T-Rock's Take on the Giants

BY MIKE ROSE

What an upset! What an amazing game! The Giants have beaten the New England Patriots 17-14.

Eli is the MVP. Remarkable turnaround for the Giants quarterback. But he deserves it.

Doesn't that make it 2-for-2 for Joe Namath? Namath said earlier that the Giants would win it. So which is a bigger upset? Jets over Colts or Giants over Patriots?

And what about the Patriots? This season becomes meaningless. Who cares about 18-0 now? They say nobody ever remembers who finishes second. But I have a feeling many, many people will remember this.

They're saying on television that this one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history. I think it's much bigger than that. I put it right up there with Villanova beating Georgetown for the NCAA men's basketball championship. Or how about the U.S. beating Russia in hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics. It's that big.

You'll see this game as a documentary on HBO.

I'll rank the Super Bowl upsets (just for fun).

1)Super Bowl III: Jets over Colts. Remember, the AFL was seen as inferior to the NFL. And the Colts were loaded. But Namath delivered his guarantee.

2)Super Bowl XLII: Giants over Patriots. Just remarkable how the Giants were able to put pressure on Brady. And Eli played big. This was an 18-0 team that people were saying was the best ever.

3)Super Bowl XXXII: Broncos over Packers. Green Bay was expected to repeat. Denver wasn't even the favorite in the AFC that season.

4)Super Bowl XXXVI: Patriots over Rams: The Patriots were big underdogs. The Rams had "the Greatest Show on Turf."

5)Super Bowl XXV: Giants over Bills: Bills had a high-powered offense that season. Giants were missing Phil Simms. Didn't matter.

Also, the parade is scheduled for Tuesday. It will indeed be a Super Tuesday.

KEY STATS/STARS

-- First, Eli was 19 for 34 for 255 yards and two touchdowns. But, most importantly, he shook off his first interception of the postseason and didn't let it bother him.

-- The Giants outgained the Patriots 338-274 in total yards.

-- Tom Brady was sacked five times and pressured countless times.

-- Steve Smith, Kevin Boss and David Tyree all came up with big plays. Smith caught 5 for 50, and Boss had the one catch for 45 yards, but how huge was that? Tyree caught 3 for 45 and the touchdown.

-- Wes Welker caught 11 for 103.

-- James Butler and Antonio Pierce each had 11 tackles. Butler had 10 solo tackles. For the Patriots, Rodney Harrison had 12 tackles (11 solo), but he got beat by Boss on the 45-yard catch.

FOURTH QUARTER

The lowest scoring Super Bowl? Ironically, the Dolphins' 14-7 win over the Redskins in Super Bowl VII. That win gave the Dolphins a 17-0 season.

Huge pass play from Eli Manning to Kevin Boss for 45 yards. Boss beat Rodney Harrison. We've really got something here. Wonder what Shockey's thinking.

Another nice pass from Manning, this time to Steve Smith, who is playing well. Giants are inside the Pats' 15. And Bradshaw for seven yards. Manning to David Tyree. Touchdown!

Wow! The Giants are up 10-7 with about 11 minutes to go. Time for the defense to do it.

You must credit the Giants for putting the pressure on Brady. This is the time the Patriots are usually magical. But Osi, Strahan and Co. keep coming.

Giants punted. Patriots get the ball back with 7:54 to go for the championship. More Brady magic coming? He's got 28 career game-winning drives.

Laurence Maroney could be a key player in the fourth quarter. He runs hard and could throw off the Giants' defense while they're worrying about Brady.

Welker is starting to heat up. He's got 11 catches for 103 yards. Maroney, Welker and Faulk. Any one of them can score.

Moss has resurfaced. Brady to Moss for a touchdown, six-yard reception. Corey Webster fell down. There's 2:42 to go. Patriots lead 14-10. It's all on Eli now.

Big play for the Giants. There's a measurement coming. Fourth down. They have to go for it with 1:40 to go. Jacobs got it. There's 1:28 to go.

How did Eli avoid the sack? Incredible. Tyree out-jumps Rodney Harrison for a great catch. The Giants are still alive.

Smith has had a really nice game. Manning is going to Smith for big catches and he's delivering.

Manning has just hit Plaxico Burress for a 13-yard touchdown. Hobbs got beat by Burress. The Giants are up 17-14 with 35 seconds to go. Simply amazing!

Well, Manning delivered. What about Brady? This could be his most amazing comeback.

Penn State graduate Jay Alford just got a huge sack of Brady. And Webster bats away a ball on a bomb throw toward Moss. The young guys stepping up. Ten seconds to go.

Brady's final pass was batted away. A second remains. The Giants will be world champions.

FINAL: Giants 17, Patriots 14

THIRD QUARTER

Brady starts the second half as he has during the 18-0 run - avoid pressure and hit Wes Welker on a quick pass.

Can't be good for the Giants that Brady is starting to hook up with Welker. But the Giants again come up big, stopping the Pats two yards short of a first down.

A big penalty on the Giants, thanks to a challenge by the Patriots. Twelve men on the field for the Pats' punt. Chase Blackburn is the guilt player. Can't do that. Some big mistakes by the Giants, including the pass interference on Pierce.

Big play - again - by Kevin Faulk. He's always Brady's safety valve. Third and 13, Faulk catches a pass from Brady and fights for 14 yards.

Why did the Pats' decide to go for it? Belichick clearly has no confidence in Gostkowski. Brady's pass to the end zone was incomplete. The Giants hold - again. No Gostkowski, no glory, I guess.

Not good for the Pats that Faulk is headed to the locker room. He's always big in the fourth quarter.

The Giants can't do anything with their possession.

End of the third quarter. Patriots still lead 7-3. Patriots are set to punt. Giants' D is playing great. Again, offense needs to do something. The game is right there for them.

HALFTIME

Good choice of music by Tom Petty at halftime ('I Won't Back Down'). That should be the Giants' theme for the second half.

The Patriots lead the Giants 7-3 at halftime. But the one statistic that is amazing is time of possession: Giants have had the ball for over 19 minutes. Incredible.

The defense is keeping the Giants in the game. Now the offense must step up.

FIRST-HALF BREAKDOWN

Hero: I've got to go with the Giants' D. The Patriots haven't done anything. Since the Patriots' touchdown they had two three and outs for -6 yards before they found some success with under two minutes to go in the half. They got really nice pressure on Brady. The Giants are attacking. They're not sitting back. Credit Spagnuolo. Credit Strahan, Osi and Tuck. Brady was sacked three times, lost a fumble and was hit 10 times. Brady is a human 8 for 14 for 82 yards.

Memorable play: I still like that Bradshaw run where he carried Warren. Big play on third and inches.

SECOND QUARTER

Tom Brady looks like his ankle is bothering him and the Giants are getting good pressure. That would appear to be a favorable situation for the Giants. But two things killed them on the Pats' opening drive: the opening kickoff by Laurence Maroney that gave the Patriots the ball on their own 44-yard line, and the pass interference call on Antonio Pierce while covering Benjamin Watson. That set the Patriots up on the 1. Maroney finished what he started with a 1-yard touchdown run.. Patriots lead 7-3 with 14:57 remaining.

By the way, the two possessions in the first quarter sets a Super Bowl record. With the two records already in the books, I think we're in for a memorable finish.

The Giants are doing the right thing. Pound the Pats with Jacobs now so they're too tired to chase Bradshaw later.

Eli looks awfully confident. He stayed in against some pressure and hit Amani Toomer, who did a great job of keeping both feet in, for 38 yards. The Giants' O-line is doing a nice job giving Eli time to pass. Jacobs and Bradshaw are picking up the blitzes.

BUT just when things were going smoothly, Smith can't haul in the pass from Manning and Ellis Hobbs. Can't blame Eli for that one. Smith had his hands on it. Football coaches always say that if you get your hands on the ball you must catch it.

The question is: will Eli's first interception of the postseason transform him into the old Eli? Stay tuned.

The Giants couldn't capitalize on Stephen Gostkowski's blunder of sending the kickoff out of bounds, giving the NYG the ball at their 40.

The interception didn't hurt (well, I'm sure it hurt Smith). The Giants' D stepped up and stopped the Pats, forcing a three-and-out.

I think the Giants need to go back to the pass. Get Eli's confidence in check. You definitely don't want to have him dwell on the pick. Onward and upward.

Steve Spagnuolo has devised a nice game plan. Pressure Brady and keep the receivers in front of the secondary.

Well, the Giants did indeed go back to the pass and Eli got sacked. The confidence meter is dipping. Now Eli fumbles the handoff. Bradshaw came up with it. He's tough, that No. 44.

Remember, it's still only 7-3. But it feels worse, doesn't it?

Eli looks rattled. It's amazing how good he looked on the opening drive. But that's the genius of Bill Belichick. He is able to adjust quickly. Waiting to make adjustments at halftime is not part of Belichick's coaching style. Adjust on the fly - and adjust correctly.

Pressure, pressure and more pressure. Strahan and Mitchell just sacked Brady to make it third and 17. Now Tuck got Brady. Wow! Two straight three-and-outs for the Pats. They had 29 the entire regular season. The Giants' front is bringing it. And that gippy ankle is not helping Brady.

By the way, where is Randy Moss???

I'll tell you, Bradshaw is dangerous. He just broke a 13-yard run. I think he's going to break one for a touchdown before it's over. Just a hunch.

What a wild play. Adalius Thomas sacks Eli, the ball comes loose, Bradshaw bats it forward and Steve Smith recovers for a first down. BUT hold on!! Ilegal bat by Bradshaw. But it's still third down. Bradshaw was absolutely trying to bat the ball out of bounds, but it ended up going forward for about eight yards. Better than Eli's fumble getting recovered by Thomas.

This is looking a lot like the Giants-Bills Super Bowl. With 1:54 remaining in the first half, the Giants have had the ball for 19 minutes. Nineteen minutes!! Yet there's only three points to show for it. The NYG need to score touchdowns. Field goals won't beat the Pats. The Giants have spent a lot of time in Patriots' territory.

The Pats again cam up with nothing. More pressure from the Giants resulted in a sack and strip by Tuck and fumble recovery by Strahan.