Re: I Hate To Be Here
posted at 2/6/2012 1:28 PM EST
Giants were more lucky than good in the playoffs. This 49er fan(45 years in SF) and 1st 21 in Maine so a Boston team fan first needs to vent. NY beats Green Bay and Rodgers said that the loss of a son by a coach affected him and many players deeply---was this an excuse on his part that GB played poorly ? Maybe and Maybe not ! But I was at the SF game and a fluke bounce hitting the receiver's knee by 1/2 inch gives NY the ball at 20 yd line & they score a TD. There were other breaks…Bradshaw stripped of the ball while upright causing a fumble at NY 20 yard line but refs called play stopped “In The Grasp” and couldn’t be challenged. On 2 occasions there were 2 not 1 SF defenders knocking down a pass but also colliding preventing interceptions. The same receiver who had the ball nick his knee---he was a replacement for 49er regular kick off return man, Ted Ginn, who was hurt---in OT fumbles and gives NY a gift wrapped win with a 20 yd field goal in OT. Manning was hit 21 times and sacked 6 times. NY needed to punt 10 times in 2nd half and only scored their 10 points on a TD from the fluke bounce ball & a field goal in OT from the fumble. If the Giant fans did not admit they were lucky to win that game they are not true football fans !!!
The first drive by Giants resulting in a safety giving them 2 pts was the first step toward gifts to NY. On the next drive the Pats’ defense results in a fumble at about the 10 yd line I think and they recover but had 12 men on the field. NY then went on to score and led 9 to 0. The Pats then go on to score 17 points in a row. And in that same period they caused 2 NY fumbles and as luck would have it, the Giants recovered both times. Then Gronkowski, supposedly hampered with his ankle, still outran a Giant defender but in front of him at 6’6” might have caught Brady’s interception. Watch the replay, the defender also waves off Gronk with right arm, slight yes, but still could have been called for interference. Then, of course, the dropped passes by Welker & Hernandez which were claimed to not be on target still should have been caught. These would have continued to give the Pats possession. I don’t have stats but NY had to have had the ball 1 1/2 times as long in the game as we did and I believe on their last drive our defense was fatigued. Also, Brady made 16 passes in a row surpassing Montana’s SB record of 13. With NE ahead 17-9, it’s still only a 1 score game needing a 2 pt conversion. We tried to kill the clock running the ball and needing to pass on 3rd down. We do not have the backs to sustain running play 1st down drives. We needed to continue to pass…short 5 yarders perhaps as Brady was under constant pressure and I know this this not run the clock down but keeping possession by passes does. If we had more than an 8 point lead, yup, perhaps run the ball twice in a possession.
As opposed to the 49ers, the Pats did not pressure Manning as much. On the last possession from the 12 yd line the miracle acrobatic pass to Manningham was excruciating as I saw while refs still did not confirm the play that he was in bounds. Incredible that Welker & Hernandez drop much easier balls and this guy was able to stay in bounds and hold on to the ball as he was hit pretty hard too---skill in Mannings throw & the catch too but still very lucky !!!
Anyway, during the week Brady was compared to Joe Montana. Joe was his childhood hero and he watched him practice in 49ers training grounds in Santa Clara, Ca. I believe Joe always praised Brady as opposed to some comments people felt he didn’t. But Montana’s real claim to fame was his ability to produce a winning drive with under 2 minutes. Brady had a chance to do so but it was Manning, ala Montana, who executed the 88 yard clock killing drive.
Giants were good but, I reiterate, lucky too. But there is a feeling in sports that good players are lucky.
Amen
