Fairy Tale Ending

I guess the Tom Petty Halftime show gave us a hunch about what was going to happen roughly 90 minutes later. The Patriots went "Free Fallin" from grace and perfection as the Giants shocked the world and won 17-14. In my last blog, I had the Giants winning 34-30. Shame on me for thinking so offensively minded. Plaxico got it right...sort of. Last time I checked, 14 is less than 17.

I think it is safe to say that Eli Manning has turned the corner. Coming into the Super Bowl, I believed we had to see and evaluate his play next season to develop a real clear understanding. I take that statement back after what I witnessed on that fateful 83 yard drive with less than 2 minutes to go. Eli seems to thrive in these types of positions, whether it be in the regular season or in the Super Bowl. Like Plaxico said last night, "he has ice water in his veins." It was perhaps the play of Super Bowl history when Eli somehow scrambled away from the entire front 7 of the Patriots defense and launched it to Tyree who somehow balanced the football on his helmet before being wrestled down by Rodney "I am the dirtiest player in the NFL" Harrison. 3rd down after 3rd down Eli converted from start to finish and finally concluded his MVP performace with the game winner to #17 in the right corner.

How about a little love for this defense? A team that was called comical, laughable, and a joke in the first two weeks of the season has now transformed into one of the top 5 agressive and disruptive defenses in the league. Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck provided non-stop pressure on Brady all night long, something Brady hasn't experienced much of all season. The secondary played well for most of the game, containing Randy Moss. We all knew, or at least I did, that Wes Welker would be as dominant in the slot as he was all season. The man is almost unguardable. I really hope I do not see Steve Spagnuolo take the Redskins job because what him and Coughlin have done to resurrect this team and this season is amazing.

Congratulations to the 2008 Giants on winning the Super Bowl! You deserve it. (And another thing we learned, the Patriots are not the best team of all time, because to be the best, you need to win the championship)

-Matt Soldano
(Off the Glass Wed Nights 9-10 pm only on www.mywcwp.com)