Plaxico Burress is clairvoyant

So its taken me over a week to get over the game. Which happened to be the second most watched event in television history. Plaxico Burress did a much better job predicting than I did saying the Giants would win 23-17. I was afraid the Giants wouldn't be able to get their pass rush going against Patriots with a little help from the zebra's and they would simply outscore the Giants in a high scoring game.

Boy was I wrong. The Giants harassed Brady consistently and he looked like a below average quarterback under pressure. And what's ironic about this is all the protection the league gave him this year turned out to be his undoing. He clearly wasn't comfortable under pressure at all for the first time this season and it ruined his game. Eli on the other hand was used to playing with heavy pressure all season and was comfortable when the Patriots threw everything at him. Which was no more on display than during the Great Escape.

going to happen. The Patriots obviously thought the game was already won before the kickoff.I could actually see the upset coming as the week went in little clues but still didn't think it was The Giants had confidence after their run in the playoffs and were not backing do. The most telling thing was when Brady got mad about Plaxico's prediction not because he thought the Giants would win but because he would only score 17 points. He clearly thought the game was already won with him throwing numerous touchdowns, wining the MVP and was more concerned with planning his post game celebration. Which was quite apparent considering he got a haircut the night before the Super Bowl to look good. Talk about the Anti Playoff beard.

Because the Giants pummeled Brady. Strahan, Osi, Cofield, Tuck, Robbins, Alford. Everyone got into it.

They hit him.

And Tuck hit him again. Getting two sacks.
And Osi steamed him. And by the end Brady looked like a Nancy boy.

And this is just another example of how when a team gets over confident with itself and stops preparing for their opponent its not hard to get beat. The Patriots treated the game as a mere formality.

And so to the winners goes the spoils. Eli gets to spend time hanging out with Letterman. Gets the awkward interview with Tiki. Gets to be the second Manning brother with a Super Bowl MVP trophy. And looks to make millions in endorsement deals off this win starting with the customary trip to Disney World.

But Eli was just one of the hero's in this game. Plaxico Burress has gone from Moss and Owens type malcontent to gutsy veteran leader this season. Last few seasons he wasn't afraid to pout and throw his arms up in the air when things didn't go perfectly for him or he wasn't catching as many balls. This year he decided to take part in the voluntary offseason workouts and really get together with the team and got his timing down with Eli. He played nearly the entire season with torn ligaments in his foot. The week of the Super Bowl he fell in the shower and sprained his MCL. He didn't know if he could play until Sunday and gutted it out all game. It effected his timing and leaping ability but he still came up huge when the game was on the line.

David Tyree's grab combined with the Eli Escape was the greatest play in Super Bowl history. Not that Joe Buck thought so but I digress. And to think just days before Tyree told Dan Patrick he was just a special teams player. And maybe if Rodney Harrison had taken a few more performance enhancing drugs before the game he could have jumped a little higher to keep from getting owned by Tyree.
The entire receiving squad had a big night. Eli's leading receiver and All Time Giant leading receiver Amani "Its Not a" Toomer was playing with a broken hand. Steve Smith over came his previous drop that lead to an interception and played great down the stretch. Including a huge catch and run on the Giant's winning drive. He missed most of the season with a broken clavicle but came up huge in the playoffs and showed that the Giant's have a young receiver ready for the big time. And rookie Tight End Kevin Boss had a big catch to set up the first touchdown to Tyree. All in all the Giant's rookie class came up huge with in the big game with starter Aaron Ross, starter Kevin Boss, Steve Smith, Michel Johnson, Ahmad Bradshaw, Micheal Matthews, Jay Alford, and Zak DeOssie.

The secondary as a whole came up big. Corey Webster was called on to shut down Randy Moss and did a great job. Aaron Ross performed well at the other corner as he's done all season. R.W.McQuaters, Sam Madison, and Mississippi's own Kevin Dockery all played well in nickel and substitution packages to shut down the leagues top passing game.

And like most of the writers who gave the Giants no chance I also have to eat a little crow. While I liked the team construction I was a little weary of Reese's decision to cut loose Luke Pettigout without signing another true left tackle and giving the job to Diehl who was a great guard for the last few years for the G-men. Diehl played great this year while protecting Eli's blind side. I also questioned the ownership's decision to keep Coughlin around and viewed him as a lame duck coach. Well he took the team to another level and silenced all doubts. The kinder gentler Coughlin came out and bowled the team over and they played hard for him this year. So his mission truly was accomplished.
And one of the funniest stories of the whole Super Bowl is how pissed the League and Goodell is that the Giants won. Just look at the picture below. He's disgusted giving away the trophy to the Mara family. He was counting on 19-0 to sell a lot of books and T-shirts . Now all he's got is to look forward to senate investigatory hearings about how much he knew and how much he's covering up the Patriots cheating which now appears to go back as far as secretly taping the Ram's final walk through before Belichick's first Super Bowl win.

So go ahead and buy some Giant's Championship swag just to make Goodell feel better. And if your looking for the perfect wedding present for the Wookies you know there's nothing better than traditional glasses.