But it turned out that replacing Barber
had some significant benefits beyond the obvious. Teammates considered him a distraction
in the locker room, something of a clubhouse lawyer. They felt his in-season retirement
announcement in 2006 created problems for the team. As good a player as Barber
was, he was something of a divisive force in the locker room.
Now, the departure of Barber is not the only reason the Giants are celebrating
a Super Bowl title today and it's not even the major reason, not after the way
their defense overwhelmed the Patriots in Sunday night's 17-14 victory.
Yet Barber's departure brought the team much closer together, a point made by
many in a locker room that was celebrating one of the biggest upsets in NFL history.
"The best part of it for me is the idea that this group of young men, who
came together and believed in themselves, bought the team concept completely,
took the names off the back of the jerseys, checked the egos at the door,"
said coach Tom Coughlin. "The reinforcement for team is the greatest source
of satisfaction for me."
There was reinforcement for Miami coach Don Shula, too, because his 1972 team
again stands alone as the only NFL team to complete a perfect season. And we don't
have to worry anymore about assessing the Patriots' place in history. They still
have a nice dynasty going, but they are not the best team in history.
Today, there is no question about that. In fact, New England couldn't even beat
the second-best team in the NFC East. "Every team is beatable. You never
know," said Coughlin. "The right moment, the right time, every team
is beatable."
The Giants are the third straight team to survive the wild-card round of the playoffs
and win the Super Bowl, and the fifth in 11 years. But they are the first team
from the NFC, for years the weaker conference, to do it.
"I think we shocked the world," said Giants defensive end Michael Strahan.
"Hell, we maybe shocked ourselves."
"Their intensity from the beginning snap to the end of the game was really
higher than ours," said Patriots receiver Randy Moss. "It kind of surprised
me."
Regular season MVP Tom Brady did not play well, but he did not have much help,
either. The Giants defense, which was the NFL's best at sacking the quarterback
during the season, dominated against the Patriots' offensive line. The Giants
blitzed on about a third of the plays, mostly on the inside instead of the outside
to get pressure on Brady quicker. For most of the night, Brady looked uncomfortable
and out of sync. The Patriots couldn't get their running game going and their
offense consisted mostly of short screen passes.
Brady, knocked down a dozen or more times after throwing and sacked a season-high
five times (he had been sacked 24 times in 18 previous games), looked nothing
like the quarterback who set an NFL record by throwing 50 touchdown passes during
the season.
Whether it was the mild ankle sprain he suffered in the AFC Championship Game
or something else, Brady often seemed strangely unaware of pressure coming his
way and seemed either unable or unwilling to maneuver out of the way.
Instead of Brady, it was Eli Manning, joining his brother Peyton to become back-to-back
Super Bowl MVPs, who kept his cool and played brilliantly at the games most significant
moments. Nothing that Manning did was more impressive than the 83-yard drive he
orchestrated in 127 seconds after Brady led the Patriots on a go-ahead drive in
the fourth quarter.
Eleven of the 12 plays called on the drive were passes. Three of them came on
third-and-5 or more, and all three were completed. One of the significant completions
was so seemingly out of character for Manning that you could have sworn he was
John Elway or Steve Young.
It was a play that began from the Giants' 44-yard line with 1:15 remaining. Defensive
end Jarvis Green burst through the Giants line and grabbed Manning by the jersey,
trying to pull him backward and down. Two other defenders had a shot at Manning.
No one would have been surprised if referee Mike Carey blew the whistle and ruled
an in-the-grasp sack.
But Carey did not blow the whistle, and Green did not get Manning down. Manning
got free of Green's grasp, escaped, circled back to his right and heaved the ball
through the heavens and down the field.
David Tyree, who earlier in the quarter scored his first touchdown of the season,
out-jumped safety Rodney Harrison for the ball, gaining 32 yards to the Patriots'
24-yard line.
"That play alone took a few years off my life," Strahan said.
Three plays later, on third-and-11 from the 25, Manning threw to Steve Smith for
12 yards. And on the next play, cornerback Ellis Hobbs stood flat-footed as Plaxico Burress ran past him to catch Manning's 13-yarder in the end zone with 35 seconds
remaining in the fourth quarter. Rookie Jay Alford put the exclamation point on
the championship two plays after the kickoff when he burst through the Patriots
line to plant his helmet on Brady's chest for a 10-yard sack, the final one of
the night.
During the regular season, the Patriots averaged 36.8 points and 411.3 yards.
They missed their average by more than three touchdowns and nearly 140 yards.
And, after a week of renewed controversy about taping and alleged taping of opponents,
the Super Bowl defeat also left Patriots coach Bill Belichick with a burning question
about his strategy.
Midway through the third quarter, with the Patriots leading, 7-3, Belichick passed
up what would have been about a 49-yard field-goal attempt. The Patriots instead
threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-13 from the Giants' 31-yard line.
Was Belichick concerned about field position? Or that his overwhelmed offensive
line might allow the kick to be blocked? Belichick said he thought about kicking,
but pointed out the kick was not a gimme. But those three points looked large
at the end of the game. Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski had made 22 of 26 field-goal
attempts in the 18 victories.
"What I learned today is how tough it is to go undefeated," said Don
Shula, coach of the '72 Dolphins, who was in the stadium. "That's why I'm
even more proud of our '72 team than I've ever been. It shows it's a tremendous
accomplishment.
"It hadn't been done before we went undefeated, and it hasn't been done since."
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