Giants set to face off against Patriots in dramatic Super Bowl XLII rematch
- By Jay Hrina, Assistant Sports Editor
From the second Plaxico Burress caught the go-ahead touchdown in Super Bowl XLII, Bill Belichick has been gritting his teeth, eagerly awaiting another chance to not only amend and defeat the Giants for their upset victory, but to embarrass them in the process.
He’s been salivating at the thought, hoping to revenge a loss that no one expected to occur.
You can’t spell believe without Eli, you can’t spell elite without Eli and you can’t topple a Brady empire unless you have Eli.
A Hail Mary pass to Hakeem Nicks to end the first half against the Green Bay Packers was reminiscent of a similar prayer to David Tyree that shocked the nation against the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
Fool me twice and it’s a shame on all of us. Nothing has changed about the 9-7 team between the end of the regular season and now.
It’s amazing that no one was able to notice how elite Eli Manning is, how good the Giants defense is and how a receiving core that features three studs can go under the radar. Even after the 2007 Giants (10-6) won the Super Bowl, people felt the Patriots lost that game more than the Giants won. The Giants still weren’t that good.
Why it takes so long for the team to come together and perform to this level is baffling, but when everything clicks there isn’t a team in the National Football League better than the New York Giants.
At the beginning of the season, when Eli Manning was asked if he was in the same category as Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, Manning, emphatically and without hesitation, answered “absolutely.”
For some odd reason, we laughed and felt he just wasn’t as good. Some were even saying that Phillip Rivers, who was New York Giants property for all of twenty minutes, was a better quarterback than Eli, and somehow that didn’t seem too far-fetched.
Not only has Eli shown his calm poise and excellent vision throughout the playoffs, but he’s displayed an incredible amount of toughness. The offensive line has been a turnstile and Manning has absorbed the constant hits and sacks, and shrugging them off as if nothing ever happened.
The receivers work off of each other perfectly and each benefits from it. Remember Steve Smith? Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and Victor Cruz have been stellar for the Giants this season. They’re clutch, and a lock to catch the ball. Without their perseverance, Eli wouldn’t be the fourth quarter magician that he is.
They don’t cry when they don’t get the ball, they don’t quit on their team in the middle of a game, cause a tirade or make anyone look like a fool.
They’re classy, smooth, suave and most certainly won’t be underrated any longer. Tom Brady uses a two tight end set so frequently because he doesn’t have the arsenal that Eli Manning has.
This Super Bowl rematch is incredible. A Harbaugh family reunion would have been a nice story, but a rematch of the only Super Bowl that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have lost in their careers certainly escalates the tension fans have for this game.
The hype that’s added with the extra week in between benefits the NFL greatly, and with all of us on edge for this Super Bowl Sunday to arrive, you can bet the league is grinning at the match-up. What they should be doing instead is something about the hideous event commonly referred to as the Pro Bowl, which is supposed to ease the pain of waiting, rather than make it worse.
