The trajectory of Eli Manning’s professional football career has been like none other – let’s begin with a little review in an effort to dispel any pre-conceived notions. For the first 4 years of Eli’s career he was generally regarded by everybody outside of New York as a joke. Many Giants fans even shared this sentiment, although you’ll have a hard time finding one who would admit that now. All in all, this was a fair characterization – Eli never had a passer rating above 80, and never had a completion percentage higher than 60%.

Then everything changed on that crazy day in February 2008.

Eli summoned his inner Little Giants and hoisted his toilet paper roll into the night sky. David Tyree scratched his head at just the right moment, and Rodney Harrison seemed to have lead in his shoes.

From that day forward, the average Giant fan felt validated. They would tell you that they put up with Eli’s first four seasons fully understanding that a Super Bowl would come their way. Many others would continue to see Eli’s performance as flukey and would continue to question his legitimacy despite his Super Bowl title – but then he went on and won again.

When Eli won his 2nd Super Bowl last February, everything changed again. His validation this time didn’t come solely from Giants fans. ESPN analysts lined up to throw Eli in a lineup of the game’s best quarterbacks. He had reached that upper echelon.

What really made this an interesting assertion is that Eli’s numbers never really popped. He’s thrown for more than 30 touchdowns in a season only once, and he’s thrown for 4500+ yards only once as well. But with Eli, it was never all about numbers. The analysts would tell you that he was a winner – it made sense, given his two Super Bowl titles. Further validation came in the form of statistics – the only commonly tracked stat that Eli has ever led the NFL in (aside from interceptions) is 4th quarter comebacks. It might be ugly, but the man was getting it done.

Then this season happened – the defending Super Bowl Champions failed to make the playoffs, losing the division to a rookie quarterback and getting bested by Tony Romo in the process. Eli collapsed down the stretch in pretty terrific fashion. My point is not to say that you need to win it all every year – nobody does that. My point is that Eli had it all this year – one of the most feared defenses in the NFL and a stable of offensive options that any QB would kill for. For a “top-tier” quarterback to not make the playoffs given this setup is a big deal – it should at least raise some eyebrows. But when you couple it with what I’ve been selling all along – the reality that Eli has a serious turnover problem – I think that Eli’s legitimacy should be seriously in question.

Now that you, Giants fan, are sufficiently pissed off (how dare I!), let me make a couple of clarifying points. I am not questioning the legitimacy of the Giants – I think they are a good team. And yes, I have seen Eli play very well. I have seen him come back and win in very impressive fashion. At his best, he’s dangerous, no doubt. But 4th quarter comebacks don’t impress me when you need to come back in the first place because you’ve given the ball to the other team twice already. Eli’s highs and lows have been very high and very low, but I’d argue that in order to be included in the lineup of the game’s best QBs you need to play at a high level with consistency. Tom Brady has done it. Peyton Manning has done it. More recently, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees have done it. Eli Manning has not.

Eli’s 2012 campaign brought 9 wins and 7 losses, 3,948 yards, 26 touchdowns and 19 turnovers. Not bad, but certainly not top-tier (especially given the weapons he has). Trust me, I know the counter argument – two Super Bowls. I’d never argue against Super Bowls, as Super Bowls trump all. But let’s not allow the Super Bowls to skew the reality that Eli Manning is most certainly not a top quarterback consistently.

I’ve long compared Eli to Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan, and have been ridiculed for doing so. Both players have less experience than Eli. Both players also throw more touchdowns and fewer interceptions than Eli. They complete a higher percentage of passes, and have a higher career passer rating. But most importantly, they win more – and it’s not close. Eli’s career winning percentage is 57%, Ryan’s is 71%, and Flacco’s is 67%. I’m keenly aware of what Flacco and Ryan have done in the playoffs – nothing – but I’m also a realist in the sense that I see the numbers telling me that Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan consistently play the quarterback position at a higher level than Eli does.

So ask yourselves, Giants fans – is Eli that good? What’s to say that with the team the Giants have built, those two Super Bowl titles shouldn’t be 3? or 4? Eli Manning’s inconsistency has undoubtedly hurt your franchise in the sense that he hasn’t been able to give the Giants an opportunity to win year in and year out – I think it’s only logical to think that if Matt Ryan or Joe Flacco was playing quarterback for the Giants they would have been even more successful, which is also a testament to how good the Giants are as a team. A true top-tier quarterback may very well have won more titles for you – and the Giants might then be mentioned in the same breath as the Patriots when discussing the best team of the past decade.

By Jimmy Cunningham, howiGit New York Writer, Manhattan, NY

Tom Coughlin is one of the best coaches in the NFL. He is one of three active coaches to have multiple Super Bowl victories – one of them being Mike Shanahan who won his in the 90’s and has not had a winning record since 2006 –  the other being Bill Belichick, who Coughlin has beaten in both of his Super Bowl wins. However, Sunday night’s loss to the Eagles was a result of two poor coaching decisions in the last 2:30 of the game.

The first decision was how Coughlin handled his last two timeouts around the 2 minute warning. The Eagles had the ball trailing by 1, with a 1^st and goal from the Giants 8 yard line and 2:30 to play. LeSean McCoy ran for four yards and the Giants let the clock run to the two minute warning. The Giants then stopped the Eagles next two plays (calling their timeouts after both plays), forced a field goal, and had the ball kicked off to them with 1:49 left to play. What Coughlin should have done is use his timeouts on the other side of the two minute warning. Assuming the Giants stop the Eagles in the same way they get the ball kicked back to them with 2 minutes left. That is 11 seconds that Coughlin let tick away – an error that was magnified by what took place on the subsequent drive.

The Giants got the ball on the 35 after a good return from rookie David Wilson, who returned the ball well all game. Thanks to two pass interference calls on the Eagles’ corners the Giants had the ball on the Eagles’ 27 with 47 seconds to play. A 42-yard field goal is well within Lawrence Tynes range and the Giants looked like they had pulled off another last minute comeback. The Giants play calling was questionable from there on out, but Giants Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride can’t shave his face without screwing up so I can’t say I was surprised. After a dive play up the middle for a yard the Giants took a shot at the end zone and after some back and forth by both players offensive pass interference was called on Ramses Barden. The Giants get pushed back to the 36, putting them outside of Tynes’ range (Tynes’ career long is 53 yards). With 21 seconds left Eli threw an incomplete pass to Domenik Hixon leaving them with 3rd and 20 from the 36 with 15 seconds left. Time for one more play along the sideline, or even a dump over the middle and a spike, right?

Wrong.

Instead Coughlin sends out Tynes to try a career long to win or lose the game. Giants snap the ball, the kick is up, and it’s nowhere close – game over. But wait! Andy Reid, who somehow saved a timeout until the end of the game, iced the kicker. The play doesn’t count. One would think that after watching the kicker come nowhere close that Coughlin would take advantage of the other coach’s mistake – do the right thing and attempt to get closer for the game winner. Nope. Out came Tynes again, who this time was on target but was a yard or two short. There is a reason Tynes’ career long is 53 and not 56.

But what would have happened if Coughlin used his timeouts properly before the two minute warning? Instead of 3^nd and 20 with 15 seconds left there are 26 seconds left. I do not believe Coughlin would have made the same decision with 26 seconds left. They would have had time for a play almost anywhere on the field and time to spike the ball. If they got 5 yards they are in Tynes’ range. But Coughlin let precious seconds waste away and was left with a decision that he got wrong.

The Giants are now 2-2, and worse, 0-2 in the division. The Giants never make things easy for themselves, and I am not panicking nor calling for Coughlin’s head, yet. But I would feel a lot better today at 3-1 with a win in Philly. The frustrating part is the Giants players put themselves in position to win on the field, but the guy pulling the strings from the sidelines did not.

In shocking news, an ESPN.com poll today showed that the New York Giants are at least getting some degree of respect this season. With over 40,000 votes, I can’t make this stuff up. So does it feel Giants fans? Make some whiny comment about being under-appreciated here…

By Jimmy Cunningham, howiGit New York Writer, Manhattan, NY

Writing this one was fun. After I finished celebrating by dancing and taking my shirt off… wait that was Rob Gronkowski and Matt Light. But after drinking 30 Bud Lights and hugging anyone I could get my hands on, I started to think about the article I was going to write about 2-time Super Bowl MVP Elisha Manning. Eli’s gotten plenty of shit on this blog, I decided to go back and find it all. And my God there was a lot. I wanted to write this on Monday, but my hangover got in the way. So I sat down on Tuesday to find it all. Going back from the most recent article to the beginning of this blog is the behavior of a psychopath, but it allowed me to see, 1) How much shit Eli gets, and 2) How great this blog is. It let me go back and see many great posts by Geoff and other contributors, great arguments, simply asinine arguments, and how far this blog has come. I am truly proud to be a small part of it. But enough of fluffing Geoff’s already JPP wingspan sized ego –  let’s rip him to shreds.

I was able to find 18 articles in which Eli was somehow bashed. Geoff tries to write an article a day, usually not on weekends, so that is almost a full month of Eli bashing. Let’s get to the highlights. The Eli pot shots started August 17, 2010 with the very appropriate title of “Eli Manning- Lets Take Some Pot Shots.” Most of these have to do with the very mature argument “He looks dumb.”

” I didn’t have to wait long (big surprise) to see Eli’s ever-present whining-panicked-crying look return to his ugly mug.” -howiGit

“There’s no defending Eli….he could be an MVP and lead the league in TD’s but he’d still be a huge idiot, just becasue of his dumb face… his stats dont matter…hes a clown. He could be the best QB in the league (which he’s not even close) and hed still be the worst just casue of his dumb face.”
-Teck

Expert analysis guys, I much prefer the picture above. Next came the August 20th article, written by the best looking blogger on this site, yours truly.

“I don’t know about calling Eli a “star” quarterback. Come on. Even if he was in the top 10 in the league, that doesn’t necessarily make him a star. Stars are stars because they stand out in ability compared to their peers at the same position.” -howiGit

Our own howiGit called Eli elite this week. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a star.

And it continued when the new planet Gliese 581g was discovered.

“After finishing a particularly troublesome argument this morning, in which some people tried to favorably compare “elite” quarterback Eli Manning to Tom Brady, I decided I’d had enough. I can’t share a planet with the likes of Eli and A-Rod, no way. They don’t deserve to live in a galaxy with a being as supreme as myself. I’m tired of having them bring me down.”-howiGit

Hope you got your space suit ready.

I was at it again on October 27th with a Giants article. From the comments:

“I think Eli Manning is overrated, but the rest of the Giants are pretty damn solid. Hence my CC Sabathia comment. The Giants wouldn’t be much worse with him in there for Eli. Throw any B- quarterback in there and you’re still a good team. I agree on all fronts. Please just don’t use “Eli” and “Leader” in the same sentence again.”-howiGit

I am itching for Mike Vick or another B- QB. And then came this gem:

“All of the above is irrelevant, for this reason. When you have a pussy leader, like say….Iran, your country sucks. Sure there are millions of good and decent people in Iran, but Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes you forget about all of them, and chalk up Iran as a silly state. Same goes for Quarterbacks in football, the Giants have some serious talent and skill, but Eli manning is a moron, and thus follows, his team will not make it to the super bowl, just like Iran will not be a respected government in the next 15 years or ever on the UN Security Council. Sorry Giants fans.”- Mr Alan Weeks

I still have no idea what this means, but to use the same incoherent rambling metaphor; Eli Manning just went America all over everyone’s ass.

On December 20th and on December 21st, after an awful Giants loss Mr Kevin Youkillis wrote this:

“Oh j-bone, so predictable.. im surprised you havent’ brought up the giants winning the super bowl yet. it’s time for some new material. geeze Jimmy.. really resorting to the Giants winning the super bowl again? i feel like im watching ground hogs day.” -Kevin Youkilis

Well congrats Bud, I got some more material. The Eagles, they can give Bill Murray a call because its the same ole shit for them.

“Would the Giants be a better team with Jay Cutler as their QB instead of Eli? That questions is officially on the table for discussion’s sake people, so run with it.” -howiGit

Short answer no, long answer no. It continues two days later.

“Ok it was a shot at Eli, but that’s one of my specialties.”- howiGit

That was it all in the 2010 season; to summarize the best Boston sports blog around wrote 6 articles of note about the New York Giants QB, who the Pats did not play that year. The creepy obsession with Elisha made Sundays all the more enjoyable.

But to think that no football would stop the Eli bashing would be more accurate than Tom Brady’s loud mouth wife telling him he played the best game of his life.

On Feb 2 Tom Brady is named to GQ Cool Athlete list and howiGit for the roughly the sixth time tells me the tapes of Tom Brady dumping the ball into the flat are in the mail – they must have gotten lost. If you want I can mail you the last two Super Bowls he played in, because he did not play well in either. There is a lot of Eli vs Brady in this one if anyone is interested.
http://www.howigit.com/2011/02/02/tom-brady-for-all-you-haters/#comments

The next article takes us to June 16th when the city of Boston started to pretend to be Bruin fans. This one doesn’t have much to do with Eli at all but it was an epic argument that still holds very true. Tom Brady has never won a Super Bowl with out the benefit of defensive signals. Every Super Bowl team Tom Brady has been on cheated to get there. When I mentioned this then, it was called a witch hunt and alot of just silliness was demanded, such as me having to show the tapes in order for it to be considered cheating. But this one still holds true, and to quote the old Boston Sports Guy before he went to LA and howiGit took his throne, “The Giants made this happen. And to a lesser extent, so did the Jets — without them, Spygate never happens, and neither does that “You’ve never won anything since Spygate” crap, which technically isn’t crap because it’s true.”

We almost made it through the whole summer with out an Eli shot. When Albert Haynesworth signed and I said it was a bad fit (I am such an idiot for thinking that by the way) Eli was brought up out of nowhere. Even when he hasn’t had to watch him in months Eli is still on howiGit’s mind… in retrospect it actually is kinda cute.
http://www.howigit.com/2011/07/28/patriots-sign-albert-haynesworth/#comments

This is my second favorite one. Chad OchoCinco is signed. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Who could have seen this one coming? Here’s my favorite part:
“Branch on one side, Chad on the other and Welker in the slot. Even if the Jets sign Nhamdi (I dont think they will) the addition of Johnson gives Patriots the best recieving corps in the league. Especially when you add in Hernandez and Gronk.”- Williams

You just f’n nailed this one kid, right on the money as usual.

“Jimmy nothing you say holds any weight in regards to the Patriots.” -Williams

My suggestion of using the $12 mil spent on Fat Albert and OchoNoShow on the secondary seems pretty spot on now. Muppet.

Now this one was my favorite. Eli Manning says he is ELIte, you would have thought someone said Larry Bird really wasn’t all that good with the reaction this got.

You can go read the article to see how wrong our Editor In Chief was but I will just use one line, “In other words, shut your mouth Eli – you’re just making yourself looks stupid.” It is now your time to shut your mouth about Eli, because all your bashing just made you look stupid.

Now on to some final comments:

Mr. Sportsglutton:
“BTW J-Bone….Eli’s a bum”
We will get to you in a second.

Kevin Youkillis:
“Eli is not even a top 10 qb. In no order i would rather have VIck, Rodgers, Peyton, Brady, Brees, Rothleisberger, Rivers, Bradford, Cutler, Flacco and Ryan. each of these qbs is either better or has a significant upside to their game that Eli does not have. I suppose yo could argue he is in the very bottom teir of that top 10, but i don’t see it. and dont give me the “he has a ring” nonsense.”

Yes Kevin Youkillis put Bradford, Flacco, Ryan, Cutler, and Vick ahead of Eli.

“i have bradford because of his age, cutler can be cut and replaced with freeman.”

Now add Josh Freeman. Todd McShay better get his resume ready because when evaluating talent like my good friend Kevin here you should be getting paid for your opinions.

Shmi:
“I would also drop Cutler and Bradford off this list, but I would also add Josh Freeman and Kyle Orton to QBs that are better than Eli.”

WOW. Josh Freeman threw 16 touchdowns and 22 picks. Kyle Orton got cut.

“What exactly is a “statistically lucky year?” What, did Vick accidentally let go of the ball a couple of times, and it ended up in the endzone 21 times? Conversely, Eli threw the ball a bunch of times, and by some unfortunate stroke of luck, he put it in an opponent’s hands 1.5 times per game?”

Mike Vicks career td/int ratio is 1.2, Mike Vicks 2010 3.5, Mike Vicks 2011 1.2. That is what is called regression to the mean.

“OK, if I win, you come to a Phillies game and wear Phillies gear, if you win I’ll go to a Yankees game wearing Yankees gear. Pictures and insults to be posted.”

Eli 1.8, Vick 1.2. I will have something special picked out for you, let me know what date you wanna go see 27 World Championship Banners.

howiGit:
“His career otherwise is defined by big passing yardage numbers followed by interceptions and choking.”

No his career is defined by being a multiple Super Bowl winner and MVP both times, both times outplaying Tom Brady. And as far as choking, Eli set the record for most 4th quarter comebacks in a season, he had 8 total if you count the NFC championships and Super bowl. And most 4th quarter touchdown passes ever by a QB in a season. He right now is the best big game quarterback and most clutch player in the league.

And finally after over a year of bashing we get to the last article I can find. This was exhausting and I am embarrassed how much time I spent looking back. Tom Brady talks about lube or something and mr glutton shows up again.

“The difference J-Bone is that Brady is a winner. Winners get to do whatever they want. Eli is and looks like a loser. Losers get picked on and beat up after gym class.”

I think Tom Brady is tired of playing Eli in gym class.

“I do it because of your blind allegiance to an average NFL quarterback. Yes, for better and for worse (usually worst) he is your New York Giants’ qb and you have to live with that. I could be wrong but I don’t recall you ever being overly critical, slamming Eli, or just being pissed that you have to rely on him to run your team’s offense. I find this particularly vexing given Eli’s propensity to pull “Romos” on a regular basis. Loyalty and trust like yours can be an admirable thing, but not when it’s comparable band members following someone from the Delta Tau Chi fraternity into an alley way and ramming themselves into a brick wall over and over and over. Be objective and admit Eli isn’t a great quarterback and we can move on (a miracle pass and having a great defense in the Super Bowl doesn’t count).”

And here is the thing on why all of you were so very wrong. Us Giant fans had “blind allegiance” to Eli because we have actually watched every game of his career. We have watched him raise his QB rating in the 4th quarter when it matters most, something Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger (his actually DROPS 15 points from any other quarter), Drew Brees, or Aaron Rodgers do not do. We have watched him average a 4th quarter comeback every 5.7 games and a game winning drive every 4.84 games in comparison to Brady’s 6.4 and 4.6. So Eli takes his team back more often the Tom and has a game winning drive almost as often but all we hear is Tom is clutch and Eli is a bum, choker, ugly, and dumb. We have watched him put his team on his back twice to win the Super Bowl to the tune of 15 tds, 2 picks, and 2073 yards, in comparison to Bradys 3 super bowls at 11 tds, 3 picks, and 1951 yards. And we have now watched this idiot get his team in the end zone twice with under a minute left, both times against Brady’s Patriots. When you know someone is wrong, especially when that person in question is your favorite football player on your favorite team you stick up for them, and in the end Eli backed us up. Now that Eli has finally shut your collectivity wrong mouths, I just hope we have something to argue about around here. I am sure we will find something.

It’s the morning of February 6, 2012, and the blast has passed. Although fallout levels are still likely dangerous, I’ve exhausted my stash of PBRs and must emerge. The worst is behind us now, I keep telling myself. The worst is behind us now.

As I climb up the ladder towards the hatch’s vault-like circular steel lock, all I feel is numb. And even as I work the lock hand over hand  like a crazed pirate sailing in circles, the New England air that seeps through previously air-tight seal doesn’t feel as crisp. The sky is a bit yellow, few cars crawl along the streets, and a caustic melancholy hangs, feeling like it will never thin.

It comes with the territory of playing in five Super Bowls in 11 years, an unprecedented run the sports anchors tell us. But any way you cut it, I can assure you that losing a Super Bowl to New York is wicked uncool.

In my emotionally unstable state, I’ll start with a little ego coddling. Heading into this game I was criticized for picking the Giants against the Packers, against the 49ers, and eventually against the Patriots. I was told that I was trying to jinx the Giants, that I was picking the Giants in the self-interest of making a loss that much more bearable. To those who shared these sentiments, I’d like to share one of my own; I was right. I picked the Giants against teams that were 15-1, 13-3, and 13-3, and the Giants won them all. They earned this win, and good for them. Now onto the game…

From my perspective, this was the fastest football game that I’ve ever watched – it really seemed like the game was over in 15 minutes. Most Super Bowls that I’ve been invested in drag by, each play of excruciating importance seemingly playing out one act at a time. Not this time around. It seemed like Eli played great, and so did Tom. It seemed like both defenses played pretty damn well. It seemed like a pretty error free game. Everybody played well, and the Giants just happened to end up on top. From the perspective of a Giants fan, I don’t think anything could be more important.

We all know that Patriots fans (hell, NFL fans aside from Giants fans) think that 2007 was something of a fluke. Make no mistake about it, there was nothing flukey about this win. It was won as a football game should be won, and thus provides the validation that Eli Manning so desperately needed.

So now the fun part, the part that you all want to hear – I can’t hide forever without dishing on what this means for Eli Manning. Eli Manning just became the 11th quarterback in NFL history to win two Super Bowls – that’s one more Super Bowl win than his brother Peyton has, and in my eyes that puts him in an elite class. I think that Eli and Ben Roethlisberger now share a spot together in terms of their place in the current NFL landscape. I would now mention Eli in the handful of the best quarterbacks in the NFL – I’m not sure he has the talent of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, or Drew Brees, but he has something that none of them aside from Brady have – a knack for winning. Yes, I think you have to call him one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks.

My only knock against the Giants this time around was the general lack of class they showed around the Super Bowl – all of the shit-talking by their players leading into the game, posting that they were Super Bowl champions on their website before the game was even played, etc. But these are things that aren’t surprising, and from an on-field perspective the Giants took care of business.

As for the Patriots, you’ve got to feel for Wes Welker following his dropped pass. I think the Patriots were generally right in targeting Aaron Hernandez so much, and I also support Bill Belichick’s decision to let the Giants score in order to give Tom Brady the ball with some time left on the clock. Brady got the ball with 57 seconds to go and needed a touchdown, which he didn’t get. It was really the first time he failed to do what needed to be done with the Super Bowl on the line.

Sure, Rob Gronkowski was a non-factor in the game and was clearly severely inhibited by his ankle. But from a New England standpoint, none of these storylines are what this game was about. This game was about Tom Brady and Bill Belichick being denied the cherry on top, the win that would permanently cement them both as the best ever and allow them to ride off into the sunset no matter what happens in their remaining time together. As Bostonian’s have now realized with regards to the Celtics, there’s a window of opportunity that any team has to win. Tom Brady is 34 years old and should have 3-4 seasons left in him, but the window of opportunity is closing and there’s certainly no guarantee that he’ll ever have a shot at winning a 4th Super Bowl again. Ultimately, that’s why this loss hurts so much.

Kudos to the Giants, on a win whose importance cannot be understated for their franchise, and especially for their embattled quarterback. As for the Patriots, they made a season that started with little hope a whole lot of fun to watch. Let’s all hope that we get to see Brady versus Manning act number three.

Somebody get me about 16 ambien, because I’ve already started sputtering nonsense and know that I don’t have the fortitude to actually watch this year’s Super Bowl. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – in all my year’s of Boston fandom, this game has the potential to be, A) the 2nd biggest victory of my life, or B) the most devastating loss of my life. After a media-blitzed week, there’s little else to say; it’s time to let this game play out.

This week went as most everybody thought it would; the spotlight was far and away on Rob Gronkowski’s ankle. The Giants talked a ton of trash, and the Patriots kept their mouths shut. Despite endless rounds of analysis, the consensus seems to be that this should be a great game.

I’ve already babbled this game to death, but I’ll leave you with a few of my more recent thoughts to chew on.

1) The Giants are, statistically, the worst team to ever make the Super Bowl. In the regular season this year they scored 394 points while allowing 400. Never before has a Super Bowl team had a negative regular season point differential. Do I think this matters? Absolutely not. The Giants have gotten healthy and are on a roll; they are not the team that they were in the regular season. Still, for New England fans, this could provide some comfort.

2) So much has been made of the Giants pass rush, and in my mind, rightfully so. It’s the key to the game, the key to beating the Patriots. I think any way you cut it the Giants will put pressure on Brady. He’ll get sacked and the place will go nuts. But what no one is talking about is the Patriots offensive line. They are very much the key to the game for the Patriots. The Patriots O-line is actually pretty decent, but let’s face the fact that playing O-line is a glamourless position. If this group steps up and plays a great game, I think the Patriots chances of winning go up exponentially.

All in all, I’m sticking by my guns – I still expect the Giants to win. It’s a strange feeling as a Patriots fan to feel like the underdog, but as all of us in Boston know that can only make the taste of victory that much more sweet.

Go get ‘em Tom (and Vince)!

Patriots Giants, Giants Patriots….what’s it going to be? Last time around everybody and their mother expected the Pats to win. This time around, the Giants seem to be the favorite. I for one think the Giants will win (don’t give me any jinx talk, I was right about this the past two weeks), although I desperately want to Pats to pull it out. As a Boston-based blog with a slew of New York readers, let’s see what our audience is thinking.

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Rob Gronkowski, you savage man-bro beast. You need to play in the Super Bowl. Seriously. Do it for the strippers.  Do it for all the bros out there. Do it for me. Spike that ball, you beautiful bastard.

Everybody in New England saw that ankle twist completely around. My reaction was he’s done, out for the season, that’s it 100%. Then he was back on the field a few minutes later, playing as though nothing was wrong. To be honest, I’m worried that it was a combination of toughness and adrenaline that got Gronk back out there, and I’m even more worried that he did additional damage in returning to the game.

Yesterday Gronk was listed as “Did not practice” for a practice that didn’t even occur (hypothetical practices? what has the NFL come to?). He’s walking with a boot. You better believe that the ankle is sore as hell. While I believe that Gronk did serious damage to his ankle – this ain’t no sprain, just watch the tape – I also have no doubt that he’ll play in the Super Bowl. They’ll dope that ankle up good and proper, and hopefully he won’t lose a step.

Everybody knows that if Gronk’s out, it’s a huge loss for the Patriots. He was Tom Brady’s best target this year, and that’s enough of an argument if we leave it at that. But the more I look at this match-up, the more I realize that Gronkowski could very well be the difference maker. With the pressure the Giants will be putting on Brady, he’ll be looking to get the ball out of his hands almost instantaneously. Sure, Brady has the chemistry to complete these passes to Wes Welker and Deion Branch, although they tend to leave little room for error. But in a blitz situation, Gronk has the size to be easily found, and the speed and strength to create the separation needed.

With blitzes coming (and we know they will) Gronk may only have to shred a tackler or two to break a big play into the endzone. I just can’t see that Patriots winning without the Tom-Gronk connect being a vital part of their success.

I’ve already started to hear it from Giants fans and feel like I need to clarify what I think the upcoming Super Bowl means for Eli Manning. To start, it means a lot more to Eli than it does to Tom Brady in terms of their respective legacies. Tom will go down as one of the best in NFL history regardless; for him this game is about getting some revenge and securing his legacy as the best quarterback ever. For Eli, this game is all about validation. He’s already won a Super Bowl, but every quarterback must back up the first win with a second to claim their spot in history. And everybody remembers the fashion in which the his first Super Bowl was won.

I’ve stated that if the final minute of the 2007 Super Bowl shook out a little differently, or if Asante Samuel could actually catch the ball, then Eli Manning would be considered something of a chump with a major interception problem. First off, I said that before the playoffs began this year when Eli hadn’t reeled off the wins he has already this postseason – wins that are obviously helping to build his resume. Before this season though, Eli had played in the playoffs four times. Aside from his Super Bowl season in 2007, Eli’s other three playoff appearances resulted in a 0-3 record with 1 touchdown, 6 interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 54. As I said, without 2007 Eli is viewed as a chump.

I think that regardless of the outcome of this year’s Super Bowl, even the staunchest Eli-haters (me) will admit that he’s an improved quarterback, has shown he can do it in the 4th quarter, and he’s coming off his best season yet. There’s still plenty of issues with his game, but he’s not exactly the same Eli that we’ve been bashing for so long.

I don’t mean to trivialize the importance of the Super Bowl, I simply mean to say I think better of him already. But if he wants to take that next step, if he wants to actually make a name for himself, then he’s got the perfect opportunity in front of him on Super Bowl Sunday.

As I watched a room full of exhilarated Pats fans celebrate following Billy Cundiff’s shanked field goal, I couldn’t help but thinking, “This isn’t how you want to win.” The uneasiness aside, it’s fantastic to be returning to the Super Bowl. The Patriots-Giants rematch that nobody expected has become a reality.

Now let me say it… STERLING MOORE?! You better believe it. Forget about Tom Brady or Billy Cundiff, it was Bill Belichick’s latest street-meat member of the secondary that saved this game on back to back plays. Rob Gronkowski completely shattered his ankle, but was healed by a team of his favorite strippers in the Patriots lockerroom. Tom Brady, by his own admission, really sucked. But in the end it was enough… barely.

As I alluded to in the pre-game article, I think that the Giants will beat the Patriots. They’re the originators of the recipe to beat the Pats, and they are playing well. While neither the AFC championship nor the NFC championship was truly “won” yesterday, I think that ultimately Eli Manning is a better quarterback than he was in 2008 and the Patriots’ pass defense is much worse. If they can consistently disrupt Brady, I have to give them the nod in this game.

While that’s my feeling, I never really saw the Patriots as a legitimate championship caliber team this year. To have them in this situation is remarkable – it’s one game and I’m fully aware that anything can happen. If I don’t die of a heart attack pre-kick-off  it should be a fun game to watch.

This Super Bowl, distilled and boiled down to its essence, comes down to this in my mind:

If the Patriots win, Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback in NFL history (which I will prove should this happen). If the Giants win, Eli Manning will be vaunted into the class of quarterbacks with two rings and will be remembered as the guy who had Tom Brady’s number. Simply put, I will never hear the end of it.

This will be the single biggest NFL game I have ever watched, and probably the single biggest sporting event I’ve ever watched in terms of what I have riding on the game; years worth of mockery, one way or the other.