Super Bowl XLVI Recap: Giants Win, Eli Elite, Patriots Drop the Ball

Super Bowl 46 Recap: Eli Manning Comes Through, Tom Coughlin Gets Second Championship, New York Giants Win, New England Patriots Fall Short

The New York Giants, as predicted here, won another Super Bowl. They beat the Patriots, who were inexplicably favored by three points, and put to bed a slew of rumors. Tom Coughlin is not going anywhere despite a remarkably mediocre season and two playoff collapses since his last Super Bowl win. Eli Manning is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and his drive in the final minutes that went the full length of the field cemented his place as an elite quarterback. Here is my quick Super Bowl Recap:

1. Super Bowl XLVI came down to the final play: Eli Manning was forced to drive his team the length of the field with three minutes left. A bomb to Mario Manningham and a consistent, heroic drive ultimately led to the Patriots conceding a touchdown with 57 seconds left. Tom Brady was let down by a few drops and a tipped Hail Mary barely fell to the ground.

2. Ahmad Bradshaw almost stopped on the one: I’m not sure why, but it appears the Giants tried to kneel down on the one, run the clock down to about twenty seconds, and kick a field goal. Kneeling would be moronic in that situation, in my opinion. You’d allowed just 17 points all game, Brady would need to go the length of the field with one timeout and under a minute, and anything can happen on that kick. Nerves, a bad snap (49ers playoff gamea few years ago?), a missed kick, a block… Just take the points and play defense.

3. Rob Gronkowski: Gronk tried to play through a high ankle sprain, an injury which typically takes four to six weeks to heal, and was a non-factor two weeks after the injury. He caught two balls for a total of 26 yards, couldn’t get open, demanded only single coverage, and couldn’t get to a hail mary tipped up that landed a few inches away from him. I blame Gronkowski. Great prop bets: Gronkowski under 80 yards receiving, no touchdown in the first half, no touchdown.

4. The commercials sucked: The commercials were so boring that it had people proclaiming the Super Bowl, which came down to the final play, as boring. Some women, children, and non-football fans can’t watch football without good commercials and the advertising world really let us down on this one.

5. Eli Manning: He really is that good. He outplayed Tom Brady again, made huge plays when they mattered in the fourth quarter, and may have supplanted his brother as the best quarterback in the family. At the very least he’s by far the most clutch. Elite.

6. Luck: The Giants put the ball on the ground twice and were fortunate enough to fall on it both times. On the final drive Tom Brady was trying to put together, two dropped passes stalled any real chance of putting plays together.

7. Slow Start: After a Giants safety on the Pats’ first possession, it took a little while to get going but once it did it was worth the wait. The Patriots were down 9-0 at the end of the first, but ten unanswered points gave them momentum. After a long touchdown drive to open the second half, the Pats were in cruise control. The Giants battled back, scored last, and won a thriller where the slow beginning served to magnify the excitement at the end.

8. Hot Quarterback Play: Eli Manning opened the Super Bowl completing nine passes in a row, a new record. Tom Brady answered back with fourteen of his own in the middle of the game, also a record. Brady drove his team 98 yards for a touchdown, Manning went the length of the field to win the game in the final minute. The league is truly a league of quarterbacks, and Eli Manning and Tom Brady proved that.

Ultimately, it was another historically exciting Super Bowl, won by the Giants on their final drive.