GIANTS ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF SUPER BOWL XLII, BEAT PATRIOTS 17-14!
0:01 Remaining
There is still time on the clock, but the time has run out on the Patriots dreams of perfection. Brady's last pass falls incomplete, batted away from Moss, as the New York Giants, will shoo the media, and Bill Belicheck of the field as the Giants are Super Bowl Champions!
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Great pass protection affords Tom Brady time to make a good throw just out of the reach of Moss. 4th and 20, as the Patriots are down to one last play to salvage their perfect campaign.
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Brady is sacked on 2nd down. They're on their own 16. The Giants have this if they can just avoid the deep ball.
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Eli throws a fade to Plaxico Burress wide open in the end zone for the touchdown and the Giants take the lead 17-14. The Pats with their great receiving core are far from out of this though. They'll start on their own 25. If this score holds up, you can bet that Eli Manning will have just had a career defining moment.
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Manning Completes on 3rd and 12 to Steve Smith for a first down before he sidesteps out. Giants at the Pats 13.
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After it appeared that Eli had been sacked on 3rd down to kill the Giants drive, Eli spun his way out of the scrum and launched a jump ball to David Tyree for a 32 yard gain. Giants are on the Pats 27, after a Manning sack leads to 2nd an 11. The Giants have no timeouts left.No mental mistakes can be made here.
1:22 Remaining
Jacobs carries the Giant's hopes across the plane for the first down. The Giants, however, are still in their own territory, and they need a touchdown. After a Manning scramble, it'll be 2nd and 5 from their own 44.
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The Giants will go for it on 4th and 1 after a completion to Toomer falls short of the first. This will decide the game.
1:59 Remaining
As we hit the two minute warning, the Giants trail by 4, and will face 3rd and 10. Manning will have two downs to keep the Giants in this game after throwing back to back incompletions.
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Eli starts the drive with a first down stripe to Toomer at the 26.
2:42 Remaining
Tom Brady just showed why he's a Super Bowl MVP, as he hits Randy Moss without hesitation to give the Patriots a 14-10 lead. The Giants will start their drive with all of their timeouts remaining, and all of the pressure on Eli Manning to put together a career defining drive.
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Good coverage by the Giants corners has lead to a 3rd and goal situation for the Patriots. The Patriots have only run the ball once in this entire drive, and one would have to assume that this is Brady's game to win right now.
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1st and goal for the Patriots after back to back first down receptions for New England by Moss and Faulk. If the Giants ever needed a stop this would be the time, as the Patriots are 6 yards from taking the lead.
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The Pats are connecting on passes at will as Welker ties the Super Bowl record for receptions with 11, on a first down catch. New England is now on the Giants 29, well within field goal range, and threatening to take the lead, which would force the pressure onto the relatively untested Eli Manning.
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After a first down pass to Moss, and a good run for 9 yards by Maroney, Brady finds Welker for the 10th time to reach Giants territory on the 43 yard line.
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After escaping the Patriots rush and scrambling out to his left, Manning missed a wide open Plaxico Burress, on a play that could have gotten the Giants into Patriots territory. Instead, after coming up just short of the first round on a pass over the middle to Toomer, the Giants were forced to punt. The Pats will take over at their own 20.
9:20 Remaining
Tom Brady is definitely feeling the pressure from the Giants D-Line. After he hit Moss for a first down to get to his own 30, Brady over shot #81 wide open down field. After another incompletion, the Giants forced punt and they'll take over at their own 29 yard line. Their established running game should help them keep Brady off the field down the stretch, and with a touchdown here, they could put the game on ice.
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Eli Manning completes a signature drive with a bolt into the end zone to David Tyree. 6 Plays, 80 Yards, in just 3:47, and just like that the Giants lead 10-7 down the stretch. Who woulda thunk it?
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On 3rd and 4, Manning connects with Steve Smith with a strike, good for 9 yards. Giants will have first down in the red zone.
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Manning connects with Kevin Boss who makes up for an earlier drop with a big play. 35 yards for Jeremy Shockey's replacement, which takes the Giants to the Patriots 35.
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On another false start induced 3rd and 15, the Patriots come up short on a quick out route to Donte Stallworth. They'll punt to start the 4th quarter in this surprisingly low-scoring affair.
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On 3rd and 15, on their own 5 yard line, Brady throws a perfect stripe over the middle to Welder for 16 yards and the first down. Maroney then made two strong carries for another first down. Finally, on first down, Welker got loose over the middle and zipped through the middle of the field for another 19 yards. The Pats are now at midfield.
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The Giants drive is stymied by great coverage down field by the Patriots secondary. Manning threw one ball intended for Burress in the end zone but he was covered by three Patriots. The Patriots will have the ball on their own ten to start their drive.
4:28 Remaining
Two sets of downs, two perfect throws from Eli Manning to Amani Toomer for first downs. Manning looks like a completely different QB than the man who struggled to anyone on his own team earlier this year. Also Kevin Faulk has hurt his hamstring, but is back on the Patriots bench.
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After a Michael Strahan sack for a lost of six yards, the Patriots went for it on 4th and 13 from the Giants 31, and failed to convert on a throw to the end zone intended for Moss. The Giants will take over from there, looking to at least get their defense some rest.
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On 3rd and 13, Brady swings a pass out wide to the underrated Kevin Faulk, who gets the Patriots a first down near the Giants 30 yard line.
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The game has just changed drastically as Chase Blackburn did not make it off the field in time, leading to a penalty on the Giants for having 12 men on the field. This leads to a first down for the Patriots, and could turn into the breaking point in this game for New York, whose mental mistakes have plagued them all year. Give credit to Bill Belichick for catching the miscue, and challenging the play.
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On another 3rd down, this time from 5 yards out, the Giants make another big stop. Antonio Pierce just redeemed himself for the pass interference in the first quarter with that last wrap-up. Meanwhile as the Giants take over, Shaq on a horse in a Vitamin Water commercial has just taken my top ad spot.
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The Patriots convert a 3rd and 3 to their own 48 yard line, but the Giants have continued to hit Brady hard.
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The Patriots ran right out on the field and found the NFL receptions leader, Wes Welker for a quick first down. Something tells me, we'll be seeing a lot of that this half.
^Third Quarter^
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Heading into the half, we have a low scoring affair on our hands, which absolutely no one predicted. The combination of great defense, and the Giants incentive to run the ball to throw the Pats offense out of rhythm has led to a 7-3 New England lead at halftime. Both teams are sending a lot pressure on the quarterbacks, which has led to key turnovers. Both teams have had multiple opportunities to score though, and in the second half, with the offenses having seen the defense, look for a lot more points to be scored in the second half.
Meanwhile, prepare for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to put on a hell of a show. These guys have stayed above the mainstream influence and their sound is still classic, classic rock.
As Free Fallin' plays from the TV, I'll make my assertion that the best commercial I've seen so far is still the Energy Water Thriller commercial, because honestly, the only way you could make thriller better is to have lizards dance to it. However, the Budweiser commercial that gave a nod Rocky, with the horse training, was also excellent. So far, this has been a good year for the advertisements, and luckily for us, there's even a close game to watch along with them.
^Halftime^
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0:10 Remain
Justin Tuck strips Brady and Umenyiora falls on the ball giving the Giants two shots at the end zone from mid field.
0:59 Remain
The Pats converted a huge play on 3rd and 13, and the Pats continue to march down the field meticulously on quick routes from Brady. The Giants have to be careful here not to allow a deep ball to Moss or Stallworth, as the Patriots will have the ball to start the second half.
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After two big defensive plays, the second of which a drop of Maroney for three yards, the Giants call time out as the Patriots have 3rd and 13 on their own 8.
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Manning has the ball smacked right out of his hands on 3rd and 4 and Bradshaw makes a heads up play by going for the ball. However, a poor judgement call on his part to knock the ball forward intentionally costs the Giants a field goal, as they lose 14 yards on the penalty. So far the game has been low scoring which is by design by the Giants. The less time that Brady is on the field operating the Pats offense, the better the Giants chances will be.
5:20 Remain
The Giants continue to run the ball right at the Patriots, taking even more time off the clock, and the combination of Jacobs and Bradshaw is starting to wear on the Pats line. One would have to think that play action is coming for a deep ball, since the Giants are showing run so often.
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Back-to-back sacks by the Giants send the Patriots punt unit onto the field, and after the Patriots first drive, Tom Brady doesn't look quite as invincible as he did this early. Giants will take over on their own 43.
8:45 Remain
Ahmad Bradshaw fumbles, but hustles to recover the ball on 2nd down, leading to 3rd and 16, which the Giants don't convert. Even though they lost yards on the drive, and Eli did get sacked, they avoided a major crisis by recovering the fumble. Pats will take over on their own 30, after a great commercial for Life Water, with lizards dancing to Thriller. Good job, Life Water!
9:50 Remain
Huge stop by the Giants D who completely took away the run on that last drive by the Patriots, stopping them on 2nd and 3, and again on 3rd and 1. R.W. McQuarters makes a solid 16 yard return to get the Giants back to their own 36, and back into the game. The Patriots are looking to stay balanced on offense, but Maroney has just 14 yards on 6 carries.
11:53 Remain
Steve Smith is not going to be on Coughlin's happy list, as his dropped ball on a good Eli Manning throw leads to an interception by Hobbs, which gives the Pats the ball on their own 33. This will lead to the first real test of the Giants defense, because if the Patriots get more than a touchdown lead, they will be very hard to catch.
12:45 Remain
Eli throws up on third down, what appears to be a mistake, but turns into a 38 yard reception to Amani Toomer on a jump ball deep down field, keeping Giants drive alive and once again showing that the Giants are not afraid to operate on third down. Credit the Giants O-Line for the great protection to give Eli time to make that play.
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One play into the second quarter, the Pats have taken the lead on a Maroney run from the goal line. 7-3 Patriots as Eli looks to get back to work.
^Second Quarter^
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0:00 Remain
In the same situation as the Giants had on their first possession, Tom Brady had 3rd and 10 deep in Giants territory, and threw a stripe to Watson over the middle who beat Gibril Wilson to the end zone, drawing a defensive pass interference. Leaving the ball on the 1, where Maroney was stopped once. The second quarter will start with the ball on the Giants goal line.
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Wes Welker is going to cause a lot of trouble for the Giants tonight, because they'll have to put double coverage on Moss, leaving seams between the line and the safeties for the Patriots possession receiver to dwell in.
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Maroney makes two good runs, and converts on third down, which will give Brady some more time to work with, as the Giants D-Line won't be able to send as many on their pass rush.
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The Giants can't convert on 3rd and 10, deep in Pats territory, and every one's favorite kicker named Lawrence, knocks a field goal through from 34 yards to avoid coach Coughlin's head from exploding before halftime.Maroney makes a run on the kick return and starts the Pat's off good field position at their on 44.
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The Giants are 4/4 on 3rd downs so far as Eli hits Smith again.
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Second set of down for the Giants results in a second 3rd and 6 completion, this time to Steve Smith, who has become an integral part of the Giants receiving core this postseason. Meanwhile, the Giants are controlling the clock with powerful runs by Brandon Jacobs. This will keep Brady and the Pats off the field, and give the Giants the greatest chance of taking this one home.
13:00 Remain
Right on cue, on the first drive, on 3rd and 6, Manning connects with Plax for a big first down. Look for that to be a trend in this game.
^FIRST QUARTER^
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Well folks, we've made through media week and we're finally here. Get yourself situated with that whole pizza on your lap, you'll need all of it for this game, which figures to be one of, if not the most watched game, in history. Tonight, we'll all gather around our respective TVs to watch the best commercials of the year. We'll also watch parts of Super Bowl XLII before going to the kitchen to get more onion dip.
This year's Super Bowl features the Giants, the first team from New York that will be considered the more likable team in a primetime matchup since the Yankees in 2001, and the unbeaten New England Patriots, who, with a win tonight, will become the first team in history to go 19-0.
While the Patriots are by far the favorites in this tilt, the Giants can and will win the big game because of one man in particular: Plaxico Burress. The 6'4 wideout will dominate a strong Pats secondary, and provide big plays that stun the Pats.
GIANTS WILL WIN 31-28!
