Only four years ago we witnessed the New York Giants’ defeat of the seemingly unbeatable New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII — and Sunday lady luck decided four years was long enough to wait for the rematch.
On Feb. 5, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis will be the backdrop of Super Bowl XLVI and, in proper fashion, fans will see a Manning on the field sporting a bluish jersey — just not the same blue a Lucas Oil crowd is accustomed to. But instead of the man who helped build the stadium, Peyton will find himself watching from the luxury suites with Mom and Dad as little brother Eli tries to spoil another Super Bowl run for Tom Brady and the Patriots.
Now there are two weeks for hype to escalate like a Muhammad Ali-George Foreman bout, but in truth there will be some important key elements missing. The primary missing element of this game originates from the Patriots sideline — perfection.
When Eli and the Giants beat New England in Glendale, Ariz., the impression was that the perfect team had been constructed and it didn’t matter who you threw in front of them — the game was a formality.
Just the sheer records the Pats amassed four years ago were enough for the team to be remembered by sport fanatics forever, but the chance to quiet Mercury Morris and the 1972 Miami Dolphins champagne bottles would have been a public service.
All-in-all this isn’t the same Patriot team. While 15-3 is nothing to scoff at, ask the Colts — the days of Brady to Randy Moss in the end zone are gone and are replaced by Brady finding his tight ends more than he looks deep for receivers.
Another negative factor for the Pats are the issues they’ve had with the defense this season. Unless Tedy Bruschi decides to come out of retirement and get about 10 years younger, opponents are going to put up points — normally in bunches — and even if he did, that would do nothing for a New England secondary that is suspect at best.
For the Giants, it has been another typical year — underperforming, barely hanging on and then fighting at the endof the year just to make the playoffs. In some regards it’s hard not to feel bad for Giants coach Tom Coughlin because this time next year the only news in New York is going to be how he should lose his job because he can’t coach and anyone could win with this team. However for the time being at least he has his neighbors, the New York Jets to thank for a vacation.
Going into last weekend there was a lot of potential for the Super Bowl. The chance to have a Super Bowl between two brother head coaches with Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers and John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens would have been an endearing story that even non-sports fans could have sunk their teeth into — not to mention having the Niners there after a decade of mediocrity would have been one to watch.
In the end there just isn’t anything like retribution — no matter how long you have to wait for it. Somewhere a Buffalo Bill fan is sitting in his chair watching replays of their four straight Super Bowl losses and just hoping that next year is the year, and while the Patriots have been fortunate gathering their Super Bowl bling — losing the last game of the year always hurts, and that one had to be a stinger.