I mean
one half step too late or too early
you don't quite make it.
One half second too slow or too fast
and you don't quite catch it.
The inches we need are everywhere around us.
They are in every break of the game
every minute, every second.
Inches; that’s all that separated the New England Patriots from beating the New York Giants in the super bowl, avenging their championship loss against them from four years ago, and placing them as perhaps the greatest dynasty of all time (four super bowls in ten years).
I'll tell you this
in any fight
it is the guy who is willing to die
And I know if I am going to have any life anymore
it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch
because that is what living is.
The six inches in front of your face.
This message came from Al Pacino during one of his late 90’s films, Any Given Sunday. Oliver Stone’s film, an overdramatized picture about a football league that seemed to serve as an inspiration to Vince McMahon’s now defunct, XFL. In other words, I enjoyed it, but many critics did not.
Pacino’s speech before the team's championship game serves as one of the more inspirational speeches to come from any movie (really, I dare you to try and not get any goose bumps).
The Giants wanted that inch. We can talk about Gronk’s injury affecting his play (he was rendered useless the entire game), the fumbles that didn’t bounce the Patriots way, and you can even question the legitimacy of the safety call on Brady (who’s to say one of his receivers ran the wrong route). Despite these gripes and concerns, it was the Giants who deserved to win the game in the end.
The most difficult part to grasp from this game as a Patriots fan is that from a coaching perspective we executed the game plan. Keeping two safeties about 30 yards back at all times, the Patriots were able to keep everything in front of them. Eli Manning played an extraordinary game, yet the Patriots were able to hold off a high-powered Giants offense for most of the game. Despite the Giants nearly doubling the Patriots in time-of-possession for the entire game, New York only managed 21 points against the much maligned New England defense (19 if you count Brady’s safety).
Secondly, the Patriots offensive line was able to hold off the freakish defensive line of the Giants for the majority of the game. My bare boned prediction heading into the super bowl was that if the New England offensive line was able to keep Brady upright, then Tom was going to pick apart the suspect Giant secondary. The thought of Brady having a subpar game with an ample amount of time in the pocket never crossed my mind. Heck, when was the last time Brady had two bad games in a row? This was his game to have; the revenge factor was off the charts, and the stakes were so high that Brady couldn’t fail.
As a society, there is always the need to place blame on someone or something. A team can win collectively, yet it can never lose that way. That’s unfortunate for Wes Welker. After a 123-catch season, Welker was rendered the “goat” of the game after dropping a difficult yet catchable ball.
We’ve all seen the play countless times. Brady and Welker both saw something in the defense, and Welker ran an in-seam streak down the hash mark of the field. Now, this type of route typically requires a lower line drive of a throw, not the high arching one that Brady threw. The ball was also thrown to Welker’s back left shoulder, making it increasingly difficult for someone going full speed. The ball hit Welker in the hands as he was contorting his body, and the rest is history. Both players failed to execute a play that was performed flawlessly all year long.
The play certainly wouldn’t have cemented a Patriots victory, but it certainly would have helped.
The Patriots, as a team, lost the game: The three fumbles that the Patriots failed to corral; the one fumble they recovered, but was offset by a 12-men on the field penalty; Rob Ninkonvich’s offside penalty on third down; Brady’s safety; Aaron Hernandez and Deion Branch dropping passes; Gronkowski’s ankle; the team abandoning the running game; Bill Belichick not letting the Giants score sooner. The reasons for losing stick in your head and are engraved as memories you’ll have for the rest of my life.
I’ll always remember Asante Samuel dropping an easy interception and Rodney Harrison going up in the air with David Tyree, and I’ll always remember Manning to Manningham (the 38-yard throw was the Giants longest of the game), as well as Welker dropping that pass.
As Patriots fans, we’ve become blinded by success and illuminated by failure. Fans in Cleveland, Minnesota, Oakland, and countless other cities could care less about our “failures”. New England has been to five super bowls in the past 11 seasons, winning three and losing two. They have a great shot at going again next year.
Like Pacino philosophized about during his speech, the game comes down to inches. If Gronk’s ankle was ok, he probably catches the hail mary at the end of the game. If the ball hits the turf a bit differently one of those times, the Patriots end up with a fumble. If Manning’s pass to Manningham is just the slightest bit off, the pass doesn’t connect. And if Brady throws the pass differently, or if Welker contorts his body a bit sooner or later, the Patriots probably come out of the game as champs.
Instead, Welker, his teammates, and New England diehards everywhere are left with a cold shower feeling. The Giants have our number in the cruelest of games. Hey, there’s always next season.
