New York Giants Football: Zimmerman of SI picks the Giants

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Zimmerman of SI picks the Giants

Tougher than the rest
Giants' grit will overcome Pats' talent in Super Bowl
Posted: Tuesday January 22, 2008 11:41AM; Updated: Tuesday January 22, 2008 1:06PM

With Ahmad Bradshaw emerging as the type of back whose speed can put a defense on its heels, Giants have the weapons to keep pace with the Pats in the Super Bowl.

I have a chance to settle an old score, right an old wrong, find peace in my old age and apologize, in sideways fashion, to those whom I wronged so many years ago.

The way to do all this is to pick the Giants to upset New England, and that's what I'm doing. Giants to upset the New England Patriots, currently favored by 12½, in the great stormfest known as Super Bowl XLII.

In 1968 I was the beat man, covering the Jets for the New York Post. I was around the team every day. I flew down with them to Miami for Super Bowl III and I stayed in their hotel, the Galt Ocean Mile in Fort Lauderdale. The Colts opened as 17-point favorites. By game time, the rush of Baltimore money had pushed the price up to 19½, one of the biggest line moves in Super Bowl history. They were calling the Colts The Greatest Team Ever, or at least the greatest on the defensive side of the ball. Their owner, Carroll Rosenbloom, thunderously echoed that sentiment.

I had a feeling about the Jets, not a strong one, but Joe Namath working against that strong side rotating zone? Gee, he'd never had trouble with it before. Could it be that ... ? Do I have the courage to ... ? Nah, I'll pick the Colts to win, but by under the spread. That'll make everyone happy. So I did and it made no one happy, least of all me when the Jets scored the biggest upset in Supe history. Who was happy? Leonard Shecter of the Post. He picked the Jets. I kicked myself for the coward I was. No longer. Today, I am a man.

I was in Green Bay on Sunday. The Giants clearly were the better team, tougher, more resilient, harder hitting. That bone chilling cold that was supposed to imbue the Packers with strength and sap it from their enemies, kind of like the giant Antaeus from Greek mythology who drew his strength from contact with the ground ... that brutal, minus-24 wind chill cold was brushed aside by the Giants.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/dr_z/01/22/superbowlxlii/index.html

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Two Minute Thrill

Two-Minute Thrill
New York's final drive was a madcap case of crisis management
Posted: Tuesday February 5, 2008 1:33PM; Updated: Tuesday February 5, 2008 1:33PM
Burress beat single coverage to haul in the game-winner.
Al Tielemans/SI
Dr. Russell Warren stood on the sideline agonizing, a mother hen fearing for her brood as he watched the Giants mount the greatest drive in their history.
"Guys doubling over, cramping, I didn't think some of them would make it," New York's team doctor said after Super Bowl XLII on Sunday. "Plaxico Burress, my God, what pain he played in. He fell in the shower on Tuesday. I thought he'd torn his MCL. You didn't know that, did you? Of course you didn't. No one knew. And he'd injured his knee in the Green Bay game.
"He said, 'Shoot me up for this one if you have to. I'm not going to miss the Super Bowl.' "
And he was on the field for the New York march that began with 2:39 left and New England leading 14-10. "Chaos, the whole drive was chaos," said left guard Rich Seubert. "They weren't going to go quietly. They were bringing guys, doing twists and stunts and games, flying all over the place."
The drive, which gave the Giants their winning points in the 17-14 triumph, was a series of crises. In each case the stakes were the same: Fail and the Super Bowl goes poof. The first crisis in the 83-yard, 12-play march came on fourth-and-one at the New York 37. Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride likes to put the ball up in short yardage. Not this time. In came the big boys, 264-pound running back Brandon Jacobs and 266-pound fullback Madison Hedgecock. Jacobs, who had spent the afternoon running into the heart of the defense, went over the right side this time, Hedgecock leading.
"The only play they used me on the whole drive," Hedgecock said. "I knew it had to be special. Tedy Bruschi was in the hole. He dove for my legs, tried to chop me. I knew I had to get as low as he was, lower even." Hedgecock dug out Bruschi, and Jacobs got his first down with a foot to spare.
The next crisis came three plays later, third-and-five at the New York 44. "Blitzing, coming from odd angles, changing every play, that's what they were doing," said Gilbride. "I told Eli Manning, 'Let's go with a combination route.' And what I called was Phantom, a middle read off a hook."
Linebacker Adalius Thomas came barreling in from the edge, defensive linemen Jarvis Green and Richard Seymour came inside. They caught Manning in a squeeze. He was a dead duck, but somehow he escaped. "My man had his jersey," Seubert said. "I yelled, 'Go, Eli, go!' "
"I had a good view because nobody rushed over me," right guard Chris Snee said. "I turned around, and there were a couple of guys mugging Eli. Somehow that scrawny body got away."
"No one pulled me down. . . . I felt a tug," Manning said. "I tried to stay small."
He got off a pass that went 32 yards to David Tyree, a special teams whiz and the No. 4 receiver. He was open at first; then Rodney Harrison caught up. Tyree made a leaping grab, then kept the ball away from the veteran safety as the two fell.
"I guarantee you," Peyton Manning said, standing by his brother's locker afterward, "there were guys on that Patriots defense who thought the play was already over. He gets sacked, that's it, it's over. Fourth-and-15."
"Most amazing play I've ever seen on a football field," Hedgecock said.
The next crisis was third-and-11 at the New England 25. Manning converted it on an out pattern to Steve Smith. "Quick, we wanted to hit them quick because they were coming so hard on their rush," Gilbride said. Nine of the Giants' 11 plays on the drive had been passes, against a wildly rushing defense. Now it was time for pass number 10.
"Café, that's what the play was called," Gilbride said. "Curl with a flag route over the top. They went to blitz zero . . . everyone coming. Harrison blitzed; Plax was left in man coverage. He gave the corner an inside step and then came down the seam. Six points."
And Super Bowl XLII.

The Story of the Game...From Giants.com

Giants Advance to Super Bowl XXLIBy Michael Eisen, Giants.com
Take this story to go! -
Jan 20, 2008
GREEN BAY –Pandemonium reigned in the visitor’s locker room at Lambeau Field Sunday night.
The Giants advance to Super Bowl XXLI!
The Giants players and coaches hugged and high-fived each other. They took personal camcorders out of their lockers to record the moment. The players mugged for television cameras, screamed in ecstasy and chanted, “We’re going to the bowl baby, we’re going to the bowl.”
Indeed they are. The Giants – underdogs every week despite being the greatest single-season road show in NFL history – are headed for Super Bowl XLII. On Sunday in frigid Lambeau, the Giants defeated the Green Bay Packers, 23-20, in overtime to win the NFC Championship.
Lawrence Tynes – who had missed his previous two attempts, including one on the final play of regulation – kicked the game-winning 47-yarder 2:35 into the extra period. It was the first time in the history of Lambeau that a visiting player had kicked a field goal of more than 40 yards in a postseason game. The score was set up by Corey Webster’s interception of a Brett Favre pass for Donald Driver on the second play of overtime, the same Donald Driver who earlier had burned Webster for a 90-yard touchdown.
The victory advanced the Giants to their fourth Super Bowl and first since the 2000 season. They will face the AFC Champion New England Patriots on Feb. 3 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The Giants lost to the Patriots, 38-35, in the regular season finale on Dec. 29.
“Well, that was some game,” said Coach Tom Coughlin, who had lost his two previous championship games with the Jacksonville Jaguars. “I think the thing that I'm most proud of about this team is the way they hang together, the way they played hard. They never say die. It doesn't matter what the odds are. They just keep scrapping and believing and working to find a way to win."
Once again, the Giants made themselves at home on the road. They extended their own record by winning their 10th consecutive road game and they became the first team in history to win 10 games as visitors in one season. The Giants became only the third team ever to advance to the Super Bowl by winning three road games, joining the 1985 Patriots and 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers.
The No. 5 Giants are the lowest-seeded NFC team to reach the Super Bowl since the NFL began seeding teams in 1990. Prior to their current run, only one NFC team seeded lower than No. 2 had won the conference championship - third-seeded Carolina won in 2003. In the AFC, sixth-seeded Pittsburgh won the Super Bowl two years ago. The Giants are just the fourth team since the 1970 merger to reach the Super Bowl after starting the season 0-2. The 1993 Cowboys and the 1996 and 2001 Patriots were the others. The Cowboys and 2001 Patriots won the Super Bowl. Also, the Giants are the ninth Wild Card team to reach the Super Bowl since the merger and the sixth to reach the title game since 1990.
“Words can’t describe the way I feel,” guard Chris Snee said. “I am sure everyone else feels the excitement that is going on now. We are going to enjoy this one for a couple of days.”
“I saw that kick go through and I couldn’t believe that we are actually going to the Super Bowl,” safety Gibril Wilson said. “It is a great feeling. It is something that we worked for since we were little kids and we are actually going to the Super Bowl.”
As they have had throughout the playoffs, the Giants, now 13-6, had a lengthy list of heroes. It began with Tynes, of course, and Webster. Brandon Jacobs (one-yard run) and Ahmad Bradshaw (four-yard run) scored touchdowns. Eli Manning set career postseason highs with 40 passes, 21 completions and 254 yards. Plaxico Burress set a franchise postseason record with 11 catches, for 154 yards. The old mark of 10 was set by Ike Hilliard in the 2000 NFC Championship Game victory over Minnesota.
Defensively, the Giants held Green Bay to 28 rushing yards, forced Favre into two late interceptions and limited the Packers to one successful third down conversion on 10 tries.
The Giants dominated the game statistically, outgaining Green Bay (380-264), rolling up 11 more first downs (24-13) and owning the ball for 40:01 to just 22:34 for the Packers.
“We moved the ball really well,” Manning said. “The first couple times we had to settle for field goals, which was disappointing, but after that we continued to have some long drives, just finding ways to get first downs and getting in the end zone at the end, and it was a fun game to play. It was a very tough game and it wasn't easy. I give a lot of credit to Green Bay. They played very tough. They're very physical and played a great game. We just made a lot of plays.”

New York Giants Football

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Zimmerman of SI picks the Giants

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Two Minute Thrill

The Story of the Game...From Giants.com

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