The New York Giants shocked the world on Sunday, beating the 18-0 New England Patriots and denying them a spot in a pantheon still occupied solely by the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only undefeated Super Bowl champions.

This was one of those intense up and down, back and forth games worthy of gaining instant classic status. Both teams gave it their all, both tried their hardest and both deserved to win. Alas, as in all finals, somebody had to walk off the field without the trophy. To everyone’s surprise that team was the New England Patriots.

The Giants were huge underdogs coming into the game. Most betting lines had the Pats up by two touchdowns, and the stadium was filled with fans hoping to see history in the making as the Patriots were trying to become the first team to finish a season 19-0. By the end of the night Boston’s team went from being the best ever to being the worst 18-1 team in NFL history, as they are now the only team with such a record not to win the title.

‘One memorable Super Bowl in the past gave us the catch, another one featured the drive, and yet another offered up the upset of all upsets. Super Bowl XLII spoiled us, it gave us all three at once’


What a game it was! And it all came down to that final drive. After a defense-dominated three quarters where the Patriots managed to grab a 7-3 lead, the Giants came out and scored on their first drive in the fourth quarter. Eli Manning led his team beautifully into the red zone, and he was intent on taking matters into his own hands.

Many times we have seen the Giants try to force the ball into the end zone, but not this time. A neatly executed play action fake set up David Tyree for his very first touchdown reception of the whole season. Manning’s pass was perfect – he barely had a pitcher’s strike zone of a window to throw it to Tyree and he managed to make it spot on.

It was then Tom Brady’s turn to take his team the length of the field and score a touchdown for a 14-10 lead. Brady was his usual super-cool self during the drive. He used all of his receivers; he took advantage of Wes Welker’s speed mismatches; he used Randy Moss as a spot receiver as the Giants took away the deep game. The touchdown pass was a thing of beauty, a model of perfection. Moss outfaced Corey Webster who was trying to cover him alone, Webster slipped which left Moss wide open, and Brady immediately sent the ball his way for an easy six points.

Giants fans have learned throughout this post season that they can rely on Manning to deliver in pressure situations. Throughout the playoffs Manning has led them to scoring opportunities in two-minute offenses whenever they needed the points. This time he even made a play that we will remember forever. On a third and five situation it looked like he was already sacked as Pats defenders were pulling him by his jersey, somehow he miraculously spun out of their grasp, saw Tyree down field, threw a hanging pass, and Tyree made a catch so spectacular there are no words to describe it. A few plays later (and with only 35 ticks left on the clock) Manning lobbed a touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress for what turned out to be the game winning score.

The Pats could not muster a similar miracle drive within the time remaining. You could see they were rattled by what Eli and his offense did by going 83 yards and beating out all the odds. To make matters worse Brady had to live through the toughest sack of his night as the Giants defensive line offered up a direct, bone-crunching hit.
One can not say enough about this game. One memorable Super Bowl in the past gave us the catch, another one featured the drive, and yet another offered up the upset of all upsets. Super Bowl XLII spoiled us, it gave us all three at once.

The way I see it, it might be a long time before another Super Bowl can feature even one of the three grand theater events that this sport festivity gave us. This truly was the Super Bowl to remember for our generation.

Was this the greatest ever Super Bowl? Tell us what you think with a comment below or your own Sportingo article.