As a Jets fan, I obviously had no love for either team, but the
Giants were clearly the lesser of two evils for me, so I was
rooting for them enthusiastically, and it was an amazing night.
What defined it more than anything was that it was an incredible
team performance by the Giants. For the first three quarters of the
game, their defense was stellar and the pass rush unstoppable. Tom
Brady was kept off balance for most of the game and really never
gained his rythm. But the Patriots were kept in the game because
the Giants offense was never able to capitalize off of its
opportunities. But then, just as the defense began to show signs of
wearing down, relenting a touchdown in what looked like it was
going to be yet another Brady comeback story, the dormant Giants
offense awoke, and just put together a miraculous drive. That
circus play, in which Manning somehow managed to evade a sack, back
out of traffic and toss what seemed like a hail mary to David
Tyree, who held onto the ball in midair by pressing the ball to his
helmet with one hand, will rank right up there with Franco Harris's
Immaculate Reception among legendary NFL plays. The Giants, like
they have throughout the postseason, played like a team with
nothing to lose that worked their hearts out and had faith in
themselves. For Manning, this has to be a huge personal triumph, as
he finally overcame the skeptics and got out of his brother's
shadow. Even though he may not have the talent or statistics of his
brother, he now has this victory, which nobody can take away from
him.
So that brings me back to the title of this post, was it the
best Super Bowl ever? Well, let me just say that the first one I
remember was Super Bowl XX between the Patriots and the Bears, and
of the 23 games I watched, this was the best. Not only did it have
back and forth touchdowns in the final moments of the game, a
stunning drive for the win, but it was a great underdog story with
the Giants beating a team that had a shot to go perfect. Absolutely
unbelievable.