A long way away from that dark snowy night at Foxboro stadium in January of 2002 when the Pats beat the Raiders to advance to Super Bowl XXXVI, which they would go on to win, a different type of Tuck Rule played a big part in determining the winner of Super Bowl XLII. This time, the Tuck Rule went the other way!
The Giants were relentless on defense and set the tone for this game with non stop pressure on Tom "Booty" Brady by their 4 man front. While Osi and Strahan each had great games and were in Brady's face all night long, it was Justin Tuck who was the difference. At 6'5" 275 this chiseled monster of a defensive lineman wreaked havoc on the Patriots and was the key to the record setting performance by Big Blue. With Tuck shifting up and down the line N.E.'s O-Line was hard pressed to keep the pressure off of Brady.
Big Blue set a Super Bowl record by holding the Pats to 81 total yards in the first half, put Brady on his back 18 times (5 of them sacks), and held New England to a season low 14 points on their way to victory. Justin Tuck was more than NE could handle on his way to 6 tackles, 2 sacks, and a forced fumble. His presence was felt throughout and the defense never stopped coming. Attack Attack Attack is what this defense was all about and with the pass rush as dominating as it has been all year, Big Blue played their type of game.
On the flip side the Giants O-Line held their own and gave Easy Eli a chance to secure a spot in Super Bowl history and he did so by winning Super Bowl MVP!! Eli was calm and cool as he led the GMEN on 2 80+ yard TD drives, the last of which was the 83 yard drive with 2:39 left which resulted in the game winning TD to Plax. David Tyree caught 2 of the biggest passes of his career (and franchise history), one of which will go down as one of the great catches of all time as he leaped and secured a 33 yard bomb from Eli (who survived a mosh pit to make the throw) against his helmet with a 59 seconds left. The rest of the receiving core came up big as well with huge contributions from Boss, Smith, and Toomer. Of course, let's not forget the huge 4th and 1 conversion with 1:34 left by BJ. What a team effort this was!
I'm still not sure what I witnessed last night but I do know this. Although we started the season with low expectations, a broken defense, and uncertainty at Quarterback, we finished the season with a Dominating Defense, a Franchise Quarterback, and a Super Bowl Victory!!!
GGGGMMMMEEENNNNNNNN
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Not only did Eli become a man last night with that performance of his he secured his spot in NY sports lore forever. Who would of ever thought that the quiet kid from Ole Miss in his 4th year as a pro would step up HUGE in the biggest game in possible franchise history and put on a performance for the ages. Seeing that determined look in his eyes on that last drive as he muscled his way out of numerous would be tacklers, feeling the pressure and moving in the pocket taking the yards when necessary, and basically willing this team to victory is something that I personally will never forget and will always respect him for what he did. It was in one word, INCREDIBLE.
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