New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick gave clear instructions to his defensive unit: Let the runner score. Playing the odds and inviting critics, the calculating coach told his players to get out of the way, open a wide path for Ahmad Bradshaw and give Tom Brady a chance to win the Super Bowl in the final 57 seconds. Unusual? Certainly. Crazy? Not at all.

Source: post-gazette.com - Steelers/NFL

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A couple of the Steelers were piling it on the Patriots after they lost on Sunday to the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI by a score of 21-17.

Both James Harrison and Ryan Clark laid it on the team that was involved in the “Spygate” scandal that directly involved the Steelers in the 2004 AFC Title Game.

Harrison posted on Twitter after the Pats lost: “Told you, cheaters never win!!!!!!!!!”

Safety Ryan Clark added on Twitter: “0-2 [in Super Bowls] post spy gate! Just saying!!”

Harrison came back a little later with a comment for those that were upset with the Tweet: “Lol, I’m sorry I couldn’t help it!!!” He finished up the night with this: “Come on people love or hate me more!”

Gotta love the black and gold, always making it fun even when their rivals lose.

Source: Steelers Gab

His teammate Ryan Clark tweeted similar thoughts. “0-2 post spy gate! Just saying!!” Clark wrote.
What they said doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. New England still has won plenty since being busted for filming opposing teams’ signals. The only thing they haven’t done is win a Super Bowl.
Former Giants receiver Amani Toomer said before the game that if the Pats lost, their three Super Bowls deserved asterisks. We questioned his logic; suspicion about three previous Super Bowl wins is independent of the team’s Super Bowl success or failure now.
The Patriots filmed opposing teams because it obviously gave them an edge. But we believe they’re no longer cheating, yet they’re still having winning seasons, and they still have reached two Super Bowls since then. I don’t think they lost this game because they didn’t have the Giants’ signals on film. I firmly believe they were two drops away from winning two more Super Bowls.
If there is some sort of Super Bowl karma for unsportsmanlike conduct, then it doesn’t explain how the dirtiest player in the NFL won a ring in 2008.

Source: Yardbarker: Pittsburgh Steelers

It was a classic in the score far moreso than the play on the field.

To put the Giants' 21-17 win in Super Bowl XLVI over New England as something epic is misguided. But they still won it. It was their fourth championship, and incidentally, New England's fourth Super Bowl loss.

An uneven and bizarre season came to a close in a way more fitting with the past than with the future. In the supposed Year of the Quarterback (thank you, ESPN), neither quarterback played particularly well through four quarters, and it was lesser heralded guys who won it for New York, and lost it for New England.

Mario Manningham looked lazy in trying to get his feet down on what should have been a reception in the third quarter. In the fourth, he made the best Super Bowl catch since Santonio at the back pylon in Super Bowl XLIII, helping out eventual game MVP Eli Manning.

Conversely, Wes Welker, who led the league in catches this year, and Aaron Hernandez, who played very well in the more-or-less absence of TE Rob Gronkowski, dropped good passes from Patriots QB Tom Brady on their series - not to mention former Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch.

Neither offense looked particularly sharp, and perhaps that's an issue of coaching. The Giants managed to win the game despite examples of poor clock management. No coaching flub was bigger, though, than the obvious lack of foresight that the Patriots would allow the Giants to score from six yards out. Bradshaw ran to about the one-foot line before realizing no one was going to tackle him, and it appeared he was too far along to stop and fall down at the one, which would have allowed the Giants to force the Patriots to use their final timeout.

Instead, Bradshaw scored, giving the Patriots a timeout and 57 seconds to try to make something happen.

They nearly did, too.

Brady heaved a prayer from midfield on a play in which Gronkowski was trailing in an effort to scoop up any deflections. The deflection came, and it appeared Gronkowski could have gotten to the ball.

Maybe that's what high ankle sprains do to your quickness. Or your offense. The Patriots struggled outside dominating drives at the end of the first half and the start of the second. They put two touchdowns on the board in that time, but only three points otherwise.

The biggest missed opportunity the Patriots had was in the fourth quarter, holding onto a 17-12 lead. Brady was working the ball down the field, but poor throws forced a punt that gave Manning the ball back with time to score.

That's Eli Manning, the new clutch QB of the NFL.

He took his team down for the eventual game-winning touchdown.

There's no longer an issue between the Giants and the Patriots dating back from 2007. Manning has established himself as today's 4th quarter quarterback.

Brady's got no bones on that.

Source: Behind the Steel Curtain

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Mike Tomlin calls it the sticky Lombardi because of all the handprints that stick to the trophy after the NFL commissioner awards it to the new Super Bowl champions.

Source: post-gazette.com - Steelers/NFL

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The New York Giants and Eli Manning, with his big-game experience and talented WRs, pose a tough challenge in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5.

Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

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Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes drilled a 31-yard field goal in overtime to defeat host San Francisco in the NFC Championship. With that, Rex Ryan feels the Jets are still the better team in New York.

What seemed like 12 hours earlier, Billy Cundiff blew a 32-yard field goal attempt, giving New England a win in the AFC Championship.

The rematch of one of the greatest football games ever played, the Giants victory in Super Bowl XLII, is set for two weeks from today in Indianapolis.

A less-than-stellar performance from Patriots QB Tom Brady will likely install the Giants as the favorites, particularly considering Giants QB Eli Manning was given perhaps the most savage beating a passer has ever taken in a conference championship game, and he still made throws to put his team in a position to win.

(Update: New England goes into the start of Hype Week as 3 point favorites)

The Giants defeated the Packers in Green Bay in overtime to advance to the Super Bowl in 2007.

The Patriots survived a Ravens team that did enough to win, but didn't make the plays necessary down the stretch to pull off the upset. Against what was perceived to be a tough run defense, the Patriots rushed for two touchdowns, uncharacteristic of a team that dominated in the air through the season.

It looks to be an intriguing match-up, similar but less explosive than their previous Super Bowl meeting. The Giants look stronger offensively than they were then, but the Patriots lack the big-play threats they had in their 18-1 season.

New York defeated the Patriots 24-20 in Week 9 of the 2011 season. Manning drove the Giants 80 yards in 1:21, hitting TE Jake Ballard from 1 yard out to clinch the win.

Source: Behind the Steel Curtain

Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes drilled a 31-yard field goal in overtime to defeat host San Francisco in the NFC Championship. With that, Rex Ryan feels the Jets are still the better team in New York.

What seemed like 12 hours earlier, Billy Cundiff blew a 32-yard field goal attempt, giving New England a win in the AFC Championship.

The rematch of one of the greatest football games ever played, the Giants victory in Super Bowl XLII, is set for two weeks from today in Indianapolis.

A less-than-stellar performance from Patriots QB Tom Brady will likely install the Giants as the favorites, particularly considering Giants QB Eli Manning was given perhaps the most savage beating a passer has ever taken in a conference championship game, and he still made throws to put his team in a position to win.

(Update: New England goes into the start of Hype Week as 3 point favorites)

The Giants defeated the Packers in Green Bay in overtime to advance to the Super Bowl in 2007.

The Patriots survived a Ravens team that did enough to win, but didn't make the plays necessary down the stretch to pull off the upset. Against what was perceived to be a tough run defense, the Patriots rushed for two touchdowns, uncharacteristic of a team that dominated in the air through the season.

It looks to be an intriguing match-up, similar but less explosive than their previous Super Bowl meeting. The Giants look stronger offensively than they were then, but the Patriots lack the big-play threats they had in their 18-1 season.

New York defeated the Patriots 24-20 in Week 9 of the 2011 season. Manning drove the Giants 80 yards in 1:21, hitting TE Jake Ballard from 1 yard out to clinch the win.

Source: Behind the Steel Curtain

And there’s good news, as I think we found Thomas Crowley and what he was like after the kick:

Source: Steelers Gab

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots made it to the AFC championship game with a high-powered offense that piled up points and yards. Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens got there with a hard-hitting defense that made it a major challenge for opponents to move the ball.

Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

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