Entertaining But Ugly
Well the media on the East Coast of the US will be happy. Super Bowl XLVI features the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII in 2008. You remember that one? David Tyree’s miraculous helmet catch helped the Giants stun the previously unbeaten Patriots and ruin their perfect season.
Today’s AFC and NFC championship games were extremely competitive and entertaining, but they were dominated by defense, turnovers and mistakes. Here’s a quick review of both.
AFC: Patriots 23 Ravens 20
The AFC championship game wasn’t much of an advertisement for American football, despite the fact that it went down to the wire. Much of the game was marred by poor play calls and missed tackles, while the last few minutes was a comedy of errors highlighted by a dropped touchdown and a missed field goal.
The Patriots moved the ball efficiently but struggled to convert in the red zone, getting inside the 20 five times, but forced to settle for three field goals. Tom Brady was uncharacteristically average, throwing two interceptions and admitting to the media afterward that he “sucked pretty bad today.”
Meanwhile, Baltimore stuck to its game plan, with a combination of stout defense and efficient but conservative offense, rolling up 398 yards against a soft New England defense. Much maligned quarterback Joe Flacco threw two touchdown passes and despite an ill-advised interception, the Ravens were in position to win late in the fourth quarter.
Flacco drove Baltimore to the 14-yard line, where Lee Evans appeared to catch a game-winning touchdown pass, but was stripped of the ball by Sterling Moore. Two plays later, Billy Cundiff, a Pro Bowl kicker last season, shanked a 32-yarder and New England escaped with the win.
NFC: Giants 20 49ers 17 (OT)
The second game was played in atrocious San Francisco weather, yet was much more interesting. Two overachieving teams slugged it out, with the Giants eventually prevailing in overtime.
As they have all season, the 49ers played superb defense, but the offense was anemic, other than a couple of Alex Smith to Vernon Davis touchdown passes and a few Frank Gore runs. San Francisco was 1-13 on third down conversions and couldn’t move the ball when it needed to.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning was tremendous in the clutch, and he’ll now get the chance to earn a second Super Bowl ring, which would be one more than his more heralded brother Peyton. Eli was 32/58 for 316 yards and two touchdowns, but it was his cool demeanour in the pocket (San Francisco sacked him six times) that was most impressive.
Like so many playoff games, this one came down to a key turnover, and it was punt returner Kyle Williams who will be remembered as the villain. He turned it over twice today, once when a punt inadvertently hit his leg and then in overtime when he coughed it up at his own 36.
That fumble put New York in position for the winning field goal, and after 12 plays, Lawrence Tynes booted it through the uprights, breaking the hearts of San Francisco players, coaches and fans and giving the Giants a berth in the Super Bowl.
