I Hate the Patriots

The game lived up to the hype. It was like a good heavyweight prize fight, with the challenger, the New York Giants, coming out swinging in the early rounds. When Eli Manning threw a 52 yard bomb to Plaxico Burruss on just the game’s second play to set up a 7 yard touchdown pass to Brandon Jacobs five plays later, Giants fans were excited to see this level of intensity for a game that had so little meaning in the standings.

One Patriots’ field goal and a Tom Brady to Randy Moss record tying touchdown pass later and it was 10-7 New England in the second quarter. Then Giants special teams receiver Domenick Hixon returned the ensuing kickoff 74 yards to put New York up 14-10. Two Pats field goals made it 21-16 at the half.

As the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens know all too well, you have to play 60 minutes in order to beat New England. The Giants learned this the hard way. Momentum shifted in the second half as the teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, but the Giants seemed out of synch and Eli Manning, playing above his head in the first half, seemed his usual self again in the second. He was pressured by an aggressive Patriots pass rush, that threw him out of his rhythm, while New England played error-free the rest of the way.

In the end it was a Patriots victory on all judges’ cards, 38-35 to cap a perfect 16-0 record, the first team in 35 years to go undefeated in the regular season.

All week long, so-called sports experts wondered whether the Giants would play their starters, having already made the playoffs and with nothing to gain. But pro football players apparently play for pride. Conceding defeat is not part of a player’s psyche. In the immortal words of former Jets head coach Herman Edwards, “You play to win the game.” While they didn’t win, they did generate some positive momentum heading into next week’s first round match-up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

I’ll give my post-season predictions later in the week.