I think I just heard a collective sigh of relief from the '72 Dolphins. Now, 19 games after the start of the 2007 season, they can finally rest easy knowing that they are still the only team in NFL history to ever post a perfect season. No more debate and controversy about who is better than whom: the '07 Patriots or '72 Dolphins (as if we were ever going to get an answer anyway).
At least I hope the debate is over. I know the Patriots won 18 straight games and they were 35 seconds away from doing something that hadn't been done for 36 years, but last night, in the most important
game of the season, they failed.
Eighteen straight wins don't matter. Winning the league's Most Valuable Player award doesn't matter. Eight Pro Bowl selections don't matter. All that mattered for New England was a Super Bowl trophy, and that was stolen by the New York Giants. How heartbreaking.
But to be honest, I would much rather see the 13.5 point-underdog Giants pull off the upset than watch the Patriots win their 19th straight game. And yet I felt like the odd one out for wanting the Giants to win. People made it seem like rooting against the Patriots was somehow unpatriotic.
But I can't tell you how enjoyable it was to watch Tom Brady get frustrated after a sack and a couple of incomplete passes. Seeing Patriots coach Bill Belichick scamper onto the middle of the field to concede the game with one second left to play was priceless. And though I could have done without the frequent shots of Peyton Manning in the luxury box, it was exciting to watch Eli Manning raise his scrawny arms in victory after the final kneel-down.
The commercials were a letdown. The game was pretty dull for a few quarters. Tom Petty looked like he overdosed on my sister's hair straightener. But the end of the game -- and the end of the 2007-08 NFL season -- couldn't have been scripted any better. In a year that saw the NFL decompose into one part football, one part Perez Hilton, it was the unassuming underdog that went out and snatched the most prized trophy in the NFL. The media couldn't get enough of Romo's Mexican vacation, Owens' post-game tears, Belichick's spygate scandal or Pacman Jones' wrestling career. Many suspected that the Patriots would make it a perfect 19-0. But when all the dust settled, it was coach Tom Coughlin's New York Giants who stood in the winner's circle and were showered with accolades. It was Peyton's little brother winning the game's Most Valuable Player award and bringing the second Cadillac into the family in as many years (Peyton won one last year for his MVP performance against the Bears). And America finally got a chance to see what it looked like when the Pats lose.
But, if I may make one quick complaint before I finish it's this: Eli Manning wasn't last night's MVP. No, it wasn't Plaxico Burress, Steve Smith or David Tyree. In fact, it wasn't anyone in pads and a helmet.
It was Steve Spagnuolo, the Giants' defensive coordinator. I know Manning made a nice couple of plays down the stretch to give New York the lead, but it was Spagnuolo's play-calling that kept the Giants in
the game until the end. It was his defense that hurried Brady and frustrated the rest of Belichick's offensive game plan. In fact, Spagnuolo managed to hold a team that was averaging 35.6 points per game heading into yesterday's game to just 14.
If Manning was paying any attention to what his defense accomplished last night, he would know that he owes Spagnuolo a ride in his new Caddy.
Regardless, the much bigger question seems to be how TMZ, Entertainment Tonight and ESPN are going to plan on filling time now that the NFL season is over. I guess they could talk about steroids, but that doesn't really hold a candle to Jessica Simpson-Tony Romo scandals, Travis Henry's alleged drug-use controversy or Michael Vick's jail sentencing -- or to the underdog pulling off one of the most unexpected Super Bowl wins in NFL history.
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