On the Morning after, the Phoenix Airport feels like the night after prom. I half recognize a lot of faces milling about; The NFL Network crew walks by; Everyone is talking about the crazy events of the night before. Just like the postgame festivities Sunday night, you can tell which side a person was on by looking at their face.

That was as devastating a loss as possible for anyone associated with the Patriots. No one who lives in New England will blame Bill Belichick for walking in a trance in the immediate aftermath because that's exactly how they felt.

Continue reading "The Morning After" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

The quick stomach punch to end that game was quickly replaced with an appreciation that I was able to cover it. I walked on the field after the game among the confetti, and tried to soak in the moment before taping a video segment.

I wrote about why the Giants won for NBC, and another piece will be up shortly. I had a list of "under the radar plays" but it didn't come out right. One list that I'll keep for Pancake Blocks is the Five Biggest Plays from the Super Bowl. Here goes ...

Continue reading "Five Biggest Plays" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 01:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

New York, New York is playing over the P.A. It's my adopted home, but I feel sick to my stomach. This is a good early lesson in how to be a professional. A couple short columns and a video will be up by late tonight.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

9:06: Here we go. Second lowest scoring three quarters in NFL history. One possession game, 15 minutes to go. I bet the NFL isn't too happy they are getting such a low scoring game in what should be the highest rated Super Bowl ever.

9:09: Who needs Shockey? Kevin Boss gets the longest play of the game while exposing Rodney Harrison in pass coverage.

9:10: David Tyree, Steve Smith, and Kevin Boss killing the Patriots. Death by secondary depth. I'm going to have to slow my posts here as I prepare my post-game stories.

9:13: Patriots sideline is pretty calm after the Giants touchdown. Not much yelling or screaming. Brady needs a fourth quarter comeback to go undefeated. Who could ask for more?

Continue reading "Super Bowl XLII, Fourth Quarter" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

8:27: Patriots continue to go three or four wide every play. The Giants have mostly been rushing four or five.

8:28: Patriots offense looks much more crisp to open the second half. They are going to look to the middle of the field to counteract the Giants pressure.

Continue reading "Super Bowl XLII, Third Quarter" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

7:03: Interesting first quarter. As expected, the defenses didn't really make much noise. But they slowed the offenses down enough to keep ths score low. It reminds me a lot of the Jaguars-Patriots game. Laurence Maroney is your first quarter MVP.

7:08: Ellis Hobbs on Plaxico Burress, and he knocks it out of his hand. The Patriots have to consider a huge win whenever that happens.

7:10: On Amani Toomer's incredible long catch, he was wide open early in the play, but Eli Manning hesitated. Toomer was well covered by the time the ball got there, but his receiver made an outstanding play. Concern for Patriots: They are getting no pressure on Manning.

Continue reading "Super Bowl XLII, Second Quarter" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 07:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

6:30: And we're off. Flushbulbs a popping.

6:32: Giants go three wide on first down, four wide on third down. They get Plaxico matched up one on one with Randall Gay for their first down. They are definitely looking to spread out the Patriots early rather than attack them with the running game.

6:35: Giants are picking on Randall Gay. They get him matched up on Steve Smith (my pick for x-factor of this game) one-on-one for another first down. If you are a Giants fan, you have to love the confidence in Eli Manning.

Continue reading "Super Bowl XLII, First Quarter" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Like Bill Simmons, I expected a Giants-heavy crowd tonight. But after pregame introductions, there is no doubt that Patriots fans outnumber New York. And are a lot louder. The Patriots fans all stood as the team hit the field. Chills again. I'm such a fanboy.

Okay, with the game starting, I'll do one post per quarter, but refresh for the updates.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 06:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We've got some inconsistent wireless internet going on up here, but my computer seems to be immune. Some notable faces around me include Don Banks from SI, Mike Celizic from MSNBC, Albert Breer from the Dallas Morning News, Greg Garber from ESPN, and Greg Doyel from CBS. I am taking special enjoyment that Boston legend Bob Lobel and the Bachelor Jesse Palmer are a few rows back. Same thing with the ESPN video reporters - Werder, Sal Pal, and Trey Wingo.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've never understood people that wear jerseys to a game with players from other teams. I've seen three Brett Favre jerseys so far, and a few more Packers fans in gear. Looks like they jinxed their team by getting tickets early.

Favre wasn't close to the most random jersey I saw though. Some Patriots fan wore a Scott Zolak jersey (no, not Zolak himself, although he's here). And a Dallas Cowboys fan had on a custom made Bobby Carpenter t-shirt.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)