(click on image for Superbowl 42 highlights)
The underdog New York Giants made another playoff upset at the most important game of the NFL season. The Giants never gave up in Superbowl 42. When the Giants were behind by 4 points with less than 3 minutes remaining in the game, Eli Manning made critical passes and the Giants receivers made fantastic catches to win the game. The Patriots’ defense could not stop the Giants in the last 3 minutes of the game. The Patriots defense had multiple opportunities to intercept Manning’s passes in the last minutes but were not able to make the interceptions. The Giants defeated the New England Patriots with a score of 17-14. The Giants showed their desire to win with a more physical play than the Patriots. The wildcard Giants set the record as the lowest playoff ranked team to win the Superbowl. Even the Giants got a record by playing against the Patriots. The Giants must have caught Patriots’ record breaking fever. If you were a Giants fan, you would be the happiest person in the world with one of the biggest upsets in sports history. The Giants last minute comeback made this one of the most exciting Superbowls reminiscent of the Patriots Superbowl 36 win at the last minute against the St. Louis Rams but this time, the Patriots are at the losing end of an upset.
The Patriots had made winning look so simple this season that it was shocking to see the Patriots lose. The majority of viewers expected the Patriots to win easily against the Giants. The disappointed Patriots lost mainly because their offense could not handle the blitzing Giants defense in the second and third quarters of the game. The Patriots were not able to block the Giants pass rushers nor were the Patriots running backs able to rush. The Patriots got so many penalties that they could not get a rhythm going. The Giants accomplished their game plan of continuously putting pressure on Tom Brady. Although the Patriots were not able to win this Superbowl, a Superbowl appearance enforced the Patriots “dynasty of the decade” status with 4 Superbowl appearances so far this decade. The Patriots got a perfect 16 wins regular season but were not able to obtain the prestigious perfect 19 wins in an entire NFL season. If it was easy to win 19 consecutive games then it wouldn’t be called a quest. It’s too bad that the loss had to happen in the Superbowl. A record 18 wins and 1 loss is really not that bad. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady already have 3 Superbowl wins and are young enough to attempt for more in the future. This is Belichick and Brady's first loss in a Superbowl. As dedicated sports fans say, “There’s always next year.”.
Superbowl 42 had 97.5 million viewers, the second most watched TV show in history. 105.7 people watched the fourth quarter. FOX charged $2.7 million per 30 second commercial ad with 63 ad slots.
NFL 2007 ends with a humiliating upset by the playoff favorites beating Giants against the almost unbeatable Patriots.
(click on image for 2008 NBA All-Star highlights)
