Bitter much?

I noticed this on Kiss Me Suzy. Apparently some Patriots fans are starting a petition that last 1:40 of the Super Bowl should be replayed. Fans of the team that reportedly cheated their way to the second biggest upset in Super Bowl history. And you can view a powerpoint presentation (I shit you not) of the Giants' apparently rampant cheating. Seahawks fans were similarly bitter two years ago, but there were multiple questionable calls in that game.

The Tuck Rule

I am still in disbelief. Somehow the Giants, the same Giants who allowed 80 points in the first two weeks of the season, held the most potent offense in the history of the NFL to two touchdowns. To 45 rushing yards on 16 carries. To under five yards a pass attempt. Unreal numbers.

In hindsight, the Giants learned more about the Patriots from their week 17 matchup than the Patriots learned about the Giants. Steve Spagnuolo must have seen some cracks in the Patriots offensive line, and Belichick never adjusted. Which is eerily reminiscent of the Patriots' monumental upset of the Rams, where Mike Martz never called any max protect. The Giants repeatedly pulled Fred Robbins outside and brought Justin Tuck (not a starter) up the middle, and rushed Tuck at the right guard almost every down after Stephen Neal left the game.

If the Redskins pull up the Brinks truck to Steve Spagnuolo's jersey estate today (rookie coaches typically make $2-$2.6 million for a 3 or 4 year deal, Snyder would probably pay him about $3 million) then they totally redeem themselves for their extended head coaching search. NFL rules penalize assistant coaches on Super Bowl teams, as the Redskins are the only opening left. Spagnuolo may turn Snyder down, with him not being able to choose his coaching staff or players, but it won't come down to money.

So where does this rank all time in terms of upsets? The Jets/Colts is from a different era in terms of media exposure of the AFL and NFL, so it really can't be compared. So that just leaves Patriots/Rams and Broncos/Packers. The Broncos upset was clearly the smallest upset of these three, in terms of point spread and revisionist history. Looking back it isn't that big of a surprise the Broncos undersized cut-blocking line were able to hold the aging, less athletic Packers defensive line in check. With the scandal emerging around the Patriots/Rams Super Bowl, revisionist history says of course the Patriots won because they did a better job cheating. Maybe in a few years we'll hear the Giants bugged Patriots practices, or they were all on HGH, but after this weekend it's hard not to call this the biggest NFL upset in 39 years.

From the start of the playoffs, the Giants are by far the most unlikely Super Bowl champ. They're the second wild card team to win the Super Bowl, but the 2005 Steelers were a year removed from going 15-1 and were just getting healthy in the playoffs. The Giants lost Tiki Barber to retirement and Jeremy Shockey to injury. The were blowed out, as Emmitt would say, by the Vikings Thanksgiving Day weekend. I believe the Giants were something like 25:1 to start the playoffs; Vegas Watch had them as the second longest odds in the playoffs.

My Super Bowl prediction

Tom Brady is so impressive it's ridiculous. He threw half a hundred touchdowns, he's dating maybe the world's most eligible bachelorette, and he always says the right thing. How about his response to Plaxico Burress's prediction?

"We're only going to score 17 points?" Brady said before chuckling about it. "OK. Is Plax playing defense? I wish he had said 45-42 and gave us a little credit for scoring more points."

The perfect response. Zero bulletin board material, even a kind of a tip of the hat to Burress, and he makes an excellent point. How are the Giants possibly going to hold the Patriots under 40? The Patriots have one of the best receiving corps in the history of the NFL, the Giants weakest position is defensive back. The Giants have the league's best set of defensive ends, but the Patriots have perhaps the league's best set of offensive tackles. I don't see New England punting more than once.

My prediction: Patriots 41. Giants 24.

Part of me sees the Patriots winning by three, just like their other three Super Bowls, but this is by far the most talented Patriots Super Bowl squad, and probably the weakest team they've played. In fact, it's arguably the weakest team New England has played in this year's playoffs.