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Triumph

12 men on the field during the fumble recovery, Ninko in the nuetral zone on a 3rd down stop and Eli passing for 75%, do not count.

IcyPatriot

All this analysis is over the top.

The Giants D-Line played a bit better than our O-Line.

The Giants O-Line played a bit better than our D-Line.

The Giants DB's played a bit better than our DB's.

End of story ... every game has mistakes ... that is sports. It was because of Brady that the game was so close until he got hit by Tuck ... for the most part the Giants entire team outplayed our entire team.

For the most part we had no business being in the Super Bowl based on our overall team talent except that Brady and his weapons got us there due to an amazing offensive season.

Marqui

That is the bottom line to me as well. Gaints were just by far the way more talented and complete team. Time to move on to the offseason and hope BB improves the talent on this team so they don't have to rely on jags and special teamers to get the job done in superbowls.

Gronkandez

2.5/5.0 for Brady? His QB rating was 129 when Tuck landed on his shoulder. I think 3.5 would be more accurate.

The offensive line was better than a 1.5/5.0 as well. The Giants D-Line is great.

JMarr

This is such a crock. I agree that ultimately the war was won in the trenches--but you can pretty much always say that.

The Giants were able to consistently pressure Brady due to their defensive game plan. Just like the Jets last year, and just like did in SB42, they were able to take away all Brady's initial reads using only a 3 or 4 man pass rush, forcing him to hold onto the ball too long. The only way you can counter that is 1) for the QB to run it, or at least be able to make plays while scrambling 2) to pound it down their throats and make them respect the run, or 3) have a healthy Gronkowski who is basically unstoppable all year regardless of scheme.

Before this game, most people around here would have said the we did in fact deserve to be in the SB. Before the Baltimore game, it was probably closer to 99%. Bedard made some great points and it's funny that when he praises the Pats certain people call him the best analyst/writer in the local market, yet when he has critical things to say, all the sudden he becomes an unobjective hack.

JackBauer

So is our offensive line. Allegedly.

MoLewisrocks

Greg's analysis is slightly skewed for the same reason everyone's is. Perceptions and expectations derived at based on them. So he graded and criticized on that curve.

Bill found himself with a questionable defense all season that improved through sheer force of will and coaching down the stretch but had zero margin for error and committed a couple of costly ones at the worst time. Bill found himself with a an offense that performed well enough in the regular season that it's margin for error kept getting swept under the rug. It too committed a couple of costly mistakes and found without a healthy Gronkowski it also had no margin for error. Bill's fascination with a charasmatic WR cost his team. Possibly in more ways than one over the course of the entire season. His inability to locate or unwillingness to settle on a third TE because **** happens cost his team. Even his loyalty to one of his veteran warriors cost his team when he couldn't get anything out of his two rookie RB's down the stretch. Over time that puts tremendous physical and mental stress on the unit. Which was already stressed by being tasked with compensating for a work in progress defense. Team just came up a few plays and players short of having a legit shot and in this game unlike the previous one they caught no breaks and their handful of playmakers couldn't make just one or two crucial plays that still would have swept all units shortcomings under the rug.

Which means it's time to deal with those shortcomings aggressively. In a perfect world no one makes mistakes. But someone always does. Then it comes down to having the margin/talent to overcome them because effort alone just can't.

This off season he needs to shore up the defense and infuse some talent to insure he has a consistent ability to pass rush and viable coverage options. He needs to locate at least one if not two viable outside receivers and a third TE so he can stabilize the passing game and make it less susceptible to being schemed around. He needs to identify a RB beyond the scat back who can force defenders to respect and ideally fear the run. And he needs to find or develop a weapon in the return game that will positively impact field position and potentially give this team an edge when the going gets tough.

Some of the pieces he needs may already be on the roster. But he needs to make damn sure of it. Maybe if they'd had a full off season last season he'd have come to some conclusions while there was still time to rework the roster. He put them in position to win again, but he didn't put them in the best position to win. Can't keep grinding them down like that or eventually you end up wearing down your core and your best talent in the process - and that's when they seemingly can't pace themselves to retain the ability or energy to mentally and physically grind out just one more win.

I'd really like to see this team in postion to coast a little throughout the season without risking all to maintain an edge. I think in the long run that would be to their benefit. Instead of piling it on against lesser competition, use those opportunities to develop contingincy plans and lessen the wear and tear on critical components so that when the time comes to pressure them to push for the finish line they've got something left in reserve to draw on and grind to the finish if needbe.

Gumby

the 'not so obvious' item that stuck out to me that i agreed with him 100% on was ST play.

At end of game I was almost saying 'MVP is weatherford'.

I totally did not expect the Giants ST to come even close to Pats ST. Weatherford pinned us back there every time he touched ball to punt; even when he shanked it under pressure.

just horrible. Another +15 yards of avg starting position would have been the (yet another possible) difference in this game.

Snarf

What I want to know is why can't Brady learn how to run the ball? He's an athletic guy but looks like a moose on a skating rink when he tries to run. What's with that?

He looks like a grandmother whenever he tries to scramble.

While he's not going to become a Mike Vick overnight, surely there is SOME WAY to train up scrambling somewhat?

Having a QB who you know is never even going to TRY to run is a huge disadvantage.

While we can't ever expect him to run much, it would be nice knowing that he at least THINKs about running.