." The game has changed so much over the years. I of course dig the "mythology" that's grown up out of the '72 season and it was loads of fun watching the Pats come so very close to going undefeated themselves. It will also offer much amusement over the ensuing years debating which is the greater accomplishment: going 18-1 or going 17-0.