PatsFaninAZ

1) Pretty much a team effort. Kudos to Collingsworth for noting Faulk's value to the team. He was instrumental today. Wide receivers getting out and blocking was big too.

2) I said in the game thread before the game that we needed some receiving production from our running backs, and we got some. Until tonight, our backs had only 16 receptions. Amazing stat, although not surprising given our depth at WR.

3) Maroney was awesome in the red zone tonight. The 2 point conversion was sheer effort, and the play to overcome the illegal procedure call was great.

4) Easy to criticize the defense after that game. But a couple of things to note. First, on the most important defensive series of the game, the team came up with a turnover. On the final defensive series, the team played really played well keeping the clock moving and putting the team in position to only need an onside kick recovery for the win. Sure, a stop would have been great, but they played the clock not the situation, and did it really well.

5) The team finishes the season with only 15 turnovers, which will lead the league by at least 3 depending on what Indy does tomorrow. No other stats is more significant for explaining 16-0, in my opinion. Tonight was another night where even one more turnover probably would have meant a loss. I think the most important stat tonight was the +1, and I think we can expect this will continue in the playoffs. Turnovers are king in the national parity league, and we protected the ball all year.

6) I'm really happy about the way that Moss and Brady broke the records. Except maybe for the 3d down play with 2:00 left in the first half, I don't think they forced anything. They didn't break it in garbage time, but on the play that put them ahead for good. They didn't try to force it in there on either of Maroney's TDs, even though they could have.

7) In retrospect, this was a really unusual situation. Rarely (if ever) do you see a solid playoff team having a free shot at taking someone down. Usually, the teams that can be "spoilers" at the end of the year are crummy teams. All week, the talk was whether the "Giants had something to play for." Actually, as it turned out, they basically had a free shot in an emotional game with nothing to lose against a team that had something to lose.