Well bust my buttons! When I picked the Giants last time out I was doing so with about 85% heart and 15% head. I pretty much figured I was "doomed" like all the "emotionally berserk Amateurs with 'Home Team Fever'" the late Hunter Thompson used to talk about around NCAA tournament time; loyal guys and gals who bet good money on their old school and then watch their bracket explode when they loose in the second round. I'm not a gambler, but have been in those office pools before, and I have the fortune (or misfortune depending on how you see it) to be associated with three schools that make it to the dance quite often but usually don't stay long; Xavier, Iona and Seton Hall. I've seen my bracket blowed up good plenty of times. When all three make it, I am doomed to be sure; good thing gambling is a vice I never picked up, or I'd be in sad shape for sure. But I digress...
Yes, I was one of the many who thought the Giants could win, but only if things fell exactly right. The Giants D would have to slow down the Packer offensive attack since stopping them would be impossible, the offense needed to play flawlessly and pray it was still close and low scoring at the end, much like how they played New England in the Super Bowl in '08. If you told me before the game the final score would be 37-20, I'd have said the Pack was Back in the NFC title game.
But alas, the G-Men played like the Jets talk and are now on their way to San Francisco.
What were the keys?
1. Green Bay played like the nervous underdogs: a first half onside kick (that failed), dropped passes, Aaron Rogers looking like a deer in the headlights even though the pass rush really didn't show up until the second half. And whats with deferring the kick off? They had a record setting offense with an emotional reason to want to be out there first while their D is more porous than my grandmothers colander. The Giants may not have gotten seven points, but they did score 3 shaving some time off the clock and taking the early momentum that they never really lost.
2. Eli played like an elite quarterback; he took risks when appropriate (the Hail Mary at the end of the first half) but also took a "smart" sack rather than force the ball in a late game situation, avoiding an INT and keeping Big Blue in field goal range. In general, New York followed Manning's example by playing smart but inspired football.
3. The Defense is healthy and showed what they can do with all hands on deck and in their natural positions. Even the much maligned secondary stepped up. New York dominated in a game that wasn't as close as the score indicated (not that a 17 point win isn't impressive). But for at least two devastatingly bad calls this baby would have been over in the third period with the Giants scoring over 40 points. (Giant fans were complaining on the call in shows last night and today that the refs were in the tank for the Pack. They're mad as H-E-Double Hockey Sticks and we won, imagine the fury if we had lost?)
Now it's on to Frisco for a rematch with the Niners. Oh, memories of the 80's and early 90's when these two teams were perennial play-off foes. More on that and my picks later in the week.
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