Super Bowl Wrap, Giants Made Plays Patriots Let Opportunities Slip Away

Pat Kirwan said:

The Patriots used nine snaps of no-huddle in the whole game. Against the Ravens, they employed the usual 35 snaps of no-huddle (just like they did against the Broncos a week earlier). It was a big part of what got New England to the Super Bowl. The Pats had their best drive of the day in the second quarter, when they drove 96 yards on 14 plays to take a 10-9 halftime lead. On this drive, Tom Brady went no-huddle on four snaps, resulting in 30 yards gained. For the game, the nine no-huddle snaps generated 54 yards and a touchdown. Entering the game, I was convinced the Pats would frequently attack with the no-huddle, and I'm sure Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell was happy that they didn't.

Some theorize that Bill Belichick was protecting his defense by slowing the game down. This is flawed thinking. Brady has been protecting his defense all year by scoring as many points as possible as fast as he can. I'm not so sure "protecting the defense" was the reason we didn't see the no-huddle more often, but I do know the Giants benefited from being able to substitute pass rushers. Late in the game, the New York pass rush still had the gas to go get Brady.

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