I don't think the decision had anything to do with lack of passion, or arrogance. The decision was fairly consistent with what the Patriots have been doing since Vinatieri left. It could have simply have been that they calculated the odds of 'going for it' and getting a first down to be better than the odds of their young kicker making a 49 yarder. Of course, when they failed to get the first down, I was like everyone else and questioned the decision, but with a clearer head I was able to remember the times over the last 2 seasons when they have done the same thing but succeeded. If Manning had been sacked or Tyree hadn't made that amazing catch, on that one play that eventually won the Giants the game, there wouldn't be any talk about so called lack of passion. IMO, the Giants came up with a genius game plan. Most coaches look at other teams and try to exploit their weakness. The Giants saw that the Pats didn't have any weaknesses, so instead attacked their biggest strength, the Pats O line. By defeating the O line, the rest of the Pats offense was neutralized just enough to allow the Giants to stay in the game. On another note, lots of people, for whatever reasons(s) seem to consider the Pats 'classless'. The 72 Dolphins, including coach Shula, IMO have shown themselves to be totally classless. I can't imagine any other athlete openly rooting for a player/team to lose so that they can maintain their record. Can you imagine Jack Nicklaus when Tiger is about to beat his record for major wins. Do you think he is going to be in the commentators booth slapping Johnny Miller on the back if Tiger misses a putt on the 18th hole and loses? Do you think he will be calling it the happiest day he has had in 35 years?
NO WEAKNESSES???? LMAO Macal, the Pats DO HAVE weaknesses, are you joking? LOTS OF WEAKNESSES. For starters, their linebackers are eligible for SS in a few years LOL i could go on..and on and on
Then please do go on, and on, and on.... "LOTS OF WEAKNESSES" does not translate into being 1 play away from having a perfect season. Its kind of like saying that the 2007 Dolphins had "LOTS OF STRENGTHS"...I could go on and on and on... I will concede though that the Pats will need to change a few of the linebackers for next season before they start claiming senior citizen discounts at the lunch counter checkout.
When you go 18 and 0, you only change one thing: You do go for the field goal early in the game. IMHO, it was arrogance not to do so. However, before the game, I just "knew" the Patriots were going to win. I was thinking 47 to 3 or such. The Giants weren't even supposed to be at the Superbowl, unless they had a ticket. But, I can only congratulate the Giants. They won it fair and square. In fact, on the day of the Superbowl, they outplayed the Patriots. Period. Now.....Having said all that.....Does this mean the Giants are a better football team than the Patriots? No.....I mean hell no! And if these two teams met again next Sunday and you had to bet $1,000 on the winner, who would you take? I'd take the Patriots, without a second thought.
Unique, one-of-a-kind Waterford Crystal Super Bowl XLII Champion Football at Macy's: That page is no longer up on their website (replaced by the correct one), but has been preserved on a blog.