Welcome to the number one source for NY Giants!
This is number one fan based website (:
Check out the official NY Giants Website for more news!
Superbowl 42
Super Bowl XLII was an American football game on February 3, 2008 that featured the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2007 season. In one of the largest upsets in sports history,the wild-card Giants (14–6) won 17–14 over the previously undefeated Patriots (18–1). In doing so, the Giants became the first NFC wild card team to win a Super Bowl. The victory marked the franchise's seventh NFL championship and third Super Bowl win—New York's first title since Super Bowl XXV in January 1991. The Giants head coach was Tom Coughlin. The Patriots were coached by Bill Belichick. The slogan for Super Bowl XLII was "Who Wants It More?" Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who completed 19 of 34 passes for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 1 interception, was named Super Bowl MVP. The game, held on February 3, 2008 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, was a rematch of the final game of the regular season. In that game, the Patriots won 38–35 to complete the first perfect regular season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins team, and the first one since the league expanded to a 16-game regular season schedule in 1978. Thus, New England entered Super Bowl XLII as 12-point favorites.
New England Patriots
By the time the Patriots arrived at Super Bowl XLII, not only were they competing in their fourth Super Bowl since the 2001 season, they were already billed as one of the greatest teams in NFL history. They compiled a perfect 16-0 record (the first team to go undefeated in a 16 game regular season—the NFL expanded the regular season to 16 games in 1978), and set NFL records with 589 points scored (an average of 36.8 points per game), 75 total touchdowns, and a net differential of +315 points (they gave up 274 points, fourth best in the league). Some experts have suggested that the Patriots' 16-0 record is the culmination of a larger trend towards better records for top NFL teams since the league realignment in 2002.The team was led by quarterback Tom Brady who won his first NFL MVP & NFL Offensive MVP award, throwing for a career high 4,806 yards and an NFL record 50 touchdowns (22 more than his previous best season), and just eight interceptions.Running back Laurence Maroney was the Patriots' top rusher with 835 yards and six touchdowns, while Sammy Morris added 385 yards & 3 TDs, and Kevin Faulk had 265 yards. (Morris ended up on injured reserve midway through the season, and thus could not play in the Super Bowl.) Faulk was also a reliable receiver out of the backfield, catching 47 passes for 383 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots also had an offensive line that featured three players selected to the Pro Bowl, guard Logan Mankins, tackle Matt Light, and center Dan Koppen.The Patriots defensive line was led by nose tackle Vince Wilfork, who was selected to his first Pro Bowl; he was also fined four times during the season for unnecessary roughness.The Patriots also had a set of veteran linebackers who had a combined 16 Pro Bowl selections.
New York Giants
Unlike the Patriots, the Giants began the season with low expectations since their star running back, Tiki Barber, had retired. The Giants had lost in the NFC Wild Card round in each of the previous two seasons and had not won a playoff game in seven years. Quarterback Eli Manning, the younger brother of Super Bowl XLI MVP quarterback Peyton Manning, had struggled to find consistency. In his three seasons as a starter, he had completed less than 54% of his passes with a career passer rating of 73.4. While generally regarded as a solid quarterback, he had been unable to achieve the same level of success as fellow 2004 draftees Philip Rivers (for whom he was traded) and Ben Roethlisberger, the latter of whom had already won a Super Bowl (Super Bowl XL). By the 2007 season, many sports writers were starting to question if Eli would ever live up to the expectations of someone selected with the first overall pick in a draft.The criticism of Manning intensified as the Giants lost the first two games of the regular season, before recovering with six consecutive wins and finished the year with 10 wins, despite the loss of running back Derrick Ward, defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, and four-time Pro Bowl tight end Jeremy Shockey to injury. Despite the injuries, Manning led the Giants to three road playoff wins without throwing a single interception. Their three playoff wins gave them an NFL record 10 consecutive wins on the road. The Giants finished the season with a franchise-low 77 penalties, after setting a franchise record two years before with 146.Manning finished the 2007 season with 3,336 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions. His main target, Plaxico Burress, caught 70 passes for 1,050 yards and 12 touchdowns. Amani Toomer, the Giants all-time leading receiver and one of only two players remaining from their last Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XXXV, was also a reliable target with 59 receptions for 760 yards, while Shockey contributed 57 receptions for 619 yards and 3 touchdowns before suffering a season-ending injury in week 15. The Giants' ground game was led by running back Brandon Jacobs, who at 6'4" (193 cm) and 264 pounds (118 kg), was one of the largest starting halfbacks in the NFL. He finished the season with 1,009 yards and an average of five yards per carry, while also catching 23 passes despite starting only nine games.The Giants had a defensive line that was led by defensive ends Osi Umenyiora (the lone Pro Bowl representative on the team, the fewest a Super Bowl team has ever had), Michael Strahan, and Justin Tuck. Umenyiora led the defense with 13 sacks and five forced fumbles. Strahan, another veteran from the Giants' last Super Bowl appearance in 2000, had nine sacks, giving him a career total of 141.5 and breaking the franchise record held by Lawrence Taylor. Tuck recorded ten sacks and 48 solo tackles. In the secondary, cornerback Sam Madison and safety Gibril Wilson led the team with four interceptions each. Cornerback R. W. McQuarters had no interceptions during the season, but he had been effective in the playoffs, with interceptions in each of their first three post-season games. Punter Jeff Feagles played in his first Super Bowl after 20 years in the NFL. This was also the last game for Giants athletic trainer John Johnson having been with the team for 60 years. Strahan and Toomer were the only Giants remaining from the franchise's last Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XXXV.The Giants became only the fourth team to win the Super Bowl without playing a single home game in the preceding playoffs. They joined the Green Bay Packers (who won Super Bowl I against the Kansas City Chiefs), the Kansas City Chiefs (who won Super Bowl IV against theMinnesota Vikings) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (who won Super Bowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks) in accomplishing this feat. However, Green Bay had to win two games, Kansas City three, and Pittsburgh and the Giants, four, in order to accomplish this.The Giants were the only NFC team to make multiple Super Bowl appearances in the 2000 decade. Starting with the Rams' appearance in 2001, nine different NFC teams represented the conference in the last nine seasons of the decade (Rams, Bucaneers, Panthers, Eagles, Seahawks, Bears, Giants, Cardinals, and Saints).
Superbowl Summary
Box score
|
3rd-and-5 from the New York 44-yard line, Manning found himself in trouble as the Patriots' pass rush got to him quickly after the snap. He eluded Adalius Thomas, who missed Manning despite having the clearest shot at him, and then broke free from the grasp of Jarvis Green and Richard Seymour, both of whom had Manning by the jersey. Manning then righted himself and threw the ball toward the middle of the field, where Tyree and Rodney Harrison went up for the ball. Tyree made a leaping one-handed catch, outjumping Harrison, and maintained possession by pinning the ball against his helmet as he fell to the ground. The amazing play went for 32 yards and kept the drive alive. Three plays later, on 3rd-and-11, Manning found a wide-open Smith for a 12-yard gain to the New England 13, who stepped out of bounds to stop the clock. On the next play, the Giants sent four receivers into the pattern while the Patriots sent six pass rushers after Manning and flipped four pass defenders to the right side of the field—resulting in Patriots' cornerback Ellis Hobbs being isolated on the left side to cover Giants' wide receiver Plaxico Burress one-on-one. Hobbs bit on a fake slant inside (a "slant-and-go" or "SluGo" route) and Manning lofted a pass to the end zone where Burress caught the ball for a touchdown to complete the 12-play, 83-yard drive and give the Giants a 17–14 lead with 35 seconds left.