* I went through all the TOs after the SD/Indy game and concluded that Indy was more responsible for them than SD. I honestly feel that I could do something similar with this game, but at some point I have to recognize that flukes don't have such consistency. SD makes you make mistakes. I don't know exactly what they were doing because I still think that Tommy helped their cause somewhat, but their defense clearly disrupted NE's passing game. Much credit needs to be tossed their way.
I agree more with the initial part of your statement more than the latter. I think most of our bad plays were self inflicted. Brady was off. The game plan wasn't well constructed, and the play calling was less than effective. SD's pass rush was largely ineffective, BUT SD's pass coverage WAS excellent, but not enough to hold the Pats to only 260 odd passing yds.
* The trifecta is now complete. I have been pointing out the parallels between this year's playoffs and the 2003 run since the Jax game ended. Every week it seemed that the opponent was similar to their 2003 counterparts. Well, this might be the closest example of all, with the biggest difference being that the 2003 Cats actually won their division. Aaron over at footballoutsiders actually ran though the similarities prior to the NCFFG
here.
Its funny but the parallel that immediately came to me, is comparing the Giant's path to the superbowl to the Pats run in 85. Three tough road games by an overacheiving team, to play in a superbowl against what is concidered the BEST team in the NFL. And IMHO the superbowl result will ultimately be around the same as 22 years ago....a blow out win by the team that's supposed to win.
* I may get skewered for saying this, but I thought that Brady was pretty lousy. Of course I understand that guys aren't going to play at their peak level when playing in single digit temperatures with wind. For all his grit, it isn't as if Rivers was lighting it up either.
I don't thing the wind was a factor, especially in the 2nd half when the wind pretty much died down. However based on some second thoughts about how Brady looked so drawn and tired after the game, I'm thinking that he might not have been in the best of health, or some kind of other issue was a factor in Brady's poor game. But it wasn't the weather
* For all the talk about the tremendous play that Seau made prior to SD's 4th FG, I thought that Hobbs deserves just as much credit for his open field tackle of Chambers earlier. Hobbs had to make a nice play going under a blocker and then take out Chris by his legs, and no one was stopping the TD except for Ellis.
I think the Pats have gotten into the habit of playing soft zones for the begining of games and then going to more pressure defenses (harder pass rush, tighter coverages) later in the game. I wish we could mix it up more earlier in the game. For the superbowl, I'd like to see more of the game plan that lead to Ty Law's 3 picks. In that one we had the CBs playing tough man to man in the short zones before passing off the receiver to a deep safety. Law go 2 picks dropping back underneath the throw to the deep out. I think these trap coverages will be effective against THIS Manning
* Kaeding may have made several FGs, but NE dominated the game on special teams. Aside from Washington's tremendous play that set up Asante's int, Kaeding's kicks were extremely short and NE was still able to get consistent return yardage to boot. NE's kick offs AND their KO coverage were both better than SD's by a good margin and the punt games played to about a draw.
Good point - I think our special teams will be an advantage in the superbowl as well. The Pats did a great job on PRs and KORs all game...against a very good returner. Better than anything the Giants have to offer.
* I understand why everyone is giving LdT so much grief, but I'm not sure that it is really deserved. On the screen play that was his final play of the game, he clearly had nothing. I don't know if he reaggravated the knee or if he was hurt worse than anyone knew, but he was not the same guy. And it isn't as if SD was without anyone else to run the ball. If Turner had gotten hurt, I would bet that LdT would have seen the field again, but Turner was clearly the bigger threat at that point.
I think he should have been in there. I think it was a case of player who has NEVER had to deal with a serious leg injury, and when he was confronted by being less than 100%, he didn't deal with it well. THough I do think your comment about having such a good back up in Turner might have helped in the coach's decision to sit LT. This doesn't mean LT isn't physically tough, but learning to deal with injuries is a LEARNED behavior. According to reports this is the first time LT has had to deal with something like this.
Frankly, I thought that the Giants were in Brady's face quite a bit more than SD was. The only int where Brady was under pressure was the second one near midfield when (Phillips?) beat his man and was careening towards Tommy. Other than that, most of the times that Brady was off - be it an int or just an incompletion - he had time and just missed.
Totally agree with this comment. I thought the pass blocking was great. This was a much better situation than last year, especially running the ball. I wonder if the having to play 3 games and the travel hurt the Chargers at the end of the game, just like it hurt the Pats.
BTW- I didn't think your post was very long at all.
