"I don't think we're anywhere near where we need to be"

[Froob]

I know, if I had just come out and admitted I was guilty then the punishment would be less right? Because that's how society works now? Lol

Exactly, I mean if Hernandez had just come out from the start and said "look I shot him and I'm sorry." It would have just been a small fine but he made it a big deal lying about it. Would have thought you and Brady would have learned from him.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Tomase might have added a little stress as well. The bastard.

In one of his chats, I thought Bru said that the Tomase/Arlen Spector rubbish did distract the team a little but in his opinion was not the reason that they lost. He went on to say that he didn't want to insult the Giants and take away from their accomplishment. Class act.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

I'll chime in here.

Players have said that in 2007, BB drove them harder than any year prior. Since then, some (Vrabel and Bru) have said that the emotional weight of being 18-0 was brutal and the team was a collective stress-case.

BBs psychology was to go Bear Bryant on them. Push them so hard and beat on them for every little thing (more than usual) that they really despised him, but also got them laser-focused on the tiniest of details.

So I don't think they were complacent at the end in 07. I think besides injuries and a Giants pass rush contributing to the loss, they were stressed out and emotionally exhausted. They were running on fumes and BB knew it.

Yeah, there's no question that the 2007 team had peaked before the Super Bowl, and had just been worn out. Brady having his injured leg put in a cast is a perfect metaphor for a team that came into the game limping, and not being able to perform up to expectations.

Sad way to end an otherwise glorious season. But I'm still thankful for all the great memories that came out of that season

 

[RobertWeathers]

Yeah, there's no question that the 2007 team had peaked before the Super Bowl, and had just been worn out. Brady having his injured leg put in a cast is a perfect metaphor for a team that came into the game limping, and not being able to perform up to expectations.

Sad way to end an otherwise glorious season. But I'm still thankful for all the great memories that came out of that season

Exactly. If ever you wanted to know what a team looked like that applied every molecule of physical and emotional energy into a season and a single game it was that one. Even Bru has softened a little from his "we still lost" position. He says fans still come up to him and thank him more for the 07 season than the Super Bowl years. He said during an interview or on ESPN that was a great example to share with his kids that even though you may lose in life, the important thing is to try your absolutely hardest and make sure you are proud of your effort afterwards.

That team had a lot to be proud of. Still do.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

Yeah, there's no question that the 2007 team had peaked before the Super Bowl, and had just been worn out. Brady having his injured leg put in a cast is a perfect metaphor for a team that came into the game limping, and not being able to perform up to expectations.

Has any team (I'll limit it to the US) ever had to face as much adversity as the 2007 team and still be hugely successful (just not ultimately success)? I'm not sure there could be many, though perhaps the 1980 US Hockey Team?

 

[supafly]

Good info. I hadn't heard that before myself. It makes sense. After posting what I said, I was trying to think of a player who seemed overconfident in the game but I couldn't... Everyone seemed more exhausted than ****y. Now I know why I guess.

Tom Brady was certainly an example of a key player being ****y leading up to the SB42 loss, although having confidence shouldn't ever be considered a bad thing. His comment was basically (while laughing) "really...they only think we're going to score 17 points, huh? That's funny." As we know, they didn't even score that, so one may argue that it may have provided fuel to the NYG's fire. It received a good amount of media attention throughout the week leading up to the game.

I'm just responding to your inquisition of an example from a player which could have been seen as overconfident, that's all. Personally, I think the loss of our starting RG (was it Stephen Neal?) had an enormous effect on that game, as well as some very lucky breaks that went the Giants' way.