ELI, ELI, Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

18-1, 18-1, 18-1!

Oh my. This game came down to a few minutes in the 4th quarter, and Eli Manning has shown that he finally turned the proverbial corner and won not only 3 playoff games on the road but he orchestrated a final drive with 2 minutes to go which was Brady-esque. Not only did the G-Men cover the spread but won outright, as I predicted here yesterday. In fact, look at some of my personal stats from yesterdays prediction.

I predicted Manning would be 20/38/264/2/1 he ended up 19/34/255/2/1
I predicted Moss @3/69/1 Moss ended up 5/69/1
I predicted Wes Welker @ 14/123/1 Welker ended up 11/103
I predicted Maroney 16/46/1 and he ended up 14/36/1

I will make a few more predictions, there will be a major shakeup with the Patriots organization in the coming two-three weeks regarding this spygate situation. Randy Moss will not return. Teddy Bruschi and Junior Seau will not return in 08. Coach Bill, rather than face a suspension from the league with impending problems from Spygate II, will retire from coaching, never to return again. And here's a real stretch prediction, Tom Brady will get married in the off-season.

As much as I despise the Patriots, I give them a great deal of respect for being able to complete a regular season undefeated 16-0, that in itself it quite a feat. BUT, as their defense looked suspect and the lack of a running game down the stretch of the regular season made them look vulernable, those weaknesses were exposed in this game. Brady made his trademark forth quarterdrive which looked like it might close out the game for the Pats victory. The Giants got the ball back for what seemed like the final possession of the game. Twice, the Giants were faced with 3rd down situations and many of us were waiting for Eli to make one of his trademark turnovers, but they never came. He played a smart game, just as he did all playoffs long, winning 4 straight playoff games. The Giants overcame the Bucs, Cowboys and the Packers in Green Bay. Then they went on to Glendale Arizona to beat the 18-0 Patriots. Sports reporters said todays game was going to be the chance to witness history, and yes it was, only it wasn't the history they wanted us to see. This might have been the biggest upset since Super Bowl III.
Thank you New York Giants for retoring order to the NFL!

The Big Game

27 hours until kickoff, and usually I'm hyped up in regards to the Super Bowl, even if my team isn't in it. This year however, if I miss the opening kickoff or a few highly priced commercials, I'm not so upset. News reports these past few weeks state that this might be the most highly viewed Super Bowl in league history. I'm not suprised, the population grows every year, and the expanse of technology allows more and more access to media outlets every year. The league is really trying to hype up this game, but making remarks about the highest viewership in SuperBowl history is akin to saying the latest presidential election will be the most costly in election history. It ALWAYS is.
Albeit, this might possibly be historic in the fact that the Patriots might be the first team in league history to go 19-0. There's a good chance they do that. But enough already from the league office, which BTW is located in NYC. Fox has got to be overjoyed that the largest television market in America is playing their arch enemy in the Big Game. Viewers, viewers, viewers. Revenue, revenue, revenue. I'll watch the game, but mainly in the second half to see if New York can pull off the upset. But just to let you know, alot of America is tired of the I-95 rivalry. Boston v NewYork, Bosox v Yankees, Romney v Guliani (how'd that work out?) and now Patriots v G-Men. I hate to break it to the main stream media who operates in these two cities, there are 48 other states in the country, and as we will watch the game, we root for other teams, so quit trying to wrap us up into the I-95 cooridor feud, we're not interested. We are watching the Super Bowl because we are fans of the game and this is the LAST football game we get to see live until August. We are not enamored with the elitist media views about how wonderful all of your sports teams are. As you've read here at this site, I'm a Buccaneer fan, not a Miami Dolphins fan, but I hope tomorrow night to pop the top on a leftover bottle of champagne from New Years along with the 72 Dolphins as the Giants roll to a victory.

My prediction:
Manning 20-38 264yds 2td 2 ints
B Jacobs 22-89 yds 1td
P Burress 5-89yds 1 td

Brady 26-43 341 yds 3 tds 1 int
Moss 3-69 yds 1 td
Welker 14-123 yards 1 td
Maroney 16-46yds 1 td

Final score- Giants 37 Patriots 36 Tynes kicks a last second field goal to win, and a New York kicker finally doesn't go wide right.