83 Yards / 12 Plays

The great Dr Z takes us through the Giants final drive:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/dr_z/02/05/super.bowl0211/index.html

That is a lesson in how to write a gamer that is a compeling read even if you watched the game.

12 plays - 10 passes - pretty amazing drive.

Love that Z went to Gilbride and talked about the plays. The coaches respect his knowledge of the game and are willing to talk on a coaching level to him.

 

Like Dr. Z. Love Gilbride.
Coaching had nothing to do with Manning-Tyree.

 

The significance of one of those plays, the Manning to Tyree pass, grows on me as time passes, and will no doubt continue to grow through the years. Consider the potential results of that one play:

Sack. If the Pats can corral Eli, well, as Peyton is quoted in the Z article, "He gets sacked, that's it, it's over. Fourth-and-15." Pats likely hold the next play and win the game.

Interception: In reality, the toss from Eli was a lob, a wounded duck, a prayer that just happened to land in the pot of gold. Those are the kind of throws I see Favre make that I rail on him for because they end up in the opponents' hands. Eli was damn lucky that wasn't an INT that would have sealed the game for the Pats.

Incomplete Pass: If Tyree doesn't have the velcro helmet and that falls incomplete, it's 4th and 7. Maybe a 50/50 shot for the Giants to keep the drive alive.

Catch: well, we saw how that turned out, although wasn't the end result almost predestined the moment Tyree came down with his miracle?

Amazing to me the impact of one, single play and its historical impact. Instead of being the toast of the town, Eli's still the NYC whipping boy, a question mark, and possibly a Grossman-like goat if that ball is picked. The Pats go down in history and prepare for interviews in the year 2040 when some other team threatens a perfect season.

Hard for me to think of one single Super Bowl play that has a larger long term significance.

 

Fabulous stuff. So much more interesting than "that was the best Super Bowl ever" stuff.

 

In some ways no but in others yes because they ran the play as called. Manning had presence of mind to throw to middle knowing that Tyree would be there.

"And what I called was Phantom, a middle read off a hook." / Kevin Gilbride

 

If Samuel makes the oskey, it's game over.

If. If. If.

The Patriots had 12 chances to make a play on that drive, and failed.

 

I'm thrilled that the Giants won, but people need to get away from this "This was the greatest game ever" bullshit... I think I've heard that about five times in the last 12 years...

Great article by Dr. Z though...

 

Even the great DR Z rates it as the best. Here is his breakdown of alll 42:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/dr_z/02/05/super/index.html

 

Oh, balls.
Manning makes a great individual play, throws it up for grabs, and Tyree makes one of the great individual plays of all time.
I love Gilbride, but he had only a little more to do with that play than I did.

 

Really unflattering quote.

 

What I meant was coaching in general to how both players reacted to situation-- not the play call.

Both Manning and Tyree knew what to do - Manning felt pressure , backed up and spun out and tossed it to where he knew Tyree would be.

The fact that the players reacted correctly is good coaching.