Football "Purists" had to LOVE this game

[BleedinBlue]

Well.....it's Monday morning and I'm still in shock....a little hungover....unable to turn ESPN off....reading every story I can find on the net and reliving every moment over and over. Still finding it hard to believe we did it.

 

This was smashmouth football at it's best. Like baseball purists who relish a 1-0 or 2-1 game, this was the game of a lifetime for football purists....where heart, grit, and defense wins the game. Not one of those fancy 40-37 games of offensive flurry and offensives records falling like dominoes. Nope....this was REAL football...the kind REAL football fans crave.

 

I remember one of Tom Coughlin's first comments to the press when he was hired. He said his first mission was to "rebuild the lines" - and that a good team, "wins in the trenches". He said "great teams are built by winning in the trenches and that's going to be my focus". With a Giants defensive line that completely dominated the Patriots O-line ( a line that includes 3 pro-bowlers), and a Giants offensive line that protected Eli....I think T.C.'s goal has come to fruition and could his statements 4 years ago be more aprapo or more true?

 

Where does one begin when trying to comment on such a great game. The emotional response in my body from a sporting event was like no other time in my life....even surpasing Hakim Warrick's slap away shot that sealed SU's national championship in the last second of the game. I thought my heart would give out when Brady heaved those last two throws in the waning seconds. After the second shot down field and the ball was batted away I became numb...trying to comprehend that the Giants just pulled it off. Disbelief, numbness, choking back tears, trying to absorb what just happened, unsure if I was really seeing what I was seeing.....it was simply a moment in which emotional confusion actually surpassed what should have been pure joy. I couldn't even yell because I was so totally stunned. I just kept saying over and over in an almost inaudible voice, "I don't believe it...I don't believe it...I don't believe it...". In reality, my confusion and numbness started on the Giants' last drive capped off by Plaxico's catch in the corner.

 

Everything about this game made it the greatest football game I've ever watched in my life. This was smashmouth football - grit, dirt, heart, an epic battle fought every second of the game with a "Rocky" like comeback from the "team that doesn't stand a chance". For me...it was the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team..the Kirk Gibson homerun in the 9th...and Secretariat winning the Triple Crown by 22 lengths all wrapped into one.

 

Just a partial list of my take on the game:

 

- Jacobs early run hitting Merriweather and driving him 10 feet backwards through the air....and later when he picked up 2 yards on a 4th and 1 that was the end of the game if he didn't make it.....and some great, great defense against the blitz to keep Eli safe (and I have to mention Bradshaw for likewise defending Eli).

 

- Osi/Tuck/Strahan absolutely dominating a pro-bowl offensive line and rattling Brady in a way that Brady has never felt.

 

- Amani/Smith/Tyree rising to the occassion when it was "do or die" in some of the most difficult opportunities. And what can be said of Tyree? The touchdown - the "catch" that will be shown on highlite films for the remainder of my life and probably my kids' and grandkids' lives.

 

- Plax playing hurt all season and making the play to seal the game. When he was interviewed later, he started to break down and looked skyward, blowing his cheeks out with exhausted air, followed by a flood of tears from the combination of shear disbelief and joy. I know a few tears trickled down my cheeks as well still trying to comprehend the moment and realizing what was just accomplished.

 

- Eli proved to the world that he has the grit, the talent, and the brains to be a world champion.

 

- 8 Rookies on this team....that in itself is an unspeakable improbability of magnitude that defies all reasoning. The catch by Boss, the extra yards by Bradshaw with a heart bigger than the stadium, Alford crushing the life out of Brady, Ross and Johnson playing exceptional coverage and defense, Smith making the catch and diving for an extra couple yards to get the first down, etc.

 

- Coughlin unable to stop smiling after the Gatorade shower.

 

What a game. What a win. What a great time to be a Giants fan.

[Lubeck]

Amen.