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-------------------- Superbowl 46 has come and gone and I give my congrats to the New York Giants for defeating the New England Patriots, 21-17, in a hard fought game. I'm very happy for the Superbowl MVP, Eli Manning, for once again proving his own critics wrong and ditto for Tom Coughlin. Both guys have been ridiculed by the absurd New York press and it's great to stick it to them. As I noted in my Superbowl Predictions Column (which I picked the Patriots to win, D'oh!), I noted that this game would come down to the Patriots gameplan on the following: (a) Keeping Tom Brady upright. Check. (b) Patriots Safeties play deep while the front 7 MUST stop the run. On part (b), the Patriots took away the deep threat for most of the game except for Mario Manningham's spectacular catch. But the Patriots were losing in trenches on the run. Vince Wilfork was neutralized by the tough Giants Offensive Line and Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs ran for a combined 26 carries, 109 yards. That suffocated the clock and kept the Patriots offense off the field. That, and the Giants Offensive Line kept Eli Manning upright. For whatever reason, the Patriots have been unable to assemble a strong pass rush and Eli made them pay in addition to the strong running game. The Giants Offensive Line physically imposed their will on the Patriots and I believe this created the end result. I thought that the Patriots offense played well enough to win. Sure, Tom Brady's safety to start the game was a bad decision, but the Patriots proved that they could neutralize the Giants pass rush enough to give Brady breathing room. The issue is that the Giants had 37:05 time of possession, while the Patriots had 22:55. Brady didn't have enough time to pile up points on the board and in the end, his receivers were getting the case of the dropsies. Great game... I thought the Halftime show was exception with Madonna. Incredible set, Madonna has historically held up well live, and it felt fresh. Problems with the Who, Tom Petty, or the Rolling Stones is that they didn't feel fresh and then you have the Black Eyed Peas from last year who just didn't execute their act to their strengths. Madonna's sets were very nice and I thought her first single off her new album, "Give Me All Your Luvin'", was actually the best part her set list although the imagery for "Like of Prayer" was impressive. Commercials SUCKED! A reported $2.6 million spent for that horseshit? Getting back to the game... The New York Giants have much of their core talent back next year and in my opinion, should be favored to repeat. But the New England Patriots, however, have a lot of work to do. With Tom Brady getting up there in age, the Patriots need to win ASAP and I hope they splurge on Free Agents. Brady is great, but no man is an island. He either needs a superior Wide Receiver like Randy Moss gave him in 2007 or a better defense to complement his offensive successes. Sadly, the Superbowl means the end for the NFL season and it was a beauty this year. Ended the lockout and then a quick free agent frenzy. Great NFC teams in the Saints and Packers but both couldn't make the big game. It's going to be sad without the NFL to enjoy on Sundays, as there's football season and waiting for football season. Come on NFL Draft!! CONTACT MR. TITO - Email: [email protected] - Twitter: @titowrestling - Join LoPForums.com: Feedback Thread BLOG is TITO Archive on LoPForums.com © Mr. Tito 1998 - 2012
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