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D-line does it for Giants Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008 By Harry King LITTLE ROCK - For a fan of old-school football, the Super Bowl was quite enjoyable. Going in, it didn't matter much. I thought New England would win and I was OK with 19-0, even knowing that such a record would result in the unprovable proclamation of greatest ever. On the other side, I appreciated New York winning game after game on the road in support of a personal contention that the home field in football is overrated. As the game went on, I moved off the fence and over to the Giants. The allegiance had nothing to do with being anti-Bill Belichick or pro-Eli Manning. Support was founded in the natural tendency to root for an underdog and in some backlash to the perception that the Patriots and their quarterback were unbeatable. Mostly, it was because the Giants were unrelenting in their commitment to pressure Tom Brady. The grunt and groan group won it for New York. By name, they are Justin Tuck, Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, Jay Alford, Fred Robbins Barry Cofield. Those up-front Giants were so dominant that the Patriots' three running backs had a total of 45 yards on 16 carries, forcing Brady to throw 48 times - his second most attempts of the season. When he threw, he was harassed unmercifully. Understandably, Manning was voted the MVP. Quarterbacks win those trophies, particularly when they make the plays in a fourth-quarter drive and the other candidates fall under the umbrella of defensive linemen. Manning deserves credit for being efficient and virtually mistake-free. His Houdini from the New England rush for the 32-yard pass that David Tyree somehow caught was as memorable as John Elway's helicopter for a touchdown against Green Bay 10 years ago. For the Giants' defense, there were two defining moments and both occurred with New England in front 7-3: -After Manning's no-fault interception in the second quarter, New England started from its 33. The Patriots threw a screen pass, ran a couple of times and punted. -In the third quarter, Belichick obtained an explanation about what constitutes a player being on the field and correctly asked for a review of the Patriots' punt. The Giants' 12th man was still inside the lines at the snap and the Patriots were awarded a first down at the New York 39. Brady followed with what could have been a dagger of a completion for 14 yards to the Giants' 28. Instead, a Strahan sack led to a fourth-down incompletion. Even Brady has trouble throwing when prone. A Houston Chronicle story said Tuck and Brady had some conversations. "A couple of plays, he told me to slow down, and a couple of plays, I told him to hold the ball a little longer," Tuck told the newspaper. The Patriots' "unstoppable" offense had 12-play touchdown drives of 56 and 80 yards. Their other 40 plays netted 138 yards. At one point, Fox told us that 19 of New England's 41 plays had yielded zero or negative yards. Right on cue, the Giants ran over Brady on the next play. Fox announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are very accomplished, but they seemed to believe a New England victory was inevitable. With 1:47 to go in the half, the Patriots started from their 11 and Aikman offered that the Giants couldn't afford to give up any points. Normally, the thinking would be that the Patriots can't make a mistake in the shadow of their goal. Later, we saw Tom Coughlin celebrating the Giants' first touchdown and Buck said the New York coach and his players were "wide-eyed," as in astonished. The Giants were excited; the announcers were "wide-eyed." At the end, with New England on its own 26, Aikman said 29 seconds is an "eternity" with Brady. Wrong. The Patriots had, maybe, four plays to gain the 40 yards needed for a 50-yard field goal attempt. The Fox production did include some nifty promos for NASCAR and "House," and I was glad to see the Terminator get the best of the network's robot. The evening would have been perfect if the driver in the tire commercial had not swerved to avoid Richard Simmons. ------- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
