The Giants did it. They came in and played a very good game against a well prepared Patriots team and pulled out a thrilling victory. Eli Manning, he of the very confident quote prior to the 2011 season, backed it up once again and won his second Super Bowl MVP (for the record, I think Justin Tuck could have had a case for deserving that MVP also.)While I have always admitted to a deep seated dislike of all teams from the New England region (Red Sox, Celtics, Patriots, Bruins even some random high school teams) I have to say this in the wake of the game last night:
Tom Brady is quite possibly the best quarterback ever, and there is no greater testament to that than this: He does more with less than any great player i've ever seen.
In my last post I said his coach was too full of himself. After watching the Super Bowl, I believe that even more. The Patriots have no number 1 receiver. None. Their best receiver is a tight end. Their second best receiver is another tight end. Impressive to some, but not to me.
The late Al Davis always said 'speed kills.' You could say that Brady has had a legit game breaking receiver for only one season in his career. In that one season, when he paired with Randy Moss they went 18-1, Brady rewrote the NFL record books and they lost their only game in the Super Bowl against the Giants.
Since that 2007 run, Brady has continued to shine and rack up double digit wins every season, but as Manningham, Hicks and Cruz caught clutch passes from Eli Manning in the Super Bowl, it was hard not to look at the other sideline and wonder what Brady would have done with a legitimate deep threat wide receiver. And more importantly, why is the "genius" Belichick not getting him help?
In the 2011 draft, both Torrey Smith and Randall Cobb were drafted after New England selected. In 2009, they selected Brandon Tate over Mike Wallace and in 2008 Mario Manningham-who caught a great pass in the game that helped to clinch the victory in Super Bowl 46-was available and they passed.
The current Patriot wide receivers could walk through ESPN headquarters unnoticed. Even Chad '85' Johnson has disappeared since joining the team. Belichick is clearly drinking his own Kool Aid, believing he can create schemes to make average players perform above average feats. It may work in the regular season, but when the level of competition increases and your opposition is just as smart, talent is the great equalizer, and Brady has been doing it with a collection of average players for way too long. Belichick has 18 undrafted players on his roster, more than any other team in the NFL. He also has a slew of draft picks in the upcoming draft. Lets see if he finally focuses his renowned eye for talent on getting his QB help.
