Superbowl opinion - Part II

Last time I mostly commented the result of the game, so I thought I'd give my opinion on the actual game, so here goes!

First of all, I'll say that the game was very defensive. For fans of defense in football, the game was great to see. For myself, I would have preferred a game similar to the one in week 17 when the teams combined scored more than 70 points. Furthermore, the time difference with Belgium meant that I watched the game from midnight to 4.30 am, which of course dampens your enjoyment of a game with fewer big plays.

Now, don't get me wrong, me preferring offensive football does not mean that I could not enjoy the great game played by the Giants defense. Prior to the start of the game, I told my wife that the duel between the Giants D-line (probably the best in the NFL this year) and the Patriots O-line (in the top 2 with the Colts – they were not to blame for the defeat against the Chargers in my opinion) would be the key to the game. I think I got that one right and the way the Giants outplayed the Patriots was a key to their success. Brady had never suffered so many sacks this year and though I cannot find stats to confirm it, it looked to me as the game where the offensive line of New England had the most penalties (I can find stats on the number of penalties per team for each game, but I cannot differentiate between penalties to the offensive line or to other members of the team).

I was looking forward to the way Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan would face up against Matt Light and Nick Kaczur. I was not disappointed, the duels between these players were great, but I thought the solution for the Giants came from a third defensive end: Justin Tuck. I really feel that the MVP award was given to Eli Manning simply because it could not be given to those three players at once.

On the subject of Eli Manning, he had a good game, but you can hardly say that he was the dominant force in the Giants team. Sure, his resilience on the one play that will probably gone in the annals as THE play of Superbowl XLII, when he resisted the pressure from the Patriots Defensive Line to deliver a 32–yard pass to Tyree with 1:15 remaining and with the Patriots ahead by 4 points, was the stuff of great players. But I don't believe you can point to his game as the reason why the Giants won the game. However, as I said above, the MVP could not be given to three players or, even more deservedly, to the whole defensive unit of the Giants, so I feel he is a deserving winner as he was the best player of the offensive unit.

So, I touched on the winners, let's talk a bit about the losers, though it feels harsh to call a team who went through the season 18-1 as losers. What happened to the best team of the regular season? Well, simply put, they found a team in the Giants that had the mean to stop them. Tom Brady is good; he proved it by doing what he had to do to rally his team for a fourth-quarter comeback. But how good were the people around him? The offensive line was outclassed and his receivers, with the exception of Wes Welker, were subdued, at least compared to their showings in the regular season. Maroney and Faulk, who had good playoffs, were very calm on Sunday. You cannot help but feel that all of this makes sense: the offensive line could not contain the defensive line, so the run never became a threat and because of this the secondary of the Giants (apart from those who were set to blitz) could focus on pass defense, negating the number one weapon of New England.

What could they have done differently? What can they change for next year? I feel the defense is good enough to lead the team to a second Superbowl next year, at least if they can cope with being one year older (especially the linebackers). Offensively, they need to work a lot more on the run throughout the season, so that their offensive line works on rush-blocking more and so that other teams do not know where the danger might come from. But the single position where they can improve and where it would make a real change is the tight end. Sure, Watson was not bad throughout the season, but when they needed to add that extra player to come to the aid of the offensive line, he could not be counted on.

All in all, it was an interesting game and a very close Superbowl. The tension in the fourth quarter made up for a tame beginning (this was the second lowest scoring Superbowl of all time at the end of the third quarter) and I enjoyed it very much. Can't wait for next year!

Superbowl opinion - Part I

So, upset or no upset?

Clearly, an upset. All bets were on the Patriots winning the game (though apparently not all bets were actually on the Pats - bookmakers were giving them winner by a 14-point margin and the majority of betters chose to put their money on the Giants, assuming that even if they got beat, it would be by a smaller margin), the first team to go through a 16-game regular season undefeated and probably one of the top 5 offensive team in league history.

The real question for me is: surprise or no surprise?

The answer for me is a no. Taking someone by surprise is defined a taking him unaware. If anyone thinks the Patriots were not aware of the potential of this Giants team, they are seriously deluding themselves. The week 17 games was one of the three games in the regular season that New England won by a margin of only 3 points (Philadelphia and Baltimore being the other two in week 12 & 13 respectively - the Colts game was an easy one, won by a huge margin of 4 points!) and the Giants scored more points than any other team did this year, including pre- and postseason.

As Strahan so emphatically said right after the game, that defeat in week 17 made the team believe that they were capable of playing in the same league as the undefeated Patriots and probably gave them a mental edge as they went on to seek revenge for that defeat.

Postseason results were also a clear indicator of form. The Patriots had to beat Jacksonville and San Diego to reach the Superbowl; solid teams both of them, but hardly contenders for the championship. On the other hand, the Giants had to defeat Tampa Bay (same comment as above applies here), then Dallas and Green Bay, two very good team who clearly had a shot at the Superbowl. Furthermore, the Giants seemed to gain in confidence with every match whereas the Patriots seemed to be a team completely different than the one who played so brilliantly throughout the season.

So great upset for the Giants, congratulations to the team and their fans, but I am more disappointed than surprised by New England's defeat. Not that I am a fan of the Patriots (though I was a fan of their pass-only approach), but I would have loved to witness history since I was not even born in 1972 when the Dolphins became the first and only team to this date to go through a season undefeated.

But there is only one person to blame for this defeat: why did coach Belichick wear a red sweater instead of his lucky gray one?

Lowly beginnings

I have just finished setting up this blog, trying to learn how to do it along the way and making it look ok, although there will probably be some more changes in the near future.

My first real post will probably be my thoughts on this Sunday's Superbowl, which was my drive to start this blog in the first place, although other subjects have crossed my mind.

Anyone who would happen to visit this blog and would be interested can probably expect it sometime tomorrow.

Now a hot bath and to bed to try to shake up some fatigue that comes from watching the Superbowl live when there is an 8 hour time difference between you country and the state where it takes place, meaning I had to go to bed around 5 am knowing that I would have to wake up around 9 am to go to work. Thankfully spring holidays have started here in Belgium, which means there was nearly no traffic, just as I hoped, so I was at work on time even though I left home nearly half an hour later than usual!