Five plays that won XLVI for the Giants and lost it for Patriots
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| The Giants weren't quite sure how much to celebrate Ahmad Bradshaw's TD with 57 seconds left. (US Presswire) |
INDIANAPOLIS -- Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, and the New York Giants were both in Super Bowl XLVI.
The game was, as winning coach Tom Coughlin said Monday morning, "an exceptional football contest," but the Giants would not have won without a little help from others than just Mario Manningham and Eli Manning.
I'm talking about loose balls they recovered. I'm talking about fortunate penalties. And, of course, I'm talking about one pass that was caught and one that was not.
In any case, I count five notable plays that turned Super Bowl XLVI in favor of the New York Giants and lost it for the Patriots. Let's go to the videotape:
1. Manningham's catch. By now, you've seen countless replays and listened while talking heads dissect the game's most memorable moment. Let me start by saying that there was nothing lucky about this play. Nothing. Manning makes the perfect throw, and Manningham makes the sensational catch. Basically, it's David Tyree all over again, only this time without the helmet serving as a prop.
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As Manning described it Monday morning, the Patriots were in a two-deep zone, with New England double covering the two receivers to his right, Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz. Knowing that the safeties had a history of reading his eyes, he looked first to his right -- where both were jammed at the line -- then turned left to find safety Patrick Chung cheating to his left ... and away from Manningham, who had beaten defensive back Sterling Moore off the line of scrimmage with a "go route" along the left sideline.
So Manning launched the ball in his direction, as he'd done hundreds of times in practice, and the rest you know. Chung was late getting over, Moore trailed the play and Manningham somehow, some way, made the catch before he was hammered out of bounds.
"A big play in the game right there," said Manning. "Obviously, you're backed up in that situation, and when you hit a 40-yard gain (it was 38), that changes your play-calling and your run-calling. You're a little more patient. You feel like you're getting close to field-goal range right there, and that's all we needed."
The throw and catch accomplished two things: 1) It moved the Giants from their 12 to the 50 and closer to field-goal position, and 2) it forced New England coach Bill Belichick to challenge the call ... and lose a timeout he desperately needed down the stretch.
"I didn't have any question (about making the throw)," said Manning. "I felt the safety was inside. I wasn't worried about whether it would be an interception or a dangerous throw of the ball. I saw a window. I felt confident about it. I didn't think much about it.
"I saw where Mario was. A lot of throws are 'muscle memory.' You don't think about how far to throw it or what to do with it. You see your receiver, you step up and, hopefully, you put it in a good spot where he can catch it."
Manning did. In fact, it wasn't just a marvelous catch; it was a marvelous throw, with Manning dropping the pass perfectly on to Manningham's fingertips. Afterward, when Manning met with his family and friends at the team hotel, big brother Peyton -- no stranger to perfect throws -- congratulated him on one of the best throws of Eli's career.
"He said everybody was going to talk about what a good catch it was," said Eli. "He said it was a pretty good throw, also."
He was right.
2. Wes Welker's drop. Welker is one of the game's surest receivers, which is why his drop of a Brady pass with just more than four minutes left is so hard to explain. I know, I know, the pass was behind him and forced Welker to leap and reach back for a not-so-perfect pass.
But it's the kind of catch Welker makes routinely. Only here he didn't. Instead, the ball sailed through his hands, and what was a sure scoring opportunity was wasted.
It was second-and-11 at the Giants' 44, and Welker not only would've put the Patriots in sure field-goal position; he would've put the Giants in deep kimchi. They only had one timeout left, and just under four minutes remained. He not only beat a confused secondary; he didn't have anyone within 5 yards of him.
But he couldn't hold on to the ball.
With the incompletion, New England had one more down to gain a first, failed, then punted the ball away ... a kick that produced the series that produced the Giants' game-winning touchdown, and it's hard to imagine what would've happened had Welker held on.
"(Quarterback Tom Brady) saw it and threw me the ball," said Welker. "I think he was a little worried about the safety so he threw it a little wider or whatever. But, I mean, it's right there. It hits me right in the hands. It's one I'll have to live with."
3. The 12th Man. Seattle talks fondly of its 12th Man, and how it helps the Seahawks win home games. But they're referring to people in the stands, not on the field, and it was a 12th defender that cost the Patriots a touchdown ... and maybe the game.
I mean, subtract the Giants' first touchdown, and what do you have? A Lombardi Trophy going to Foxborough, that's what.
Return to the Giants' second series of the first quarter, and you find Victor Cruz catching a short pass over the middle and taking it to the New England 7 ... where he's hit and where the Patriots' Moore strips him of the ball. Teammate Brandon Spikes recovered, and the Giants had been stopped ... only they weren't.
New England was called for having 12 players on the field. Not only were the Patriots penalized; the Giants gained the ball second-and-goal at the New England 2.
One play later, they scored.
"It's obviously a mistake," said Belichick. "It's a coach's substitution, and we just made a mistake there, just like they [the Giants] did on the last [series] of the game."
But the Giants' mistake didn't cost them a touchdown. Their error happened with 17 seconds left. More important, it took New England eight seconds to throw an incompletion that netted the Patriots nothing but 5 yards because of the penalty.
At that point, the eight seconds were more important.
"We were just trying to get [the call] from up top and see what personnel they were in," said Spikes. "We fixed it after that. We were good. We had opportunities defensively to do what we wanted to do; we just couldn't get it done."
He has that right. The Giants fumbled three times -- including this one -- and didn't lose one.
4. Manning's last minute completion to Hakeem Nicks. Nicks had two critical receptions on the Giants' game-winning drive, one an 18-yarder that put them in position for a field goal and the second a 4-yarder that set them up first-and-goal at the New England 7 with just over a minute left.
It's that second catch that intrigues me. If New England was going to allow the Giants to score, which Belichick later decided, it should've done it then. I mean, there was 1:09 left, the Patriots had two timeouts and the Giants were content to run down the clock before running kicker Lawrence Tynes on to the field.
I know, Tynes could've pulled a Billy Cundiff, but the chances were slim ... which is what Belichick must have thought when he told his defense to let Ahmad Bradshaw walk into the end zone one play later.
But that's the problem. It was one play later.
In the meantime, the Giants ran Bradshaw to the 6, ran off five seconds and forced New England to spend one of its two remaining timeouts. My question: If you're going to let the guy score from the 6, why not do it when the Giants are at the 7?
That decision cost New England a timeout it could've used on its last series.
5. Ahmad Bradshaw's game-winning touchdown. It's second-and-goal at the New England 6, Manning hands the ball to Bradshaw and the Patriots' defenders stand up -- allowing him to score untouched. But as he approaches the goal line, he stops, pauses as if to think about his next move, then falls into the end zone.
The Giants go ahead, and there are 57 seconds left. So what's the problem? Well, those 57 seconds. You never, ever, ever, want to leave Brady time to respond.
"Right as I broke the huddle," said Manning, "I had a feeling they were going to let us score. It's a tough situation right there, thinking about what you have to do.
"I think you have to score a touchdown right there. That's the goal. As a quarterback, I have great confidence in Lawrence Tynes kicking field goals -- and, obviously, he's kicked game winners for us -- but you just don't want to leave anything to chance in that situation.
"We could've kneeled down, run out the clock and kicked a field goal with 10 seconds left. But if we get a bad snap or they block it or something fluky happens, and you miss that field goal you feel terrible.
"As I'm handing the ball off, I saw their defensive line standing up and not rushing, and I'm yelling not to score ... maybe to get down to the 6-inch line and make them use their last time out and try to score on third down -- hopefully, score a touchdown. But looking back, I think we did the right thing. I think you have to score the touchdown."
The final score is the proof. But I remember a 2008 game when, under similar circumstances, Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew bolted through the middle of the New York Jets' defensive line and squatted on the one-foot line to set up a game-winning field goal.
He was applauded for it.
Bradshaw could've done the same thing, forcing -- as Manning said -- New England to use its last timeout ... but he didn't, leaving Brady 57 seconds to score a touchdown is always a risk -- which is why Manning barked at his running back as he handed him the ball.
"I just yelled, don't score, don't score," he said. "And, obviously, he heard me. He thought about it. I know it's tough for a running back when they see a big hole right there going for a touchdown. I think something almost had to pop in his head -- like 'something's up.'
"He obviously heard me. He thought about going down, but he didn't know quite what to do. He said, 'Hey, I got a touchdown; I'll take it.' I'm glad he did."
