Let me begin by saying that this was one of the best superbowls I’ve ever watched. It was tense and exciting from the very first play. And even if you’re a Patriots fan, you’ve got to admit, it was still an excellent game even though the Giants won 21-17.
The Breakdown
So as I said above, the Giants won this Superbowl XLII rematch with a score of 21-17. I was very close in my predictions of the game’s outcome. I predicted a 21-20 victory by the Giants in the last ten seconds because of a Hail Mary touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Victor Cruz or Hakim Nicks to win the game (oh and that would have been the only lead for the Giants the whole game). But I got almost what I wanted. Instead of Manning throwing to Cruz or Nicks, he threw to Mario Manningham to win the game for the Giants, with a little over a minute left in the game. That gave the Pats an interesting chance to score again and take back the lead to win. They advanced the ball to a bit past the Giants’ 30 yard line and Tom Brady threw a Hail Mary that was an assured touchdown (had the receiver actually caught it). As a result, everyone is celebrating a Giants victory, and Patriots fans are faced with the jaws of defeat.
The Patriots
TE Rob Gronkowski has had an unbelievable season, putting up ridiculously high numbers of yards (receiving for 1,327 yards this season alone), making him one of the most effective tight ends not only on this New England team, but one of the best in the NFL this season. He injured his ankle during the AFC championship game against Baltimore just two weeks ago, and was feared not to be fit to play in the Super Bowl. Fortunately, he was healthy and playing. We saw Brady using other strategies to advance the ball down the field in order to keep him out of potentially further injuring his ankle. From what I saw