Can't win 'em all
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The coach should have been fired. The quarterback could never live up to his big brother. The star receiver's bum ankle was so bad he couldn't practice. And the rest really didn't stand a chance.
Good thing for the New York Giants they didn't listen to a word.
In a do-you-believe-in-miracles moment that rivals any other in NFL history, the Giants thumbed their nose at perfection on Sunday, turning back the New England Patriots at the finish line with a 17-14 victory in Super Bowl XLII.
"It was our time," said Michael Strahan, part of a Giants defensive line that sacked Tom Brady five times and pummeled him many more. "We didn't want this to be another dynasty story for the Patriots. We wanted to start our own dynasty."
The Patriots, favored by 12 points, were looking to become the first NFL team to win 19 games in a season and to join the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only teams to finish with an unblemished record.
Problem is, 18-1 doesn't have the same ring to it -- or any ring, for that matter.
The Giants delivered a knockout as cold as those iced-down champagne bottles. Yes, the team with embattled Coach Tom Coughlin, beleaguered quarterback Eli Manning and banged-up receiver Plaxico Burress -- the guy who brashly predicted a Giants victory last week -- had the final say.
Manning, who for years has lived in the shadow of his older brother Peyton, directed an 83-yard touchdown drive in the final 2 minutes 42 seconds to clinch the unbelievable victory.
The game-winning play was a 13-yard touchdown pass to Burress with 35 seconds to play, when the lanky receiver slipped past cornerback Ellis Hobbs at the line and got so open he backpedaled to make the catch.
But it was a play earlier in the drive that had people at University of Phoenix Stadium rubbing their eyes, and surely millions of Americans hitting replay on their TiVos. On third and five from the New York 34, Manning dropped back and was swallowed by a cluster of defenders.
Only a frame-by-frame view could explain how, but Manning popped back out of the scrum long enough to heave a long pass down the middle to David Tyree, the team's No. 5 receiver, who's far better known as a special-teamer.
With the pop-fly pass heading their way, Tyree out-leaped safety Rodney Harrison and somehow pinned the ball on his own helmet as he fell backward and held on for a 32-yard gain.
