2007 Super Bowl Recap — Eli Manning and the New York Giants Take Down the Mighty New England Patriots
The 2007 Super Bowl is in the books, and the NFL can put it down as one of the best in recent history. In a match up between the overwhelming favorites, the New England Patriots, and the fifth-seeded underdog New York Giants, the NFL had the stage set. As though it was written straight from a fairy tale, the New York Giants completed the biggest upset in Super Bowl history.
Ironically, the 2007 Super Bowl began to appear more like a sleeper bowl. Through three quarters, both teams struggled to do much of anything on offense. The Giants started off the Super Bowl by driving the ball all the way down the field, only to come away with three points. The Patriots then turned around, and drove down for a touchdown on their first possession. From that point forward, both teams seemed to be allergic to points.
The New England Patriots came into the 2007 Super Bowl is the highest scoring team in NFL history. In the face of a ferocious New York Giants defense, the Patriots looked as though they had no answers for the first time this season. Quarterback Tom Brady was pressured, knocked down, and sacked throughout three quarters of football. Randy Moss seemed to be nonexistent throughout much of the first three quarters.
The New York Giants were actually moving the ball throughout the game, but could not seem put it into the end zone. Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning played a whale of a game throughout and kept his composure even when things looked bleak. The New York Giants defense, led by Jason Tuck, Michael Strahan and Will Allen, dominated the Patriots through three quarters of football.
Going into the fourth-quarter of the 2007 Super Bowl, it began to look as though the Patriots would continue on their run to an undefeated season. Leading by four points, they seemed to have the Giants right where they wanted them. Then quarterback Eli Manning began to earn his first Super Bowl MVP trophy.
Eli Manning began a magical fourth-quarter by hitting wide receiver David Tyree for a touchdown and a three-point lead. True to his Super Bowl form, quarterback Tom Brady answered Eli with a touchdown pass in the right corner of the end zone to Randy Moss. This set up Eli Manning with a quarterback’s dream situation.
With big brother Peyton Manning watching from the luxury box, Eli Manning stepped out of his brother’s shadow and into Super Bowl immortality. With just over two minutes to go in the 2007 Super Bowl, and all three timeouts, Eli Manning drove the New York Giants offense deftly down the field. Several times on this game-winning drive, Manning escaped difficult situations. As he approached the end zone, Manning seemed to gain confidence. With only seconds on the clock, Manning threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the left corner of the end zone.
Quarterback Tom Brady only had a few seconds to work with as he led the Patriots back onto the field. After several attempts to move into field position for a field goal, time expired on the Patriots perfect season.
Congratulations to the 2007 Super Bowl champion New York Giants for a memorable season. In particular, congratulations to Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning as he has finally established himself as someone other than Peyton Manning’s little brother. He is now a Super Bowl champion.
