GreyHoodie
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Posts posted by GreyHoodie
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I thought you said the Boston Globe was the class of Boston journalism.
It is owned by the New York Times....nobody is perfect.....
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Here is another one of her. God this broad is hot. She also proposed to Eli. I would have said yes. Brady has a hotter gf though. I couldn't give Giselle up.
She proposed to both Tom Brady and Eli Manning. She also asked Bill Belichick if she was hotter than Gisele Bundchen. She got shot down all three times.
You got to love media day.
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Whats with the balloon blocking the upskirt shot? :brooding:
Look a bit more carefully, it is the microphone she is carrying. She is a "reporter*."
*I use that term loosely.
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None taken. I love the "photographing defensive coordinators for dummies"
If you haven't seen it this clip is a hilarious.
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http://coldhardfootballfacts.com/Articles/...or_Victory.html
I like these guys. There analysis is always solid and not the crap you get from ESPN.
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Question:
Why did you put down you are a Red Sux fan, but not a Pats fan, under your name? Just curious.
Well put, and true, except for the meaningless. It will mean alot when we win.
In the drop down boxes don't list every team. Red Sox is listed for baseball. Football the only choices are: Giants, Cowboys, Redskins, Dolphins, Jets, Eagles, Ravens.
And no matter which team wins the SB, Dec 29th will still be the greatest meaningless game ever played. It did not effect any teams standings.
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The reason why a Giant loss would be remembered, is games are not alway remembered for the win but for the story.
More people know that in '86 Bill Buckner failed to field a ground ball than can name the Mets player that hit the ball.
The '85 Patriots secured a place in history not just by being destroyed by the Bears but by being the first team to go to the SB as a wild card team.
Ask anybody what team lost 4 consecutive SBs and they will tell you the Bills, ask them to name the teams that beat the Bills and many of those folks are stumped.
More people know who won the bronze medal in Hockey in 1980, than who won the silver.
Whether the Giants win or lose, every year once a team clinches a playoff spot and the sit or play them discussion starts we will see the highlight reels of the Giants last regular season game and post season run along with the Colt-Chargers game. The Giants have forever put themselves along with the Colts and Cowboys as a permanent part of the rest'em play'em discussion.
Dec 29th game will go down in history as the greatest meaningless game ever.
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Nothing like playing mind games with the team that patented the mind game -- the Bill Belichicks.
Yeah, the death of a player in the off season, the birth of the QB's bastard child, spygate, accusations of running up the score, DV accusation against the number one WR, and a perfect season couldn't distract the Patriots.
But the Giants wearing matching clothes will......
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http://www.nypost.com/seven/01292008/sport...3212.htm?page=1
He seems to have a lot of confidence in the Giant defense, if he thinks they can hold the Pats to 17. Nobody has held the Pats to less than 20 this year. But predicting only 23 for the Giants, when the Giants scored 35 last time is not much of vote of confidence for the Giants offense.
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Where do you find this stuff?
Espn.com
This is even better............
Call it the curse of Mo Lewis
By Mark Kelly
ESPN Research
Sept. 23, 2001: Jets at Patriots
Jets linebacker Mo Lewis blasts Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe as he tries to scramble for a first down with 5:11 left in the fourth quarter and the Jets ahead 10-3. After being attended to on the sideline, Bledsoe returns for the next series but is ineffective -- he turned out to be seriously injured with internal bleeding -- and is replaced by the Pats' sixth-round draft pick from the previous year, Tom Brady.
The Jets hold on to win, but this one play fatefully becomes a historic turning point for the New York and Boston sports scenes. Take a look:
Baseball championships from 1919 to Sept. 23, 2001
New York: 33
Boston: 0
After Sept. 23, 2001
New York: 0
Boston: 2
Super Bowl championships before Sept. 23, 2001
New York: 3
New England: 0
After Sept. 23, 2001
New York: 0
New England: 3
New York Knicks playoff victories
Six years prior to Sept. 23, 2001: 37
Six years since Sept. 23, 2001: 0
Before Mo Lewis' hit …
Good New York sports
• The Yankees were three-time defending world champions.
• The Mets were the defending National League champs.
• The Knicks were coming off 14 consecutive playoff appearances, having won at least one series in 11 of those seasons.
• The Jets had beaten the Patriots six of the previous seven meetings (seven of eight if you include the Lewis-Bledsoe game).
• The Giants were the defending NFC champs.
Bad Boston sports
• The Patriots had never won a Super Bowl and were coming off a 6-10 season and began 2001 at 0-2 under second-year head coach Bill Belichick, who served as Jets head coach for one day in 2000.
• The Red Sox hadn't won a World Series since 1918.
Since Lewis' hit …
Bad New York sports
• The Mets have made just one postseason appearance, losing the 2006 NLCS to a Cardinals team that went 83-79. In 2007, the Mets completed the largest collapse in regular-season history by failing to hold a seven-game division lead with 17 games remaining.
• The Jets lost to 2-12 Buffalo at home in Week 16 of 2001, costing them the AFC East title and a first-round bye, which ultimately went to the Patriots. The Jets are 2-11 against the Patriots and haven't won a playoff game since the Lewis hit.
• The Yankees blew a 2-1, ninth-inning lead in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, losing to the Diamondbacks and being denied a fourth consecutive championship. The Yankees haven't won a World Series since, suffering four first-round postseason defeats and a historic collapse in the 2004 ALCS after leading Boston three games to none.
• The Knicks haven't won a playoff game. They have significant salary-cap issues. Team president and coach Isiah Thomas was found to have committed sexual harassment, costing Madison Square Garden an $11.5 million settlement.
• The Giants hadn't won a playoff game until this season. The year they do reach the Super Bowl, they have to play the 18-0 Patriots.
Good Boston sports
• The Patriots became the preeminent team in the NFL. The Tuck Rule. The clutch Vinatieri field goals. Three Super Bowl championships. The acquisition of Randy Moss for a fourth-round pick. Eighteen-and-oh. Any questions?
• The Red Sox have won two World Series. Buoyed by a bloody sock in 2004, they rallied from a three games-to-none deficit to slay the Yankees and sweep the Cardinals. In 2007, they rallied from a three games-to-one deficit to topple the Indians, en route to sweeping the Rockies.
Timeline of the curse
• Sept. 23, 2001: Lewis knocks Bledsoe from the game. Brady takes over as quarterback for Patriots.
• Sept. 23, 2001: The Mets blow a three-run, ninth-inning lead against the Braves that would have cut New York's NL East deficit to 2½ games.
• Sept. 29, 2001: The Mets blow a 5-1, ninth-inning lead against the Braves that would have cut New York's NL East deficit to three games. The Mets finish in third place, six games behind division champ Atlanta.
• Sept. 30, 2001: In his first NFL start, Brady leads the 13-point underdog Patriots to a 44-13 home victory over the Colts, who had scored 87 points in their first two games.
• Dec. 2, 2001: Trailing 13-0 at halftime, the visiting Patriots score 17 unanswered points to defeat the Jets 17-13 and move within a half game of first place in the AFC East.
• Dec. 7, 2001: Jeff Van Gundy resigns as Knicks coach, ending one of the most successful tenures in team history. The Knicks advanced to the second round of the playoffs six times in seven seasons under Van Gundy, including a trip to the NBA Finals in 1999.
• Dec. 30, 2001: Needing to win their final two games to clinch the AFC East and a first-round bye, the Jets lose to the 2-12 Bills at home.
• Jan. 6, 2002: The Patriots clinch the AFC East and a first-round bye with a 38-6 victory over the Panthers.
• Jan. 19, 2002: The Patriots defeat the Raiders in the "Tuck Rule" game to advance to the AFC Championship Game.
• Jan. 27, 2002: As 10-point underdogs, the Patriots defeat the Steelers in Pittsburgh to advance to the Super Bowl.
• Feb. 3, 2002: As 14-point underdogs, the Patriots defeat the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.
• April 17, 2002: The Knicks finish in last place in the Atlantic Division for first time since 1986-87, which was also the last time they failed to reach the postseason.
• Sept. 15, 2002: The visiting Patriots defeat the Jets 44-7, benefiting from a 90-yard touchdown on an interception return by ex-Jet Victor Green.
• Sept. 29, 2002: The Mets finish in last place for the first time since 1993.
• Oct. 5, 2002: The Yankees are eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997, suffering a 9-5 loss to the Angels in Game 4 of the ALDS.
• Jan. 5, 2003: The Giants blow a 38-14, second-half lead in an NFC wild-card game, ultimately losing 39-38 to the 49ers.
• Sept. 28, 2003: The Mets finish in last place in the NL East at 66-95. The 95 losses are the team's most since 1993.
• Oct. 5, 2003: The Patriots defeat the Titans 38-30, the first of 21 consecutive victories.
• Oct. 25, 2003: The Yankees lose the World Series in six games as Josh Beckett tosses a five-hit shutout in the clincher.
• Feb. 1, 2004: The Patriots defeat the Panthers 32-29 in Super Bowl XXXVIII on an Adam Vinatieri field goal with four seconds left.
• April 25, 2004: The Knicks are eliminated in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs by the Nets in four games.
• Oct. 3, 2004: The Mets finish the season 71-91, marking the first time since 1992-93 that they had consecutive 90-loss seasons.
• Oct. 20, 2004: The Red Sox defeat the Yankees 10-3 in Game 7 of the ALCS, Boston's fourth consecutive win after falling behind three games to none.
• Oct. 24, 2004: In a battle of 5-0 teams, the Patriots win their 21st consecutive game, 13-7 over the visiting Jets.
• Oct. 27, 2004: The Red Sox win their first world championship since 1918 by completing a four-game sweep of the Cardinals.
• Jan. 15, 2005: The Jets miss two field goal attempts in the final 2:15 that would have advanced them to the AFC Championship Game. The Jets go on to lose to Pittsburgh in overtime.
• Feb. 6, 2005: The Patriots win their second consecutive Super Bowl -- and third in four years -- by defeating the Eagles, 24-21.
• April 20, 2005: The Knicks finish last in the Atlantic Division for the third time in four years.
• July 28, 2005: The Knicks hire Larry Brown, giving him a five-year contract worth between $50 million and $60 million, making him the highest-paid coach in NBA history.
• Oct. 10, 2005: The Yankees lose 5-3 to the Angels in Game 5 of ALDS.
• Jan. 1, 2006: The Jets finish the season 4-12, their worst record since going 1-15 under Rich Kotite in 1996. Coach Herm Edwards is allowed to leave for Kansas City, and the Jets hire Patriots defensive coordinator Eric Mangini to replace him.
• Jan. 24, 2006: Isiah Thomas and MSG are sued for sexual harassment and retaliation by Anucha Browne Sanders.
• April 19, 2006: The Knicks finish the season with 59 losses -- their most since 1985-86 -- despite having the highest payroll in the NBA.
• June 22, 2006: The Knicks fire Brown, replacing him with president/GM Thomas. The team refuses to pay Brown the $40 million left on his contract, arguing that Brown "violated terms of his contract through various acts of insubordination."
• Oct. 7, 2006: The Yankees are eliminated from the postseason with an 8-3 loss in Game 4 of the ALDS at Detroit.
• Oct. 18, 2006: The Mets lose 3-1 to the Cardinals -- winners of 83 regular-season games -- in Game 7 of the NLCS at home. The loss ends an 11-game win streak for the home team in a Game 7 after it had won Game 6.
• Jan. 7, 2007: The Patriots defeat the Jets 37-16 in an AFC wild-card game.
• April 18, 2007: The Knicks finish the season 33-49 and miss the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons.
• Sept. 9, 2007: The Patriots open the season by defeating the Jets 38-14, led by Randy Moss (nine catches for 183 yards and a touchdown), whom the Patriots acquired for a fourth-round draft pick.
• Sept. 30, 2007: The Mets are eliminated from postseason contention with an 8-1 loss to the Marlins. The loss was the 12th in 17 games for New York, which blew a seven-game division lead in that span. No major league team had ever held a seven-game lead with 17 games remaining and not won its league or division.
• Oct. 2, 2007: A jury rules that Thomas and MSG are liable for sexual harassment. MSG was found liable for punitive damages in an amount of $11.6 million, one of the largest sexual harassment judgments in history. The case is later settled for $11.5 million.
• Oct. 7, 2007: Red Sox complete a three-game sweep of the Angels to advance to the ALCS.
• Oct. 8, 2007: Yankees lose 6-4 to the Indians in Game 4 of the ALDS, the third consecutive season in which they're eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. It also marks the seventh season in a row that the Yankees have failed to win the World Series despite having baseball's highest payroll.
• Oct. 14, 2007: The Patriots defeat the Cowboys 48-27 in a matchup of 5-0 teams. Brady throws five touchdown passes as the Patriots score their most points in 23 years. After falling behind 24-21, the Patriots outscore the Cowboys 27-3 to finish the game.
• Oct. 18, 2007: The Joe Torre Era ends as he turns down the Yankees' one-year offer with a pay cut. Torre led the Yankees to 12 consecutive postseasons and four World Series titles.
• Oct. 21, 2007: The Patriots defeat the Dolphins 49-28 as Brady throws a team-record six touchdown passes. Brady has 27 TD passes and just two interceptions through seven games, and the Patriots start 7-0 for the first time in team history.
• Oct. 21, 2007: The Red Sox beat the Indians 11-2 in Game 7 of the ALCS to advance to the World Series, completing a comeback from a three games-to-one deficit. Boston outscored Cleveland 30-5 in the final three games, defeating two 19-game winners -- C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona -- in the process.
• Oct. 28, 2007: The Red Sox complete a four-game sweep of Colorado to win the World Series. They outscore the Rockies 29-10 and trail for only three innings the entire series.
• Dec. 29, 2007: The visiting Patriots complete a 16-0 regular season, defeating the Giants 38-35. Brady sets an NFL record with his 50th touchdown pass of the season, and Moss establishes a new record with his 23rd touchdown catch.
• Jan. 20, 2008: The Patriots earn their fourth trip to the Super Bowl in seven seasons with a 21-12 win over the Chargers, setting the stage for a New England-New York championship against the Giants, who outlast the Packers 23-20 in overtime.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/n...tory?id=3218946
Her analysis is about as sound as Skip Bayless.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Camel picks Giants to end Patriots' run at perfection on Super Bowl Sunday
Associated Press
LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- The New York Giants have what it takes to get them over the hump in next week's Super Bowl.
At least, that's according to a pigskin-picking camel named Princess who has chosen Big Blue to triumph over the New England Patriots.
Her picks are nothing to spit at: Princess, who once belonged to heiress Doris Duke, went 11-6 during the regular season and is 8-out-of-10 in the playoffs this year. Her prowess is equal to that of some of the most famous forecasters.
"I can't explain it, but her predictions, more often than not, are right on the money," said John Bergmann, general manager of Popcorn Park Zoo, the southern New Jersey facility for elderly, abused or unwanted animals where Princess has lived since 2004. "I'm hoping she's right this time because I'm a Giants fan."
Princess' prognostication skills flow from her love of graham crackers. Bergmann will choose a game at random during the regular season, place a cracker in each hand, and use a permanent marker to scrawl the name of a competing team on each hand.
Whichever hand Princess nibbles from is her "pick" for that week.
Her regular season mark of 11-6 comes out to a .647 winning percentage. (Since she never quite got the hang of points spreads, Princess picks the games straight-up, just choosing the winner.)
By comparison, Dave Goldberg, the Associated Press football writer who makes NFL picks each weekend, posted a .664 regular season percentage.
ESPN's Ron Jaworski, the former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, had a .688 mark, but Princess topped Mike Golic, another former Eagle on ESPN, who came in at .584.
And in the interest of full disclosure, the camel also topped Wayne Parry (author of this story), whose score in a New Jersey Statehouse football pool came in at .640.
Princess started out picking games for a local radio station in the 2006 season. But when the station didn't bring her back for 2007, Bergmann kept the tradition alive.
It's the least he could do for an animal that was once the personal pet of heiress Doris Duke, the only child of tobacco and electric energy tycoon James Buchanan Duke.
Doria Duke raised Princess and her sister Babe from youngsters, Bergmann said.
The pair had their own barn and were taken on summer vacation to Duke's Rhode Island estate, he added. If weather became inclement, they were put up in the solarium, he said.
After Duke's death in 1993, the camels stayed on her estate in Hillsborough. Babe died several years ago, leaving just Princess.
When Princess' caretaker was about to retire, the estate offered Princess to Popcorn Park Zoo, which took her in.
Her picks haven't always been perfect, though.
"She actually picked the Giants a lot when they were losing, including opening day against Dallas," Bergmann said, referring to a 45-35 loss.
But take heart, Giants fans: Princess knows a Manning-led champion when she sees one. She chose Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts to win last year's Super Bowl.
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Arizona stadium has a retractable roof. Have they said if it will be open or closed yet?
Game day decision, by the league. But they aren't gonna make the millionaire & billionaire "fans" that don't know the difference between a kick off and punt sit in rain, cold or hot weather.
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I doubt they get many pre-sales. Pats fans aren't going to want to jinx, and nobody else is going to buy it. I am going to wait and order mine Sunday night when I get back from the sports bar.
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I think our speed pass rush is going to greatly helped by the Arizona field. I also think the field is going to give Ahmad Bradshaw a further advantage over the Patriots veteran but slower linebackers.
I'm interested to hear what other people think.
Hum 72 degrees, no rain, no wind, florescent lights. Game is being played indoors.
Food for thought.....
After the Pats-Colts game many of the talking heads said that NE as a vertical passing team would not be able to go 16-0, because the team was built for warm weather or a dome. They said the perfect season would not survive the winter weather of Mass, MD, NJ, and Buffalo because the offense would not be able to continue to score a high number of points in wind, cold or wet weather.
Turns out those talking heads were not far off the mark. Although their predictions of loses did not hold true the NE offense did struggle when the weather got bad. And the scores got a lot closer.
Many of those same talking heads now say that NE offense has been on the decline, discounting their own original analysis that it would.
In an indoor stadium (unless the weather is really nice in which case they will keep the roof open, but that also means it is really nice weather) the NE offense could very possibly return to the form it had during the first half of the season.
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An interesting read on the statistical differences in the teams. I am not one who puts too much stock into the 85 Bears beat the Patriots as having much bearing on this week game. Or that the Patriots did better against Dallas in the early part of the season than the Giants did.
And I think week 17 proved it ain't a huge mismatch.
http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Artic...he_Century.html
Mismatch of the CenturyCold, Hard Football Facts for January 28, 2008
(Ed. Note: This isn’t pretty, Giants fans. But fret not. We follow it up tomorrow with New York’s Big-Blueprint for victory, with a 100-percent satisfaction-back guarantee that it will work if executed properly.)
By Kerry J. Byrne
Cold, Hard Football Facts mismatch-maker
We searched high and low. We labored over every guide book, stat compendium, game replay and online resource known to man and troll alike. We even probed our own Quality Stats in such deep, penetrating detail that we had to numb the pain with a Clemensian cocktail of lidocain, novocain and Elijah Craig.
We’ve still yet to find a legitimate reason beyond “act of the Gridiron Gods” why the Giants should beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
What we did find, folks, is the greatest statistical mismatch in NFL championship game history. Not Super Bowl history, folks. All of NFL history.
Super Bowl XLII is literally the NFL's Mismatch of the Century ... and the league is only 88 years old.
(But there is hope, Giants fans, in your own organization's storied history. More on the window of hope below.)
Greatest mismatch in the standings
The Giants are one of three teams with a mark of 10-6 (or worse) to reach the Super Bowl. The Patriots are the first 16-0 team in NFL history.
The six-game difference between title contenders is the greatest in any NFL championship game ever.
The greatest previous margin in a Super Bowl – four games – came back in 1985-86, when the 15-1 Bears trounced the 11-5 Patriots, 46-10.
You have to go all the way back to the 1934 NFL championship game, the second ever played, to find a title contest in which the contenders were separated by more than four games in the standings. The 13-0 Bears of 1934 boasted a five-game advantage over the 8-5 Giants.
But there is a ray of hope there for Big Blue fans: the 8-5 Giants smoked the undefeated Bears that day, 30-13, in what remains the NFL's greatest upset.
Greatest mismatch on the scoreboard
There’s never been a Super Bowl or NFL championship game in which the two contenders entered with such a startling difference on the scoreboard.
You know the Patriots scored more points this year (589) than any team in history. You know their scoring differential of +315 points (589-274) is also the greatest in history.
You might not know that the Giants were a mere +22 on the scoreboard in 2007 (373-351). (Only one team reached the Super Bowl with a more mediocre record in the standings or on the scoreboard. The 1979 Rams went 9-7 and were a mere +14 (323-309).)
To put it another way,
* the Patriots outscored opponents by an average of +19.7 PPG in 2007
* the Giants outscored opponents by an average of +1.4 PPG in 2007
There's never been a disparity that great in NFL championship game history.
Greatest mismatch on offense
The Patriots scored 589 points this year. The Giants scored 373 points. The difference of 216 points scored is the greatest among championship contenders in all of NFL history.
To put the differential in perspective, the “Greatest Show on Turf” 2001 Rams outscored the surprising upstart 2001 Patriots by just +132 points (503-371).
Greatest mismatch at quarterback
Among the many records New England quarterback Tom Brady has set in his career, his 50 TD passes and +42 margin in TDs to INTs are probably the most remarkable.
And he faces in New York’s Eli Manning a quarterback who tossed 23 TD against 20 picks.
If those numbers sound familiar, they are: Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman tossed 23 TDs against 20 picks last year, in his Super Bowl season.
There's never been a championship game with a greater disparity in the production of the starting quarterbacks.
But there is a ray of hope there for Big Blue fans: Only seven Live Ball Era QBs failed to throw more TDs than picks in their Super Bowl season. Only one of them won: Giants quarterback Phil Simms threw 21 TDs and 22 picks in 1986. Yet he was nearly flawless (a postseason record 22 of 25 completions) as he outplayed future HOFer John Elway in a 39-20 win over the Broncos in Super Bowl XXI.
Greatest mismatch against Quality Opponents
The Patriots are a sterling 9-0 vs. Quality Opponents in 2007 (including playoffs), tying the record of the 2003 Patriots for the best mark ever against winning teams entering the Super Bowl. The Giants are just 4-5 vs. Quality Opponents (including playoffs).
Super Bowl XLII just the fourth time that one contender had a five-game advantage over its opponent against Quality Teams. The Patriots dynasty is now responsible for three of those mismatches.
* The 1979 Steelers entered Super Bowl XIV with a 9-3 mark vs. Quality Teams. The Rams were 4-4.
* The 2003 Patriots entered Super Bowl XXXVIII with a 9-0 mark vs. Quality Teams. The Panters were 4-3.
* The 2004 Patriots entered Super Bowl XXXIX with a 9-1 mark vs. Quality Teams. The Eagles were 3-1.
But there is a ray of hope there for Big Blue fans: the disparity didn't matter much on game day, at least if the outmatched team was hoping to compete before losing.
The dynastic 1979 Steelers needed two fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull out a 31-19 win over a Rams team that went just 9-7 overall in the regular season.
The 2003 Patriots needed a last-second field goal to pull out a 32-29 win over a Panthers team that went just 11-5 overall in the regular season.
The 2004 Patriots eked out a 24-21 win over an Eagles team that went 13-3 overall in the regular season.
Greatest mismatch of win streaks
The Giants are considered the "hot team" in football because they enter the Super Bowl on a three-game win streak, all of them on the road. And, of course, they've won a single-season record 10 straight road games.
Hello? The Patriots, of course, enter the Super Bowl on an 18-game win streak, the second longest in NFL history, and have won eight straight on the road.
The 15-game difference in win streaks (18 for New England, 3 for New York), is the greatest in Super Bowl history.
In fact, you have to go all the way back to that infamous 1934 NFL championship game to find a contest that pitted teams with a greater disparity in win streaks.
And, yes, there is a ray of hope there for Big Blue fans: The Bears entered the 1934 championship game with a perfect 13-0 record and winners of 18 straight dating back to 1933. The 8-5 Giants lost their season finale in 1934, so they boasted a win streak of 0 games. Yet, as noted above, the Giants shocked the unbeaten Bears, 30-13.
Greatest mismatch, period
There have been only a handful of Super Bowls that looked like mismatches from the outset. None were a bigger statistical mismatch than Giants-Patriots.
Super Bowl III – The mighty 1968 Colts were 13-1 when they faced the 11-3 Jets. But the 1968 Colts were not as dominant as the 2007 Patriots (see the list of most dominant teams here). And the 1968 Jets (who outscored opponents by nearly 10 PPG) were far more impressive than the 2007 Giants (who outscored opponents by 1.4 PPG). Sure, the Jets played in the AFL, but as they and the Chiefs proved the following year by knocking off two of the NFL’s greatest teams in consecutive Super Bowls, there was no gap between the NFL and AFL.
Super Bowl VII – The 14-0 Dolphins were just three games better than the 11-3 Redskins. And, because Miami played such an easy schedule, Washington was actually favored over the undefeated Dolphins in Super Bowl VII.
Super Bowl XX – The mighty 15-1 Bears vs. plucky 11-5 Patriots is probably the greatest statistical mismatch of the first 41 Super Bowls. But those two teams were closer statistically by every real and imaginable measure than the 16-0 Patriots and 10-6 Giants.
Super Bowl XXXVI – The “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams (14-2) were just three games better than the upstart Patriots (11-5) and were closer statistically by every real and imaginable measure than the 16-0 Patriots and 10-6 Giants.
New England statistically dominated the first meeting
The Giants were universally praised for battling toe-to-toe against the Patriots in Week 17, before falling 38-35. The Cold, Hard Football Facts called it the greatest moral victory in history, for the confidence of that day seemed to propel the Giants through their surprising three-game playoff run.
We went back through the Week 17 meeting between the Patriots and Giants, looking to uncover the statistical secrets to what was – by any measure – New York’s most impressive game to date, staying within 3 points of a team that had beat its first 15 opponents by 20 PPG.
This is what we found:
* The Patriots controlled the clock for more than 36 minutes.
* The Patriots punted twice and scored on 7 of 9 drives (if you take away the kneel-down drives at the end of the half and the game).
* Tom Brady had his standard clutch performance (116.8 passer rating, including a 130.6 rating in the fourth quarter).
* Two New England receivers reached the century mark (Wes Welker, 122 yards; Randy Moss, 100 yards).
* The Patriots generated 390 yards of offense and 27 first downs, to just 316 and 19 for the Giants.
* The Patriots shredded the Giants for 22 unanswered points through the third and fourth quarters when the game appeared in doubt.
The Giants were boosted by a career performance by Eli Manning, who tied a personal best with 4 TD passes. Were it not for a 74-yard kick return by New York’s Domenik Hixon in the second quarter, it’s quite likely the Patriots would have been sporting a 38-21 lead with two minutes to play in the game.
And remember, relative to the expected performance of each team (more on those relative performances later this week), that was New York's best game of the year.
If the Giants can play better than their best game of the year, return another kick (or pick) for a score, and limit the Patriots to scores on, say, 6 of 9 drives, then they have a good shot at turning in the Upset of the Century.
But right now, any way you measure it, we're looking at the Mismatch of the Century.
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If the Giants lose this Sunday, they will be spoken about positively and the Cowboys and Colts will be dissed every year at week 17 when the question of do you rest or play your starters comes up for a team that has clinched.
If nothing else that is the legacy of the Giants, Colts and Cowboys is rest = rust.
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Those are awesome stories that always make me laugh.
And I agree, you should stick around Hoodie you know your game and you show respect.
Thanks, I might. I prefer discussing football with fans of other teams. I mean how may Brady is better than Manning (Peyton) threads does one need?
And different perspectives are interesting to read. Most of the folks on this board treat others with respect without heavy handed mods.
In my opinion this is one of the better boards I have visited.
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Lose one SB nobody remembers, lose four in a row, you go down in history. Just ask the only New York football team....
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I didn't know all of that, thanks for the info. But facts are facts, Belicheck isn't the
same coach he was when he coached the Browns. Browns fans went bezerk when
they found out Belicheck released Bernie Kosar, he was a hometown hero. I have no
doubt that alot of Pats fans disliked Bledsoe as their quarterback.
My question is this...what if Belicheck planed on all these moves and failed?
He would have followed Parcells every where, he would have been in Dallas.
Belichick spend most a lot of his time in Cleveland fighting with owner. Kosar was done and it was time to bring in a new QB. I tend to think if he was allowed to run the show in Cleveland he would have been a successful coach there.
And at the time, keeping in Brady was very unpopular with the fan base. Bledsoe was loved by the fans. Lots of callers on the talk radio shows were calling for Kraft to fire Belichick and put Bledsoe back in. There were some Brady supporters, but most of the fan base supported Bledsoe. Some even after the SB thought that the Pats should trade the rookie with one great season and keep the pro-bowler as the starter the next year.
Also keep in mind Parcells record without Belichick is not very impressive. And those teams were always teams that won on defense not offense.
After the SB in 2001, Kraft realized that the best thing he could do is just stay out of Bill's way, sit in his box, get drunk, and enjoy the game.
I do agree, that Brady is the player in which the team is built and much of BB's success comes from having one of the greatest QB's ever. But 32 teams skipped on Brady 6 times. BB could saw something nobody else did. BB can keep bad asses like Moss and Harrison who could be a cancer anywhere else inline and productive. BB can get a 14-0 team to focus and take seriously the Dolphins. He is huge part of the Patriots success, and is probably a big reason the Giants got their two rings.
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Although nobody ever is happy with their team losing, I think it would be fair to say that walking away from this season the NFC Champions would not be nearly the disappointment to Giants fans as it would be for Patriot fans to have their team go 18-1. And ultimately the season would be viewed as a huge success.
I know in both '85 and '96 I proudly sported an AFC Championship T-shirt, the following season. If the Patriots lose this year I will not wear an AFC Championship shirt.
'85 it was just a miracle we go there. And I saw '96 and Bill Parcells as the beginning of something great.
I suspect a lot more Giants fans would sport an NFC Championship to Giant stadium next year if the Giants lose next week, then Patriot fans would sport AFC championship gear if the Patriots don't finish what they started.
It is all about expectations. The Diamondbacks didn't have a disappointing season last year, the Yankees did.
If the Patriots lose it will go down as the biggest choke in history. If the Giants lose there won't be any stigmitism.
If the Giants lose now they will still have achieved more than anybody though possible at the beginning of the season, the mid point of the season, the start of the playoffs, before the Dallas game or even before the Green bay game.
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Oh and Bill Belicheck needs Tom Brady more than Tom Brady needs
Bill Belicheck.
Today that is true. If Belichick was to retire, Tom would thrive under any head coach.
But if it was not for BB, nobody would have ever heard of Tom.
BB wanted to draft him in the 2nd or 3rd round of the draft. Kraft blocked that, but eventually relented late in the 6th round to keep his new head coach from going nuts.
BB wanted to trade Bledsoe at the start of 2001 and start Tom Brady. Kraft went insane at that idea.
When Bledsoe was cleared to return, Kraft wanted BB to bench Brady, but relented after a huge fight with BB.
Kraft hasn't question BB since.
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But in reality, the Patriots don't even belong to Boston. Yea, Gilette Stadium is in the city, but there's a reason their called the New England Patriots.
Actually Gillette is not in Boston. It is 30 miles away in Foxboro, closer to Providence than Boston. Just like the NEW JERSEY Giants.
Which Jersey's Will the Gmen wear?
in New York Giants
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Fun Karma fact II
The Patriots are undefeated this season when wearing their blue uniforms. (They haven't been too shoddy in other colors either.)