Now that I have basked in the glory of the humiliating defeat of the New England Patriots at the hands of the New York Giants, it is time for me to recap the game and how I predicted the big upset. After all, anybody could have picked the Giants to win (very few did), but only a select few could have given you the reasons why.
In my preview last week I ultimately dispelled four myths that I felt would play a key role in the Giants impending victory. Let us recap those four points.
Myth #1: The extra week of preparation was a huge advantage for the Patriots.
My Truth: The extra week was going to favor the Giants for several reasons.
Super Bowl Reality: The Giants were the clear beneficiary of the extra week.
The underdog phenomenon continues to gain momentum in American sports, and the New York Giants are just the latest chapter in what is a growing novel. Players tend to say all of the right things during the week, but the fact of the matter is that the New York Giants were sick and tired of hearing about how the Patriots were unbeatable and the greatest team ever. It was pretty obvious that the Giants defense was chomping at the bit to get onto the field and wipe that smug smile off Tom Brady’s face, and do so they did. Not only did the Giants dominate physically in this contest on both sides of the ball, but Tom Brady spent most of the game looking like a man defeated. The underdog phenomenon that worked for the Patriots in 2001 when they physically manhandled the highly-favored Rams offense and their receivers en route to a 20-17 Super Bowl victory, worked against them this time around. The New York Giants, the #5 seed in the NFC, with only one Pro-Bowl player, were the ultimate team with nothing to lose.
I argued last week that the extra week would not only provide the Giants with incredible motivation, but it would also allow their injured players time to heal as well as allow their coaching staff adequate time to fully dissect the Patriots offense and devise a game plan that built upon the schemes that nearly defeated the Patriots in Week 17. As is evidenced by the outcome, the two weeks of preparation delivered on all three counts. The Giants entered the game as healthy as they have been since early in the season, especially in that crucial secondary, as cornerbacks Kevin Dockery and Sam Madison were both on the field and ready to play. The Giants coaching staff devised, and their players executed, a game plan that proved far superior to that of the “genius” Bill Belichick. The Giants offense found ways to possess and protect the ball, convert on third and fourth downs, and put some points on the scoreboard. The Giants defense found ways to stop the run, pressure Tom Brady, and negate the big-play capability of Randy Moss and Donte Stallworth. Tom Coughlin, Steve Spanuolo and the Giants were able to incorporate every key to victory in their game plan and then execute it on the field. The success of the Giants preparation was evident on the very first series of the game, when the Giants possessed the ball for nearly eleven minutes, keeping Tom Brady off the field while putting three points on the scoreboard. In the end, the Giants gained more yardage, had a higher conversion percentage on third and fourth-downs, won the total time of possession and ultimately, won the game.
Myth #2: You cannot successfully blitz and pressure Tom Brady.
My Truth: Several teams have already done so this season but just did not finish off the game.
Super Bowl Reality: The pressure that the Giants applied on Tom Brady, mostly with their front four and with one or two extra pass rushers, transformed Brady into an average NFL quarterback.
No QB is immune to pressure. On Sunday against the Giants, Tom Brady rushed his reads and missed open receivers just like every other QB does in the face of a constant and significant pass rush. Brady has developed this reputation of being unflappable under pressure largely because his team rarely presents the opportunity for him to be hit. The New England Patriots are more committed to protecting their QB than any other team in the NFL. Even though Brady was under constant duress on Sunday, there were only a couple times in the game when the Giants rushed more guys than the Patriots could block. That Patriots have long surrounded Brady with a superior offensive line and they max out their protection schemes at every opportunity.
On Sunday, however, Brady was clearly flapped. His uniform was dirty. He was yelling at his teammates and the referees. His body language was despondent. He remained distant on the sidelines. Most of all, his passing accuracy suffered and he was outplayed by an opposing QB, the same scenario that developed in the three games this regular season when the opposing team fully committed to putting him on his backside every snap (BAL, NYJ, PHI). Not one of those teams finished above .500 this season, but all three decided to come after Brady with everything they had, and in doing so were in a position to win well into the fourth quarter. The Patriots needed an unnecessary timeout from the Raven’s coaches to beat Baltimore and needed the Eagles special teams to line up offsides on a punt to defeat Philadelphia.
Myth #3: The league has not yet caught up to the spread offense.
My Truth: By the end of the regular season, NFL teams have caught up to everything new.
Super Bowl Reality: The Giants demonstrated throughout the season and in this game that their defense was closing the gap with spread offenses throughout the league.
We presented to you that the Giants defense cut the offensive output for the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers by at least two touchdowns with each subsequent game against those teams. We also showed you that every Patriots opponent outside of the Buffalo Bills did the same in a second meeting, holding the Patriots to at least 17 fewer points than they amassed in the first contest. That is why we predicted that the Giants defense would hold the Patriots well below their 38-point outburst in their regular season meeting at the Meadowlands. In the end, the Giants defense outperformed even my expectations by holding the Patriots to less than half the point production that Tom Brady and company had accomplished just about one month ago.
The bottom line is that the NFL has already caught up to the spread offense, and that is the nature of the league. Every defensive coordinator in the league will spend the offseason studying what the San Diego Chargers and New York Giants did to attack Tom Brady and the Patriots offense in these playoffs. Every team in the AFC East will try to shape their team through free agency and the draft with the Patriots offense in mind. Success in this league is quickly dissected and copied.
Myth #4: The Patriots could not be beaten.
My Truth: The Patriots were basically all but beaten several times this season.
Super Bowl Reality: The Giants simply outplayed and defeated the New England Patriots.
During the week I told the readers that this same Giants team that gave the Patriots all they could handle in Week 17 was rolling into the Super Bowl as an even better squad with more confidence (and now plenty of playoff experience) that could use the two weeks of preparation to both get healthy and become better acclimated with the complex schemes of the Patriots. The idea that the resultant Giants team could not hang in the Super Bowl with the Patriots because of warm weather and fast playing turf was bonafide lunacy.
Everything leading up to the Super Bowl favored the Giants. Their secondary came together during the playoffs while Eli Manning and the offense really cut their teeth against three tough defenses on the road. Their near-defeat of the Patriots in Week 17 and their improbable run to the Super Bowl made the Giants extremely confident as a team. Finally, the extra week of preparation gave the Giants time to heal, game plan, and let the Patriots hype fester, annoy, and ultimately motivate them even more. Add all those ingredients together and you get the recipe we predicted – an historic upset of the New England Patriots and a historic season for their opponent, the New York Giants.
Pinstriped Orange 