Sweet Justice

Filed in archive NFL on February 4, 2008

Karma. Poetic justice. Whichever descriptive cliche you want to use, it applies. When Bill Belichick was sprinting off the field as the loser of Super Bowl XLII, it just felt ... right.

Not many people had tremendous faith in eli manning to get the job done, regardless of his play in the four games previous to the Super Bowl. History told us at some point he would implode, and that all too familiar "what just happened?" look on his face would return after a bevy of interceptions.

But it didn't happen. And the cheating, slimy Patriots, personified by the greasy Belichick, finally got theirs. It was a beautiful thing. Who knows how many opponents the Pats had a leg up on with their devious tactics, including (allegedly), secretly taping the St. Louis Rams final walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl, as their coaches stayed up all night studying the film.

HGH consumer Rodney Harrison had 12 tackles but couldn't quite outmuscle Giants WR David Tyree for the ball when Manning heaved it up after nearly being sacked in the game's biggest play. Just sayin'.

And finally, the Patriots coaches had a lot to do with this win loss. On a blatantly bad call, Belichick went for a 4th and 12 instead of attempting about a 50 yard field goal, and the Pats failed to convert. This was the decision even though Tom Brady was getting pummeled all night long, and the only passing plays that were working were wide receiver screens and short passes over the middle.

New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels should get a nice thank you card from the Giants as well. He stubbornly refused to run the ball even though Brady had frequent face-to-face meetings with the likes of Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck, Kawika Mitchell, Osi Umenyiora, etc. The Patriots threw the ball 48 times, and ran it just 16.

For all the teams and fans the Patriots duped and deceived, the only outcome was the Giants beating them, and ruining a perfect season. Unbelievably, it happened, and most of America thanks them.

(Photo: Flickr)