GolfHos

so who wins ?

I really thought about it this weekend , looked at some stats, rewound both title games on the DVR...

and I wanted to say the Gints  just might pull off the miracle.   

then I read this  [sm_disgust] (http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/story/10616135) which made me puke to think I would be agreeing with Petey Crisco  :shoothead:

so I guess now I will go with Pats win  [sm_disgust] but don't cover
 [sm_shock]

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1070738&srvc=home&position=also

jeebus what asshats

Pat.s in a rout.

I have a feeling Giants will cover the spread (if its still 12 - I haven't checked lately).

Now that I've put it out there it will be something like 49-17 Pats.

give hoodie two shots at someone and he will destroy them the second time. 8)

Yep.  I was thinking 45-17.

How can you argue with this? [sm_laughatyou]

Pats 38 Giants 17

I'm hoping for a close/exciting game, but I agree with stroh's prediction.

I predict my drive home from work tonight will be pretty clear of other cars.

Pats 24 - 17

I hope all you prognosticators saw this yesterday. :'(

how desperate for performers is FOX that they trot out willie f'n nelson.

jeebus.

Why do you hate the IRS?

Giants all da wai!


:D

LOL  +1  ;D

I want Moss and Maroney to pwn, but Giants to win. ;D

Moss:         2 TD's, 147 yards receiving
Maroney:     2 TD's  123 yards rushing.
Welker:       64 yards receiving.
Stallworth:   1 TD  38 yards receiving.
Brady:         1 TD  Quarterback/Passer rating  121.3
Gostkowski:  FG  32 yards.
Patriots   45
Giants     17


[Edit: I know gleek.  I didn't feel like doing the math.  ;D ]

Who's on first??

tom petty. how lame is that.  ::)

I hate to be the guy who brings up the commercials, but... does anyone besides me find the salesgenie.com commercials to be a bit racist?

mmm....my wife just looked at me after the panda one with a WTF? look on her face.

Now THAT is why the call Tom Brady a professional

'72 Dolphins start readying the champagne flutes.  [sm_devil]

What's the score??

10-7 Giants. 10:00 to go in 4th quarter.

Thanks.   ;)

Do the Patriots look like they could run over the top of the Giants??

Not based on their last possession, but they're getting the ball back right now with 8:21 to go. Lots of game left to play.

"Bud Light, suck one." 
[sm_rolling]

I saw that too. LMAO

Uh oh.

Holy Cow!!

Dammit!  >:(

To coin a phrase:

"Hey, we're all gonna get laid!" 8)

Manning looking desperate. This one's over.  :sad3:

Manning is pushing it

Holy crap! How'd Manning pull that one off?  :o

Premature exclamation maybe??

Definately

Let me get a couple of things out of the way: I hate Eli Manning, I hate Tom Coughlin, and I'm not a huge fan of the 'Phins, '72 or otherwise.

That being said: Suck it Boston Fan!   8)

 [sm_beertoast]

One of the best SuperBowls?

Certainly one of the most compelling.

Actually, I found 3/4 of it to be fairly boring. But what a 4th quarter!

What a hit

And its over

Bill Belichick is a cock. That is all.

GOOOOO Giants

WOOT!  ;D

Belichick is officially an *bunghole*.

Anyone want stock tips?  [sm_anon]

Definitely one of the best 4th quarters. And as boring as it was up until then at least it kept me watching. I haven't been able to say that about most SB's.

Great performance by the Giants.

Yippee for me.  My wife is a Giants fan.  No bitching for a week or two. ;D

Both got TD's and the Giants won. w00t. 8)

lol ;D

pay up stroh.

i own you.

lmao at myself for agreeing with stroh.

Great 4th quarter!

dont *fiddlesticks* with the golhos preseaon prognosticatr champ  and  golfhos-figs pickem  champ!

booyah!

Love defense.  One of the best Super Bowls ever I think.

Three SB wins by three points each with a cloud of cheating hanging over the whole era.  Finally get a game where there's no way they could go that route and they lose.  Interesting discussion for boards if nothing else.    ;) ;D [sm_devil] [sm_devil] [sm_devil]

18*-1

go drown in deh haahhhbuhhh  ... specillay you flog2dave. 
 [sm_devil] :) [sm_rolling]

Is that like holding the WBC and WBA belts at the same time?

Only drunk.

Wish I would trusted my gut and put some money on it.

Oh well, for a guy who told his wife before the game that I really didn't care who won I sure looked like a NYG fanboi during the 4th quarter.  ;D

trusted your gut on covering the spread?  i picked em outright until  crisco did !
 [sm_devil] [sm_laughing]

In gambling the only thing that matters is the spread. I actually did think they had a chance to win. Just like the last few games the Pats have played in which they looked very beatable. And I didn't think the New York football Giants could hold them to 14 points.

I really thought it would be a similar game to the one they played in week 17 with the Giants falling just short.

Ditto on the loving defense, and ditto on the one of the best ever.

I really wanted to see an undefeated team again, but this was a great game.

Then again I love soccer and watching no hitters.  :-\

yeh, I know, I just felt like pointing out my gut was right but I didn't trust it because crisco agreed.  of cours actually picking to the spread is harder in the long haul.  (if you notice, i did still agree the gints would win with the spread  ;) )



i thought it would be lower scoring, but gints would win based on better pass rush and more effective running game (per F.O)
 8)

(http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2008/02/03/1202093926_9595.jpg)

Deep down, in places you don't want to think about, you have a man-crush on crisco.  ;D [sm_devil] ;)


This is why I don't gamble much $ at all. In the long run I like my money too much.  :)

(http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/greg1184/tombrady.jpg)

lol

My dad was cheering for the Pats, too. 

Reasoning for the Giants to win:
I don't care for Brady. 
I don't care for Belicheck and his coaching style.
I think that their celebration in the years ahead would be far worse than just raising champagne. 

Reasoning for the Pats to win:
I didn't really want Eli to win the SuperBowl, either.
It would be nice for Seau to have a ring.
My dad is cheering for the Pats, and that always pulls me that direction just a bit.  (I'll always be a Daddy's Girl. :D)

I wouldn't have been crushed if the Patriots won, just as it wouldn't have crushed me if the Giants had won had I been cheering for the Pats. I guess what it came down to was that I'd like to see the Giants win just a little bit more, marginally so, and only because I had less I disliked about them.  But, you know, I haven't had to put up with 36 years of the Dolphins celebrating, either.  And I think that's a major difference.  (Or that's a major difference for my dad and me.)

If not for the hype surrounding the Patriots, would this SB have been one of the more boring ones? Except for the sacks on Brady, I didn't see THAT many great defensive plays for a game that could be called a defensive struggle. During the low-scoring 2nd and 3rd quarters, the only reason I stayed interested in the game is because of the Patriots' potential of scoring on any given play. This made defensive stops by the Giants look more impressive than they really were.

Look more impressive than they really were?  The highest-scoring offense in the history of professional football, able to score on any play, an ability which you concede kept your interest in the game ... and when the Giants stop them, it's not ACTUALLY impressive?

The NYG defense executed the "blueprint" better than any team.  Not that there's anything special about the "blueprint" itself: harry Brady, cover Moss.  Teams have known that since about Week 4.  What was special tonight was the Giants' execution of it.

I think we also saw that the NE defense was a bit overrated.  When they're in a closer game and the opposing offense can mix plays, they aren't nearly as dominant as their league rankings imply.

But that's exactly what I mean. The defensive performance was impressive only because of what the Patriot's offense did in other games and not necessarily because of what the Giants did in this game. For an observer that's unfamiliar with the hype, I think this SB probably seemed to be just a so-so game in terms of offensive and defensive performances. The one thing that this game had going for it was the number of lead changes, but I guess having ANY lead change at all in a SB makes it more exciting.

You've lost me.

I don't think the NE OFFENSE was the slightest bit overrated.  A Giants defense that was able to contain them IS impressive, in my opinion.

I don't know the final stats but throughout the game Brady was on his back on 50% of his drop backs.  There were outstanding plays by both secondaries (that's what kept the Pats in the game in my view).  The running game wasn't worthy of highlight reels but there were plenty of hard tackles and extra efforts to pick up five yards.  Throw in some wicked special teams coverage and I think this was an extremely well played game.

I'd put it right up.  Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Boy did that game suck.  I've seen games that sucked before, but that had to be the suckiest bunch of suck to ever suck.

the defensive performance was dominating because a pass rush of about 70% straight 4 man line schemes with a mix in of about 25% 1 man blitz and 5% 2 man blitz  got consistent quick pressure on brady  vs  an O-line that has 3 (at least 2 legit) pro bowlers.  this forced a lot of te/rb  sets for added protection that normally release an added receiver into the underneath/sideline flats causing the usual wider zone holes for deep balls  to be removed.  combine that with the dbacks playing significantly better than their season average  in not allowing lots of blown coverage big plays... and there you go.

I defer to your expertise on the subject.   ;)

I think the biggest difference (scoring-wise) between this game and any other game is that the Gints offense was able to sustain long drives to keep the Patriots offense off the field. The Patriots didn't even touch the ball until almost 10 minutes into the game.

If you compare the drive charts between the AFCCG (http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/gamecenter/drivecharts/NFL_20080120_SD@NE) and the SB (http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/gamecenter/drivecharts/NFL_20080203_NYG@NE), you'll see a similar level of success by the Pats offense.

Through the first 9 drives (which is all they got in the SB):
AFCCG: 2 TDs, 4 punts, 2 turnovers, half
SB: 2 TDs, 4 punts, 1 turnover, 2 downs

So, to me, the Gints defense didn't play any better than the Chargers defense. The reason that the Chargers lost is because the Pats defense came up huge on 3 goal line stands. If not for those big defensive stops, the Pats would have ended the season 17-1 rather than 18-1.

In the SB, other than the INT off the hands of Smith, which was really due to luck rather than good defense, the Pats defense made no big plays in this game as far as I can remember. So I'm inclined to give the Gints offense a lot of credit for this win. Simply not turning over the ball (more than they did) was huge.

then again,  also keep in mind:

AFC title game: played outdoors in a fairly brisk wind.  both QB's seemed to need at least the 1st quarter to find much 'rhythm'  in it, and neither ever really looked comfortable with long or finesse throws all game . compare to the perfect conditions in the SB.

AFC title game:  LT did not really play (outside of 1st 5 plays IIRC?)  and I would love* to see a % of all SD scoring plays originating inside the RZ  that he touches the ball in some form on.    even if he is simply a motion decoy out of the flat , he commands far more attention  from the defense  than any of his backups... both for his running... AND his passing skills.  this partially offsets the fact they don't have a prototypical 'fade' receiver or slot threat... which keeps their offense usually on line to score a good amount of TD's in the RZ.   combine that with the fact that the RZ is where NE defense is actually good.. and it's little surprise (at least to me) that in that game the NE defense looked amazing compared to the SB.  of course, the gints had both their main RB's , and do have an elite 'fade' receiver as well as at least a quasi-competant slot receiver....  anyways,  what i still don't get is why  hobbs was playing burress on that last TD  instead of samuel.

I think the old axiom of the game being won in the trenches applied here. The battle between the Giants defensive front 7 and the Pats O' line was incredible the whole game. Defense isn't always about making the spectacular play, it's also about keeping offenses out of rhythm and Brady rushed several passes that should have been easy cheesy. Both defenses did a great job of disrupting the other offenses rhythm. On the other hand the Giants O' line did a much better job of protecting Eli than I thought they could, that final drive was fun to watch, it hinged on a very lucky catch, but luck is the design of practice and timing.

Only time will tell if this was one of the great games "evar", but I am inclined initially to say yes. Only three or four times in the history of the Super Bowl has a double digit under dog won, they did it with an incredible pass rush that kept the greatest offense this game has ever seen so totally out of sync they didn't know where they were.

I'm not a charts and graphs kinda guy, I'm a gut feeling dude, I liked what I saw as I was watching it and waking up today nothing has been said or done to change the gut feeling.

Bunch of *fudge*in' hip.s.  In the two weeks leading up to the game, I read/heard in the media how the 18-0 Pat.s team wasn't even close to the greatest NFL team. [sm_scratch]


But now those same clowns are terming the New York Football Giants achievement as the biggest upset in NFL history.



Those two don't seem to reconcile.

If not, it's pretty close.


Can't argue that they were the greatest "offensive" team. If they would have won obviously the best team ever. For me the '85 Chicago Bears is still the greatest defensive team ever, but that's another thread.

They can be reconciled if you believed that these Gints were the WORST TEAM EVAR  (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/news/story?id=3210952) to make the SB.

DVOA.surrenders

I can only surmise that Aaron Schatz is the village idiot.

lol, they're also about 1/10 teams ever (ok, modern era of DVOA anyways!)  to ride a 40% 4+ game (probably about to be 5 games) DVOA streak-  one which they did AT THE EXACT RIGHT TIME.  into and through the playoffs.   

re-reading gleeks link,  its interesting schatz wrote all that up that way.  a lot of his own hard work in FO/DVOA   and several other pre-SB week articles   are invaluable predictors of exactly what happened in this game

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/2008/02/01/ramblings/game-previews/6079/

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/2008/01/23/ramblings/dvoa-ratings/6057/


in particular,  note  NYG  4week run   RZ performance on offense.  71% .  phenomenal,  with total offensive DVOA on a major trend rise

Check this (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3228923&sportCat=nfl) out:


LMAO

What the *fudge* does this mean?





 ::)

It means that the stars had to align for this team to get to 18-0 with one game remaining and that it won't happen for them again next season or in any season hence.

That's ridiculous.

Several 15 and 1 teams.  There is no evidence to suggest that they can not pick up where they left off in the next season.

I don't have a link to support it, but I heard on the radio that at one point (I think it was the '05 season, into the '06) They had run off 22 straight games.

I would say more probable than improbable, and certainly not impossible.

I think the author of the article made an ignorant statement.  ;D

This astrologer made some predictions that were spot on.

- luck for Eli
- bad karma for Brady
- Belichick taking uncalculated risks

KlWML4fyrrU

She talks funny.

LOL

1noYVFl-Cnk

That was fast.