Super Bowl XLVI - New York Giants vs. New England Patriots

The defenses were ranked No. 27 and No. 31 in the league. This game was largely two underachieving offenses fighting through ineptitude. It wasn't NYG defense that made Brady misfire on routine throws to Welker and Branch in closing minutes.

The Bengals, who the Texans beat twice, had the same record as the Giants. So if you're going to say they don't qualify as good...

 

No, it does. Brady is still a Hall of Famer, but after this, you simply cannot put him in the conversation as the greatest of all-time. And that's where he was discussed going into Sunday (and would have been even more with a win).

It's not one game, but several seasons now of Brady coming up short in big moments. He was absolute garbage against the Ravens two weeks ago. In his last six playoff games, his QB rating is in the low 80s. Also, they have just two wins in those six - one against Tebow and the other a gift-wrapped AFC title game.

If Brady can win another ring, he might get back in the conversation. But I don't see how that happens. This season, for the Patriots, was an incredible gift. Somehow, they ended up with a weak enough schedule to get the No. 1 seed without beating a single team with a winning record. From there, they drew Tim Tebow, a Baltimore team that completely self-destructed (and should've been beaten by the Texans), and a mediocre 9-7 Giants team that actually had a negative point differential on the year. Incredibly, they still didn't get it done. Going forward, the Pats still have a very weak defense and a tougher schedule. I think this was their last real chance in the Brady/Belichick era, and they blew it.

Yes, Brady's still a Hall of Famer and one of the better QBs ever... but you can't seriously talk about him as the best, imo. That, to me, is a hit on his legacy.

 

i disagree. i think the giants have more talent, overall, than the pats. i think the bradys played as well as they could and came up short. belichick basically said as much himself in the presser.

 

Teams of every team could be saying that they would have beat the giants or pats. For example the saints must be sick to their stomach right now, they would have won the Super Bowl had it not been for 5 turnovers.

Kyle Williams must also be pretty bummed, so is Lee Evans for dropping the easy touchdown. So yeah whatever makes you feel better I guess...

 

But don't they have loads of cap space and 2 1st rounders to shore up the defense?

 

The Patriots drafting is the best in the league. Bill can do no wrong on draft day.

 

Huh? This is one of those Patriots' myths that lingers to this day, even though it hasn't been true for nearly a decade. With exception of the Gronkowski-Hernandez draft, the Patriots have been absolutely terrible on draft day for at least the last five years. Their fans crucify them for this.

http://phinphanatic.com/2011/12/23/new-england-patriot-q-a/

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_19732989

 

Belichick routinely gets good grades from analysts on draft day. The Pats are always willing to slide down and acquire future picks, and they've tried to shore up need positions in the secondary. And that perception sticks with fans that don't closely follow the Patriots.

The problem, of course, is that draft-day grades are the dumbest things ever... because they don't factor in any NFL play. Which should be the point. When you actually look at Belichick's track record, they've been arguably the worst in the league at drafting and evaluating defense for the last 5+ years.

 

Sorry, I was being sarcastic, because their drafting has been terrible. I guess I wasn't over the top enough.

 

Ah, sorry I didn't catch it. Sadly, a lot of folks I read still act like Belichick is a draft-day genius, and that multiple picks can solve their issues. I'll believe it when I see it. The Patriots, to me, are a very flawed team (note I was the one praying throughout December for Texans to draw them in the second round) that had everything go their way this postseason... and still couldn't close the deal. I think this was the last hurrah for Brady/Belichick as serious contenders.

 

What is all this BS I keep hearing about Bradshaw should have gone down on the 1? Remember Tony Romo? Billy Cuntdiff? NEVER leave it up to the kicker and the snapper, that's crazy. It's the Super Bowl, the biggest game of most of these players careers. You take the lead and win that **** with your defense.

 

Good quote from Brady's smoking hot wife.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/02/gisele-bundchen-curses-tom-bradys-super-bowl-loss/

"My husband cannot ****ing throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time."

LOL. Good for her.

 

Seriously doubt that....

But... The Texans have the talent and coaching to win and win big for years, so if you're argument is that the Texans will dominate the AFC for the next 5 years so Brady/Belichick won't be contenders then I'll give you that

 

That **** was hilarious

 

Belichick's a cheater. Screw him.

 

I wasn't saying they would have a good draft. I was just saying they have lots of $$ to spend and 2 picks. Not a bad position to be in.

 

gotta agree with this. huge giants fan here but the fact is we just had more playmakers than the pats, especially in the wr area. branch, welker, hernandez all had critical drops on balls that were more than catchable in the laast 5 minutes of the game. meanwhile our third wr manningham makes a tyree-esque catch to start the winning drive. brady woulda had much better numbers had there not been so many drops

 

that throw to welker was not a good pass by brady.

 

The Texans are definitely one of them. I just think the Texans and Ravens, for starters, are both light years ahead of the Patriots in terms of overall team talent. Then factor in that several teams like the Jets, Dolphins and Raiders are a QB away from serious contention - and Peyton Manning is on the market. My bet is that Peyton stays in the AFC and signs with one of those, for reasons of familiarity. (Same reason Favre wanted Minnesota.) There's also the Steelers, who - while aging - had seriously awful luck with injuries this year and could conceivably have another year in that elite class.

Of course, the Pats could get hot at the right time - much like the Giants did this year. In a one-game scenario, anything can happen. But overall, I don't think they're in the upper class of AFC teams next season. Playoffs, yes, but...

 

what exactly do you want to see to meet your qualifications of 2 good teams both playing a good game? both teams' offensive and defensive totals to end up at exactly league average in every statistical per game measure?

fair enough on the bengals point. i guess my overall point is, conjecturing who "the best team" is, is silly. the team that wins the super bowl is all that matters. not who finished 1st in total offense and total defense. there are other factors that come into play on teams' paths to the superbowl.