Thursday, 9 February 2012

Was it the worst Superbowl winning touchdown ever?

  1. The sight of Ahmad Bradshaw trying to stop and just falling on his derriere is going to be a sight constantly replayed for years to come. However, it won't be replayed for the same reason as David Tyree's "helmet catch" in Superbowl XLII. Sure, that play did not turn into a touchdown, but it converted a third down and was instrumental in setting the foundation for Plaxico Burress to score the Superbowl winning touchdown. The "helmet catch" has become arguably the greatest play in Superbowl history. Unfortunately that turned out to be his last NFL catch. Fast forward four years and the stage is set. No Tyree, no Burress, no Moss and no Maroney, all of the touchdown scorers of four years ago. Yet the suspense is still high. New England v New York, Belichick v Coughlan and biggest of all, Brady v Manning. History suggests the Giants should win the rematch, as only one team as exerted revenge (The Redskins 1983). If the parallels of four years were not enough, how about the 4th quarter and another dramatic late drive to win the Superbowl, again over the Patriots. If successful it would have been the eighth time this season the Giants came back to win the game in the final quarter. Three minutes left and the Giants were down 17-15. This drive should be remembered for Manningham's phenomenal catch. Instead it will be remembered for the bizarre Bradshaw touchdown. I have never seen a score in any final of any sport scored so reluctantly. Initially it was thought to be an unorthodox play to run down the clock from the Giants offence. It was also an unorthodox defensive strategy by the the ever unpredictable Belichick, a method to keep as much time on the clock as possible for Brady to go down field and win. Manning later told David Letterman that when handing Bradshaw the ball he told him not to score as he thought the defense was doing something unusual. I don't think Bradshaw could help himself. Who could? It is a chance to put your team up with less than a minute to go. It turned out to be the right call as the Giants won their 4th Superbowl and 8th NFL championship placing them 3rd in the all time NFL championship standings and Eli now has an extra ring over his more illustrious brother. I imagine, however, we will be talking about Bradshaw's touchdown for years to come.       

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