XL(II)ENT

How great was that, people? That was a Super Bowl that completely lived up to its billing.

FIve plays that you really, really, really should not forget from SB XLII:

5) The Giants' fourth down play on the final drive. Let's face it, every single New England Patriot will remember this game until the moment they die. It was a unique opportunity for the Pats, most likely a once-in-a-lifetime chance. And it all came down to one play late in the game. The Giants had fourth and a little less than a yard. If the Pats stop Brandon Jacobs, the game is over. Immortality. There was only a little more than a minute left. Jacobs scored.
4) Ashanti Samuel's missed interception on New York's final drive. It would have been a better than average play, but by no means superhuman. Samuel was worried about keeping his feet inbound as he leapt to catch Eli Manning's errant throw, but he let the ball slip through his fingertips. Just as New England allowed a perfect season to slip through theirs a few moments later.
3) Perhaps the most amazing play in Super Bowl history, Eli Manning's Houdini-like escape and David Tyree's catch. Either part of this play on its own would have been spectacular. Manning was just about in the grasp of not one but two Patriot pass rushers, and somehow he wiggled out of it--blindly backing up--then bought himself enough time to fling a jump ball to Tyree, who somehow brought it down with one hand, trapping the ball against his helmet. I'll watch that play for years and years and still just shake my head that Tyree never dropped that football. Simply an all-timer of a play. This is the play when all of the friends with whom I was watching the game began to think, the Giants may just win.
2) 3rd-and-11, on New York's final drive. Manning dumps it to rookie Steve Smith, who outside of this play had a bad game, along the right side. Smith fights for the first down to the 14 yard-line. That took atll the pressure off.
1) Alford's 2nd-down sack of Tom Brady on New England's last-gasp drive. That's when it truly sunk in for me. The Patriots--Tom Brady!--were going to lose.

Other observations...

--Mike Vrabel always seems to come up big in the big games for New England. I don't remember hearing Joe Buck and Troy Aikman mention the veteran linebacker's name tonight.
--Eli Manning was better than I ever believed he could be--not just tonight, but all postseason--but Big Blue's front four--Strahan, Pierce, Tuck, Ominyura (?)--was the MVP of this game. Not Manning.
--Wes Welker, an SB record-tying 11 catches. Was your Super Bowl party like mine? On that final drive were people yelling, "Somebody cover Wes Welker."
--My friend Bill wondered aloud if Gisele Bundchen should just be the Super Bowl trophy. Hey, why not?
--I missed the Tampa Bay game, but did see all three of the Giants other playoff games. You cannot overemphasize how vital it was that the Giants simply never beat themselves. Almost no turnovers, very few penalties. They didn't have a Pro Bowler on the roster--or maybe just one, I believe--but they played ideal team football.
--C'mon, Tiki. You must have just a little regret.
--It could do nothing but help Eli's growth this past two months that the two largest personalities on his offense--Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey--were no longer in the huddle. They may have been the two best offensive players on the Giants in recent seasons, but the chemistry of this offense was so much better without them.

--Mr. Petty played four songs, not three, it turns out. He did play two of the three I guessed, but then most of us would have guessed those. However, listening to all the ESPN talkers fall over themselves praising the Giants and ripping the Pats ("failure"...failure???), ESPN should have had Petty play "Change of Heart" on their postgame show.

--I just heard Chris Berman say, "Standing on a corner in Glendale, Arizona, and if you're a Giant fan, it's such a fine sight to see." When will someone put Boomer out of our misery?