Eli Manning was Sacked
Super Bowl 42, Patriots v.s. Giants
Situation: Patriots up 14-10, Under Two Minutes to Go
Third Down and Long
Eli Manning was in the grasp of numerous defensive lineman, but the Pats D-Line just couldn't bring him down. He ended up escaping and throwing a deep pass that David Tyree caught with his helmet. So, the question is, what if Eli Manning was whistled sacked on third down in Super Bowl 42?
It's third down and five, 1:15 remaining and the Giants are on the 44 yard line. When the play started, Eli Manning was immediately faced with pressure from Richard Seymour and Adalius Thomas in particular. Both Seymour and Thomas along with Jarvis Green had Eli Manning in their clasps right away. According to lead official Mike Carrey, he assumed that a sack was probably going to happen. The rule is that once the quarterback is in grasp and in control of the defense, the play is dead. Manning was in grasp and in control, but no call. Carrey was milliseconds away from blowing his whistle, but then he saw Manning escape and he let the play continue. We're going to go back in time and say that Mike Carrey blew his whistle and Manning was sacked, leaving the Giants with a 4th and 8 with just over a minute left to go.
Now, we can't assume what would've happened on a 4th and 8. The Giants had already converted on 4th down that drive, but it was from only one yard away. This was 8 yards. The odds were with the Patriots at completing history. There are two simple scenarios on this play, the Giants convert or they don't convert. Scenario 1 is simple, they convert and the drive continues and god only knows what happens after that. But let's say scenario 2 happened.
We all know that the Patriots were 18-0. Now, they just had stopped the Giants and they would simply kneel down on the ball and capture the Super Bowl.
This would've been the Patriots 4th Super Bowl in 7 Years. This secures their place for sure, if it wasn't already secured, with the Steelers of the 70's and the 49ers of the 80's.
With a 19-0 season, the Patriots are the greatest team in NFL history. It isn't even a debate. The league is a little bit tougher now than it was in the 70's with more teams and more physicality. With a 19-0 season, there is not debate that the 2007 Patriots are the greatest team of all time.
With the win, Tom Brady would've become the greatest quarterback of all time. Yes, all time. This would've gave him four Super Bowls. He just came off the greatest single season for any quarterback of all time. He would've led a fourth quarter comeback to win the Super Bowl as well. He also would've been the quarterback of an undefeated team, only him and Bob Griese can say that. With all of these accomplishments under his belt, there is little doubt that Tom Brady would've become the greatest quarterback of all time.
Of course, if the Patriots won, this game wouldn't be considered one of the better upsets in Super Bowl history and the greatest play in Super Bowl history would never have happened. All things happen for a reason. We could only wonder as sports fans what would've happened if Eli Manning was sacked and the David Tyree catch never happened.
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