February 5, 2008: The New England Patriots had the chance to have the greatest season in NFL history, 19-0. And they couldn't do it.
This time, the cheating didn't work.
The Patriots had won Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII and XXXIX. For this season, to a team that already had quarterback Tom Brady, they added receiver Randy Moss and linebacker Junior Seau. They won all 16 regular-season games, and only 4 teams came within 4 points of them. Interestingly, one of those came in the last game, a 38-35 win over the New York Giants at the Meadowlands.
They had little trouble dispatching the Jacksonville Jaguars and then the San Diego Chargers to get to 18-0, and reach Super Bowl XLII, at University of Phoenix Stadium (now State Farm Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.
It would be a rematch with the Giants. They were an inconsistent team: They lost their 1st 2 games, won their next 6, then went 4-4 for the rest of the way, to finish 10-6. They didn't even win their Division: The Dallas Cowboys won the NFC East.
If they wanted to get to the Super Bowl, they would have to win 3 games on the road. They did: The beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 24-14 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa; the Dallas Cowboys, 21-17 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas; and the Green Bay Packers, 23-20 in overtime at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
I was at the Prudential Center in Newark, watching the New Jersey Devils beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2, on the day of the NFC Championship Game. Devils management let us stick around, and watch the rest of the Championship Game on the big scoreboard. Since most Devils fans are also Giant fans, the arena was still half-full. We were nice and toasty warm, while the Giants were playing in typical Green Bay weather: Cold, windy, and snow blowing all over the place. But Lawrence Tynes kicked the overtime field goal to send the G-Men to the Super Bowl.
The Patriots were favored by 12 points. A book about the 19-0 perfect season, by the sports staff of the Boston Herald, was getting set. All it needed were the photographs and the basic details of the Super Bowl (score, MVP), and they would print the last few pages, and ship out the next day.
I wonder what happened to those books.
The Giants had won Super Bowls XXI and XXV, under coach Bill Parcells, the latter being his masterpiece, with the Giants keeping possession for 40 minutes. And he had coached the Patriots into Super Bowl XXXI, although they lost it to the Packers. For all 3 of these games, Bill Belichick was his defensive coordinator. Now, Belichick was getting ready to go 4-0 in Super Bowls as a head coach.
Well, wherever "the Big Tuna" was on the day of Super Bowl XLII, he had to love the opening drive of the game. The Giants broke the record of 9 minutes and 29 seconds they set in Super Bowl XXV, with a drive lasting 9 minutes and 59 seconds, 16 plays, and 63 yards. It included 4 3rd-down conversions. But the Pats forced them to settle for a field goal. Tynes kicked from 32 yards out, and the Giants led, 3-0.
But on the 1st play of the 2nd quarter, the Patriots took the lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Laurence Maroney. The rest of the 1st half, and the entirety of the 3rd quarter, would be scoreless: It remained Patriots 7, Giants 3.
The main reason for this is that the Giants' "Big Blue Wrecking Crew" defense, led by ends Michael Strahan in his last game (he'd already announced his retirement) and Osi Umenyiora, had figured out how to handle Brady: Break through his offensive line, and knock him on his ass. Sometimes, he got a pass off in time; sometimes, he didn't.
But, for the first time, I saw a look in Brady's eyes. A "deer in the headlights" look. A look I'd previously seen on other quarterbacks, including John Elway, Jim Kelly and, in the 1st Super Bowl the Patriots won, Kurt Warner: The look a quarterback gets when he knows he's going to lose the Super Bowl.
The 4th quarter would belong to Giant quarterback Eli Manning -- and, secondarily, to wide receiver David Tyree. Just 2 years after his brother Peyton Manning finally won a Super Bowl, Eli went to work. That would included a 17-yard catch by Steve Smith on 4th down, and ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Tyree. With 11:05 to go, it was 10-7 New York.
The teams then traded punts. Then the Patriots got the ball back, and, thanks to a slip by cornerback Corey Webster, Moss got left wide open, and Brady threw him a 6-yard touchdown pass. With 2:42 left, it was 14-10 New England.
Sure, there was plenty of time left. Sure, the Giants had all 3 of their time-outs left, and the 2-minute warning. But the Patriots don't lose. Brady doesn't lose. And we knew why: This had been the season that "Spygate" was revealed, the 1st indication we had that the Patriots were a bunch of cheaters. So for people who rooted for the Giants, and people who rooted against the Patriots, and people who just don't like cheating, things were gloomy.
Eli started from his own 17, needing a touchdown, as a field goal would only have made it 14-13 New England. He threw to Amani Toomer for 11 yards and a 1st down. Ball on the Giant 28. Throw to Plaxico Burress, incomplete. Another to Burress, incomplete. Another pass to Toomer, good for only 9 yards.
4th & 1 on the Giant 37. 1:59 left. No time to punt and hope the defense holds Brady again. Gotta go for it. Eli handed off to Brandon Jacobs. He gained 2 yards, but that was enough.
1:34 left. Ball on the Giant 39. Eli runs the ball himself, for 5 yards. Time-out. Pass intended for Tyree, incomplete. 3rd & 5 on the Giant 44. What happened next was one of the most epic plays in NFL history.
Eli took the snap. Adalius Thomas nearly sacked him. He got away. Jarvis Green and Richard Seymour converged on him. He got away again. He saw Tyree -- not quite open, as Rodney Harrison, one of the best defensive backs of that era, was covering him. Eli saw no choice by to throw, and hope Tyree got it.
Tyree jumped, caught the ball, and then held it against his helmet as he fell to the ground. Talk about "using your head." It was a 32-yard gain, and a 1st down at the Patriot 24.
No matter what either Manning brother has otherwise done, and no matter what they do in the future, that near-sack and pass to Tyree will live forever. A "signature play" not just for one guy (well, two, you gotta count Tyree) but for an entire era of Bigbluedom.
There were 59 seconds left, and the Giants took their 2nd time-out. Thomas sacked Eli, and the Giants took their last time-out. Eli threw for Tyree, but it fell incomplete. Then he hit Steve Smith for 12 yards. 1st & 10 on the Patriot 13. There were 45 seconds left in the game.
Eli found Burress alone in the corner of the end zone, and threw it to him. Touchdown. Tynes' extra point was good. Giants 17, Patriots 14, with 39 seconds left.
Tynes' kickoff gave the Patriots the ball on their own 26, with 29 seconds left, and all 3 time-outs. If Brady could get 40 yards, it would put Stephen Gostkowski in range for a 51-yard field goal. And, knowing Brady, every TV viewer figured he could do it.
But this was the Strahan-led Giant defense. They were ready to stop Brady one last time. Brady threw for Jabar Gaffney, but it was incomplete. Brady faded back, but was sacked for a 10-yard loss by a rookie, Jay Alford. 1st time-out. Brady threw deep for Moss, but Corey Webster knocked it away. 2nd time-out.
4th & 20. Ball on the Patriot 16. 10 seconds on the clock. Theoretically, there was time for a pass play of 20 yards and maybe a little more, and then one more shot, a bit closer, at the end zone. So here was Brady, the most-heralded quarterback of the era, with Moss, the most-heralded receiver at that point, both at their career peaks, ready to win the Super Bowl on one throw.
Brady made the throw. Moss was ready for it. But so was Giant safety Gibril Wilson, who knocked it away. One second remained. Eli took the snap, and dropped to a knee, and it was over. Final score: New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14.
It is the greatest victory in Giants history. Sure, the 1934 NFL Championship Game, "the Sneaker Game" win over a previously undefeated Chicago Bears team, is legendary. So is their 47-7 demolition of the Bears in the 1956 NFL Championship Game. So were their 2 previous Super Bowl wins. But this was special: They had prevented the perfect season, a slightly more perfect season than the 1972 Miami Dolphins had at 17-0.
And don't think the New York-New England rivalry didn't come into it, either. Sure, Jet fans, having to play the Patriots twice a season as AFC Eastern Division rivals, hate the Patriots more. But most Giant fans are also Yankee Fans, and their hatred of the Red Sox had spilled over to other New England teams. Not hard, since most Giant fans are also Ranger fans, and the rivalry with the Boston Bruins long predated those with the New York Islanders and the New Jersey Devils. And most Giant fans are also Knick fans, and they hate the Boston Celtics.
All those books, all those newspaper special editions, all those T-shirts, all those anything else that said "19-0"... all of it had to go, just as the Patriots' legacy went down the drain. There had been blowout losses in the Super Bowl, including 1 by the Patriots in Super Bowl XX. And the Patriots didn't play badly in this one. But this may be the single most humiliating loss in Super Bowl history. As well it should be, given all the trash the Patriots and their fans were talking.
At the time, I was living within walking distance of the Brunswick Circle, an interchange in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey. The intersection of the highways, U.S. Route 1 and New Jersey Route 18, made me think of this game, and so, ever since, I have called it "Patriot Circle." 18 and 1.
In 2019, a poll ranked this game 5th on a list of the 100 Greatest Games of the NFL's 1st 100 years, the highest-ranking Super Bowl.
*
February 3, 2008 was a Sunday. It was the only football game played that day. Baseball was out of season. There were 2 games scheduled in the NBA: The Detroit Pistons beat the Dallas Mavericks, 90-67 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan; and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Washington Wizards, 103-91 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.
And there was only 1 game scheduled in the NHL: In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-3 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The Habs blew a 3-0 lead, and the Broadway Blueshirts got goals from 5 different players: Michal Rozsival, Brandon Dubinsky, Scott Gomez, Chris Drury and Martin Straka.
