I wasn't rooting for either team, though it sickened me to see the bad play calling, RB standing right there and NOT picking up the blitz, and just the unraveling of the Falcons.
Giants lost a playoff game to the 49ers in similar fashion, years ago and I was in a funk for two months.
Coughlin and Eli are the only guys who seem to not cower and turn b*tch again The Patriots.
I was glad to see OT in a Super Bowl, but it was apparent from the 4th quarter on that NE had all the momentum.
For the first half, Atlanta was constantly pressuring Brady. The Giants gave the rest of the league the blueprint - harass Brady and hit him hard. Atlanta moved away from that in the 2nd half, partly because they were tired from being on the field twice as long as NE's defense. The other part was Atlanta stopped being as aggressive on defense. NE was bolstered when its receivers stopped dropping passes and finally found rhythm in the 4th quarter.
The other key, in my opinion, was Kyle Shanahan abandoning the running game. All ATL had to do was run some clock and get a few first downs. Their running backs were bursting through holes for big gains until midway through the 3rd quarter. Ryan was not bleeding the playclock either.
I actually thought NE was foolish for not playing with a sense of urgency down 28-3. They didn't play hurry up and ran some very conservative plays. But they hung around and that's all Brady needed.
I thought it was nearly impossible for 1) NE to get that 2nd two point conversion and 2) for Atlanta not to score 3 to bring the lead to 10 with 3:00 remaining. I still can't believe the plays run by Atlanta during their last drive. As bad as Pete Carroll's decision to throw from the 1 yard line in SB49.
