Last night in Nevada, the rag tag, underdog New York Giants spit in perfection’s eye and denied the New England Patriots football immortality by winning Superbowl XLII. A thrilling and truly shocking championship game, probably the best ever, certainly the best I’ve ever seen. One can hardly imagine a more dramatic four quarters of football, climaxing in what will go down in Giant’s history as “The Play.” Facing third-and-five on their own 44-yard line with one minute and 15 seconds to play, Manning somehow escaped certain doom as two Patriots defenders failed to wrap up the sack, allowing Eli just enough daylight to fire a pass down the center of the field. Giant’s receiver David Tyree leaped high and snatched the ball from the air as Patriots safety Rodney Harrison grabbed him from behind, pulling Tyree over backwards, frantically clawing at the ball. Tyree pressed the ball against his helmet as he slammed to the ground and somehow maintained control of it for a 32-yard gain to give the Giants a first down at the 24-yard line with 59 seconds left.
“The Play” set up Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds to go, delivering one of the greatest upsets in football history and making our New York Giants Superbowl champions.