Four Downs with Stock & Doc
Super Bowl XLII Aftermath
by Ben Stockwell and Paul Hopkins
7/2/2008
 
This week: did the Patriots blow it? Has Belicheck gone too far … again? What does the future hold for Eli Manning, and was this the best Super Bowl we've ever seen?
 
The New England Patriots loss in Super Bowl XLII was the biggest choke job in NFL history.
 
Doc – FACT ! – They were the first 18-0 and all we've had to hear is that this offense is unstoppable, this defense is underrated. This was history beckoning. Nobody would ever be able to break 19-0 as a regular season record, and faced with that, they were flat, lethargic, and downright self-destructive. The Giants out-thought them, out-played them, and wanted it more. There can be no bigger motivation than to be immortal, but from Belichick's decision in a low-scoring game to go for it on 4th and 13, to the awful O-line play, to changing their gameplan to get Moss involved underneath rather than deep and their inability to stop the Giants moving the ball when they wanted to, they didn't look up for this. I can only count Wes Welker as someone who can come out of the game with any credit. In short, taking into account everything they'd done to get to where they were, there's no other conclusion except that on the biggest stage they completely blew it.
 
Stock – FICTION ! – If this was a sudden decline then yes it would be a monumental choke job. As it was it was a steady decline throughout the second half of the season as the Pats were finally beaten after numerous close shaves, one of which came against a five win team. This team was massively overrated with a one dimensional offence not disposed for playoff success and a defense that was at best, average. This team was not built for playoff success. Its running game was average and could not take the lead physically, and its run defense was poor for large parts of the season. Heck I even projected the loss (Diner Weekly Forecasts), the field came back to the Patriots over the course of the season and the Giants finished it off.
 
Bill Belichick's exit down the tunnel before the game had ended is typical of the man.
 
Doc – FACT ! – Like every great coach, he hates losing. Fine. An intense hatred for losing is something that lies within all great winners. But this guy takes being a jerk to an all-new level seemingly without any effort at all. Any view that it was down to confusion evaporated with his behaviour in the post-match press conference. Never one for much words, he came over as petulant. I hate to say it, but he was the sole reason I crossed to the dark side Sunday night and was celebrating with everyone at Superbash when Burress made that grab. He is the biggest reason the New England Patriots are probably the most despised franchise in American sports right now.
 
Stock – FICTION ! – This has been so overblown by fans and the media that it's almost embarrassing now. The end of the game was odd and unique, everyone thought the game was over and the coaches congratulated themselves on a great season / Super Bowl win. Belicheck left the field to the victors for their celebration. What are people expecting? For Belicheck to congratulate Coughlin again just to gratify their need to see the Patriots humiliated for daring to strive for perfection? Absolutely not, if the rolls were reversed, would Coughlin be receiving this slating? I think not.
 
Eli Manning will now emerge from his brother's shadow and become one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
 
Doc – FACT ! – Perception is everything. Here is a guy who pulled off what is already being called the 'miracle' play. Instantly, he became a Super Bowl legend, and more than that, in the biggest media city in the US. Eli has shown maturity this year, he's taken the verbal pastings from everyone and their dog and now he has a ring to stick down their throats. He's had a helping hand from his coordinator and his receivers along the way. But after all of this, why can't he become one of the top dogs? Peyton never had the same amount of flak, Eli never had the same receivers, and in less time, and with a harder situation, Eli has now outshone his brother on the biggest stage. Take out Manning, Brady, Favre and then who's next? Romo? There's certainly no reason why Manning can't now easily stake a claim to be next. But he must continue to deliver.
 
Stock – FACT ! – He's got a Super Bowl ring, that immediately puts him in elevated company. He only threw one interception in four post season games on the way to a Super Bowl win; that puts him in elevated company. He stepped up and became a leader on a Super Bowl champion team, he didn't ride the coat tails of a stout defence; that puts him in elevated company. Sure you could say that Manning wasn't asked to “win” most of the games on the way to the Super Bowl, which I think is fair, so you wouldn't put him in the pantheon with his older brother and Mr Brady just yet, but with a Super Bowl ring and a 4th quarter comeback victory over Mr Fourth Quarter, there isn't a single reason why he isn't amongst the NFL's elite as a signal caller.
 
Super Bowl XLII was the best Super Bowl ever.
 
Doc – FACT ! – It had a compelling story; the unbeaten Great Satan against the much maligned Road Warriors, who had come from nowhere. Everyone loves the David vs Goliath story, and in Tom vs Eli or Belichick vs Coughlin this game delivered that. We had Plaxico's guarantee, Brady's baloney injury, the race for 19-0, the ten game road win streak and everything else that automatically comes with a Super Bowl.
 
The game might have been low scoring but it was compelling from start to finish. You kept expecting the Pats to put their foot down and pull away, but they never managed to, as Spagnuolo's gameplan worked to perfection. And then right at the death, after it looked like the Pats had pulled it together enough to steal the win, the Giants pulled out a drive made up of some fantastic plays. One of which will now forever rank highly in NFL highlight films. This game had it all, and delivered from beginning to end.
 
Stock – FICTION ! – The Ravens didn't win it… But on a more serious note, it was great in the same way that the Panthers vs Patriots Super Bowl was great, for the action packed 2nd and 4th quarters, but those 1st & 3rd quarters? Pretty much nothing happened, fair enough that was the Giants' gameplan, but what a tedious gameplan. The best Super Bowls in my memory are the Broncos vs Packers in San Diego in the late 90's, the Rams vs Patriots in the wake of 9/11 and the Titans vs Rams in 2000 for an ending to trump even this great conclusion. It's certainly up there, but I can't see to elevating on its own merit as the greatest.