In SB 42, there were 2 turnovers and 4 potential turnovers.
(1) With the Pats up 7-3, and the Giants driving, Eli throws a pass that is tipped and intercepted by Ellis Hobbs at the NE 10. Big break for the Pats, but a nice play by Hobbs. That saved the Pats at least 3 points.
(2) The next Giants' possession, Eli is sacked and fumbles. Pierre Woods recovers but as he's on the ground, Ahmad Bradshaw dives for the ball. In my view, this was a missed call by the refs...with Woods in possession, the *instant* Bradshaw touches him Woods should be down by contact. But they allow the pile, and Bradshaw rips the ball away from Woods. The Pats would have had the ball at the NY 30 with a chance to score to go up 14-3. That would have almost certainly been a game-changing play right there.
(3) Later in the 2nd quarter, Eli has the Giants driving. He is sacked again and fumbles but it's recovered by the Giants at the NE 20. A penalty costs the Giants so they don't score regardless.
(4) Pats last drive of the half....marching. 22 seconds left, they have the ball at the NY 44. Brady gets sacked and fumbles, and the Giants recover, killing the chance for a FG that could have put NE up 10-3.
So that's 4 turnover opportunities, and just one of them was recovered by the Patriots. Three fumbles, and all three were recovered by the Giants.
Now, what about this season's matchup?
There were 7 turnover opportunities. The Pats got 2 (one INT, one fumble recovery). The Giants got 5 (2 INT, 3 fumble recoveries). Again, let's focus on the fumbles, because those are more random. Of the 4 fumbles, 3 were recovered by the Giants.
So in their last two games between the Giants and Patriots, there were 7 fumbles, 4 by the Giants and 3 by the Patriots. And of the 7, just *one* was recovered by the Patriots.
Again, causing fumbles can be a skill. Recovering them is quite a bit of luck. You'd expect luck to even out, but in their last two games, it hasn't. You just don't expect 6 out of 7 fumbles to be recovered by one team.
All that happened, and the Giants barely won both games - it took everything they had to win those games.
So here's the question: do we expect the Giants to recover the vast majority of fumbles? Because if those fumbles end up at even 4-3 Giants, the outcomes of those last two meetings are quite likely different.
(1) With the Pats up 7-3, and the Giants driving, Eli throws a pass that is tipped and intercepted by Ellis Hobbs at the NE 10. Big break for the Pats, but a nice play by Hobbs. That saved the Pats at least 3 points.
(2) The next Giants' possession, Eli is sacked and fumbles. Pierre Woods recovers but as he's on the ground, Ahmad Bradshaw dives for the ball. In my view, this was a missed call by the refs...with Woods in possession, the *instant* Bradshaw touches him Woods should be down by contact. But they allow the pile, and Bradshaw rips the ball away from Woods. The Pats would have had the ball at the NY 30 with a chance to score to go up 14-3. That would have almost certainly been a game-changing play right there.
(3) Later in the 2nd quarter, Eli has the Giants driving. He is sacked again and fumbles but it's recovered by the Giants at the NE 20. A penalty costs the Giants so they don't score regardless.
(4) Pats last drive of the half....marching. 22 seconds left, they have the ball at the NY 44. Brady gets sacked and fumbles, and the Giants recover, killing the chance for a FG that could have put NE up 10-3.
So that's 4 turnover opportunities, and just one of them was recovered by the Patriots. Three fumbles, and all three were recovered by the Giants.
Now, what about this season's matchup?
There were 7 turnover opportunities. The Pats got 2 (one INT, one fumble recovery). The Giants got 5 (2 INT, 3 fumble recoveries). Again, let's focus on the fumbles, because those are more random. Of the 4 fumbles, 3 were recovered by the Giants.
So in their last two games between the Giants and Patriots, there were 7 fumbles, 4 by the Giants and 3 by the Patriots. And of the 7, just *one* was recovered by the Patriots.
Again, causing fumbles can be a skill. Recovering them is quite a bit of luck. You'd expect luck to even out, but in their last two games, it hasn't. You just don't expect 6 out of 7 fumbles to be recovered by one team.
All that happened, and the Giants barely won both games - it took everything they had to win those games.
So here's the question: do we expect the Giants to recover the vast majority of fumbles? Because if those fumbles end up at even 4-3 Giants, the outcomes of those last two meetings are quite likely different.