Super Bowl Hangover - What They're Saying

Filed in archive NFL on February 5, 2008

Now that the masses have had time to digest the New York Giants 17-14 upset of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, let's take a look around the sporting world to see what people are saying about one of the biggest upsets in football history.

- Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com: "It's bad enough they couldn't block, couldn't run, couldn't throw, couldn't catch, couldn't tackle and couldn't even try a 49-yard field goal when it counted. But to treat the Giants as though their defeat was a foregone conclusion was football suicide."

- G-Men Headquarters: "The funny thing is that is the pressure that every other QB in the league deals with a consistent basis, mainly Peyton Manning, who has been placed second under Brady while still putting up the same numbers moving around the pocket and making ridiculous throws. When Brady does not have his nine seconds to find an open guy, he is Tom Brady, the backup QB for Michigan and the 6th round draft pick of the New England Patriots."

- Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe: "The Patriots lost the Super Bowl. It is an alternate universe. It does not compute. It's like hearing Tony Bennett singing, 'I Left My Heart in Ashtabula.'"

- New York Daily News: This is the typical story concerning fan reaction following the game, but the best part about it is the headline: "Boston Taverns Packed, but Full of Losers"

- Scott Van Pelt Style: "He trashed their coach, threw Eli Manning under the bus, and questioned their ability openly and often. Now that the New York Giants have pulled off perhaps the biggest upset in the league's history, one man should get the credit he so rightly deserves. Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber."

- Bernie Miklasz, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "There would be no miracles for the Patriots this time. This time, Eli Manning was Tom Brady, and there was nothing the Patriots could do but watch in horror. Belichick's spy cam couldn't save him now."

- Sportaphile: "Karma is a bitch aint it!! Those cheating, conniving smug bastards got what was coming to them... THERE IS A GOD!!!"

- Bill Plaschke, L.A. Times: "Of all the eye-popping plays in what may be the most unlikely ending in Super Bowl history, Belichick's 'Sprint Quit' was among the best. The smirk wiped from his lips, the smug drained from his face, the wholly disagreeable New England Patriots coach ran from the field with one second remaining, taking much of his team with him."

- Bill Simmons, ESPN.com: "Everything you need to know about Super Bowl XLII happened on the Miracle Play To Be Named Later - you know, the third down on the do-or-die drive when Eli Manning ripped himself away from the entire Patriots defensive line (THEY HAD HIS JERSEY!!!!!!) and threw a pass that hung in the air forever like one of those sports movie passes, and even though David Tyree and Rodney Harrison had an equal chance of getting it, Tyree jumped a little bit higher, hauled in the football, trapped it against his helmet and somehow held on while Harrison was doing everything but performing a figure-four leg lock on him.

Seriously, what else do you need to know about this game beyond that play and the 30-second loop of Brady getting pounded by various defensive linemen?"

(Photo: Flickr)