The NFL would have been thoroughly pleased with how their night in Indianapolis went. For the neutrals, this was yet another memorable Super Bowl that went right down to the last second of the game - the sort of drama the NFL could not have scripted better. And of course the advertisements and halftime show were pretty up there - even if Madonna was panned heavily on twitter especially for her corny "world peace" ending.
For both Giants and Patriots fans, this was a game that tested raw emotions. In the end, Giants fans would be the ones to go home happy while Patriots fans contemplated a second loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl in 4 years.
But most Patriots fans can't and won't be too disappointed with the outcome of this game - a game where the Giants were clearly the better team on the day. It was only the brilliance of Tom Brady that the Patriots managed to lead at halftime and maintain the lead for much of the game.
The Patriots as they had done all season, struggled in the secondary and therefore conceded 1st down after 1st down to the Giants - especially on 3rd down which Eli Manning converted with skillful aplomb. In the end, the Patriots secondary actually played brilliantly in this game but were still 2nd best against Nicks, Manningham, Cruz and the eventually injured, Jake Ballard.
The Patriots offence was kept in check as expected by the New York Giants defence although Tuck and crew weren't as dominant as people had thought they would be. In the end, it was actually quite even with the Patriots offensive line actually offering Brady far better protection than Manning.
In conclusion, this was a fairly even game which really came down to who could score last. Turns out that the Giants would and the Patriots almost pulled off the miraculous. But the Giants were deserved winners on the night. The Patriots should be proud of what they've achieved this season despite all the injuries and changes they've had in the secondary. However, one wonders if they'll ever achieve the same level of success they had in the last decade with this new philosophy of scoring more points than the opposition because we'll concede heaps.
Eli Manning was a deserved MVP although Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul and Tom Brady would have been fair calls too. Incredibly, the younger brother who apparently isn't as "talented" as his more hallowed older brother, Peyton, now has twice as many Super Bowl rings.
Which leaves us to the debate who's better: Peyton or Eli? But we'll leave that for another time.
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