Super Bowl XLVI Analysis

     Well, it's been just about a week since the Giants beat the Patriots and I have spent some of that week examining and dissecting what exactly happened. The big things you hear talked about in the news is the Welker drop, the Brady safety, Tom Brady not getting it done when it counts, blah, blah, blah.
      Let me start my argument by saying that the reason why the Giants won the game is because they dictated field position and time of possession. In the other areas of the game, the Patriots outplayed the Giants, not by much, but by enough to win the game by one possession. So how exactly did field position and time of possession impact Super Bowl XLVI? For one, Steve Weatherford, the Giants punter, pinned the Patriots within their five yard line three times! If there was a second MVP award, Weatherford would've been the choice in my opinion. When you are pinned within your five yard line, you can get six straight first downs and still not be in field position. In the case of the Patriots, it wasn't that they played below average on offense, it was that they were so deep in their own territory that they couldn't put together nine or so first downs to get touchdowns consistently. They did have that Super Bowl tying 98 yard touchdown drive at the end of the first half, but they also had that safety that was a result of a punt that the Giants pinned at the Pats six yard line. Also, the Patriots drive late in the game that featured the Wes Welker drop started at their four yard line. That was a great drive by the Patriots, but like I said before, after a while, no matter what defense you're up against, the defense is bound to get a stop sooner or later which is what the Giants did.
      So I stated how field position was a major factor, now what about time of possession. Back in October of this year, the Steelers defeated the Patriots and they did that largely by having the ball for around 39 minutes. In Super Bowl XLVI, the Giants had the ball for around 37 minutes. That's a 14 minute difference, roughly a quarter. So Tom Brady and the Patriots can't score if they don't have the ball. That's all Eli Manning, the Giants running game and clock management for the Giants. Obviously, some of the reason the time of possession was in the favor of the Giants was self inflicted, the Brady safety was unusual, yet a killer for the Patriots. But I'm not going to look at that as the play that cost them the game.

     Obviously it was the Wes Welker drop that cost the Patriots the game, right? Wrong, it was a number of plays. Neither the Patriots or the Giants were perfect, but in big situations, the Giants didn't make any mistakes and the Patriots did. The Tom Brady safety was the first mistake, which was Brady's fault, but it was so unusual that I can't fault Brady that much. The 12 men on the field penalty on the Patriots was humungous because they would have had a fumble recovery inside their ten yard line. Rob Ninkovich jumping off sides would've resulted in a three and out, but that gave the Giants a second opportunity which resulted in a field goal. People can say the Tom Brady interception was a game changer, I don't really think it was because it was basically as good as a punt, but if you look at the replay, Brady had 7-10 yards at least of open space ahead of him that could've easily moved the chains for the Patriots. And then of course there were the numerous drops by the Patriots. Though it wasn't a perfect throw, Wes Welker needs to catch that ball. People knock Brady for that play, but was Eli Manning putting every throw on the money for his receivers to catch? No, Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz and others were making those catches. A receiver of Welker's caliber needs to haul it in because it was in his hands. Not only that, Deion Branch, though the ball was behind him due to a tip, probably should've have hung on to that ball and Aaron Hernandez, on a perfect throw, needs to catch that ball. So after adding up all these Patriots miscues, you can start to see how they very easily could've won, but how ultimately they lost.
     Hats off to the Giants because they made the plays when it counted. They were slightly the better team than the Patriots this year. As a fan of the NFL, this game was everything you could've asked for down the stretch. I was thinking with about four minutes to go that the Patriots would score to make it 24-15 and think back on the game as great for me as a Patriots fan, but one I would consider one of the dullest in recent memory. So much for that thought. Thus concludes a fantastic NFL season and thus begins the excitement and buildup for next year. Nothing beats the NFL, even when your favorite team losses another heartbreaking Super Bowl.