Leading Up To The NFL Super Bowl

The NFL Super Bowl is by far and large the biggest sporting event in sports.  There are millions of people who tune in to watch the Super Bowl every year. There is millions of dollars invested in commercials, half-game shows, analysis, and many other aspects of the game.  Every year there is controversy between sports analysts and fans of who they think is going to win the Super Bowl.

This year’s Super Bowl is a very interesting matchup between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants.  Any average NFL fan knows it is a rematch of super bowl XLII which some consider being one of the best super bowls ever, and almost anyone would agree that it is the biggest upset of all time. The Patriots were on their way to a 19-0 season, when the Giants made one of the most memorable plays ever. The score was 14-10 Patriots and the Giants had the ball on their own 44 yard line facing a 3rd down and 5. Manning (The Giants quarterback) had two guys hanging all over him right after the ball was snapped. He somehow broke the tackles and threw a high arcing pass which the virtually unknown wide receiver David Tyree pinned against his helmet and made arguably the best catch in NFL history. Four plays later, Manning threw a 13 yard touchdown to wide receiver Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left which clinched the game.

Let’s review how the Patriots and Giants got to super bowl XLVI. The Patriots went 13-3 in the regular season and won 45-10 versus the Denver Broncos in the divisional round. In the AFC championship they defeated the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 after a dropped touchdown by Lee Evans and a missed 32 yard field goal by Billy Cundiff to end the game. The Giants ended the regular season with an average 9-7 record, and had to win the last two games of the season to even have a chance of advancing to the postseason. In the wildcard game they annihilated the Atlanta Falcons 24-2. Then, in the divisional round they upset the defending champions and 15-1 Green Bay Packers 37-20, and they won a memorable overtime game in the conference championship against the San Francisco 49ers, by a score of 20-17. They may not have won the game without 2 fumbled punts by 49ers return man Kyle Williams.

No one is sure how the game will turn out; as NFL fans we hope that it will be as memorable as the last time these two teams met in the Super Bowl.

 

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