What a game. And as usual a Vinatieri FG was the decider, although not quite in the dramatic way of Super Bowls 36 and 38 (seriously, there should be a point when you just stop with the Roman numerals).
That first half was a nail-biter, but it wasn’t quality football from either side. The Pats looked off: they never really established a running game until the last part of the 2nd quarter, the normally disciplined team was getting assessed penalties for false starts, and even Tom Brady fumbled on a play-action pass.
On the half-time show: thank goodness Paul McCartney didn’t suffer a wardrobe malfunction. But it was fairly insipid, I felt, and I’m a big Beatles fan. Maybe the sound on my TV just wasn’t that good. Incidentally, the NFL Europe feed, which we were getting, seemed by reports to be better than Joe Buck et al on the Fox feed - no weird camera angles. Things I learnt today: the Superbowl trophy is made by Tiffany & Co. Wonder if it comes in one of those blue boxes women love?
The second half showed the difference – coaching. Full credit to the Eagles for playing hard: I’m still amazed at Terrell Owens coming back from a broken leg against all medical advice. And Andy Reid certainly coached better than Tony Dungy or Bill Cowher. But the Eagles showed a distinct lack of urgency, even when they were down by 10 with 2 minutes to go. So weird. Up to that point Reid had looked decent, then suddenly he revealed he didn’t seem to know the principles of clock management. Why was McNabb huddling and letting the clock run down?
I was worried when McNabb hit Westbrook with a great pass to tie the score in the 3rd quarter. I wasn’t so worried near the end, even after McNabb threw that touchdown pass to bring the Eagles within 3 points, because by that time Reid’s inability to manage the clock was evident, and Brady and the Patriots were in full control of the rhythm of the game. (Nice screen passes…) Also, by that point McNabb was clearly hit-or-miss: there were times when he threw decent passes (the pass to Westbrook for the TD, for instance), and there were others when his strategy seemed to be “chuck-it-and-pray”. Credit to the Pats defense for taking out the possibility of McNabb running. And great work on defense overall by Harrison and Bruschi.
The best, most affecting moment for me was when they showed Bill Belichick, Charlie Weis, and Romeo Crennel hugging together at the end, the last time all three would coach together. (Yup, Crennel’s leaving.) There it was, clear for all to see: the three architects of the Patriots dynasty, showing more emotion than critics of the Patriots’ supposed soulless style give them credit for.