The Superbowl has ended and the New York Giants are champions again.

It went the way I expected, a great game overall.  The Giants outplayed the Patriots from start to finish, it wasn’t as close as the 21 to 17 result and dramatic ending would have you believe.

The game moved slower than the Patriots would have liked, the Giants coverage was superb, and the pass rush came up huge.  They didn’t get to Brady often, and credit the Pats line for playing better than most expected, but Justin Tuck ended up with a couple big sacks, one on the crucial third down.

Brady and Manning were efficient and brilliant under pressure.  I’d call their personal duel in this one as a draw, but Manning ultimately gets the decision because his teammates came through at the right time.

Tom Brady deserves another Superbowl for being as good as he is, and playing the way he did tonight.  But so did Eli Manning.

It’s impossible not to classify Eli Manning as one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL (as in, top 4).  His success is no fluke. His confidence and accuracy in the 4th quarter and on closing drives is as good as it gets.  He doesn’t always do it in the flashiest way, he seems to rely on timely completions, efficiency, and a very high football IQ.  This guy, really, just wins football games.  Especially the big ones.

You can’t complain about a Superbowl that was played the way this one was. 

I find myself distracted by some well timed whistles (and non-calls) that kept the game within “4th quarter drive(s) that decide the game in the final two minutes” zone… which pleases any audience… even those who “just tuned in to watch the commercials.”  Those are the same people who always watch the Oscars and never see a movie, by the way.

But that will never take away from the plays made: the Manningham catch on the sideline, the valiant drive almost made by Tom Brady to finish the game, and the deciding touchdown run by Bradshaw, and the bizarre “stand down” by the Patriots to let it happen, to give themselves more time to score, reflected what a strategic war this was.  So did the Giants 12 men on the field, on a play when the penalty does absolutely no damage, and the 12th man ensures no receiver will slip away down field.

This game was not like it was 4 years ago, except the in the victor.  The Giants didn’t need a miracle tonight, they just won it on both sides of the ball.  The Patriots were very good, but the Giants were better, convincingly.  Manning was brilliant, Bradshaw and Jacobs were getting good chunks of positive yards all night (but not exactly running wild on the Pats), and the Giants receivers made big catches while New England’s took their eyes off the ball when it mattered most.

Superbowl ex el vee one goes down in my book… or blog… as one of the most well played and evenly matched Superbowls of all time.  Which is really saying something.  To a true football fan, it was every bit as memorable as their previous match-up.