Tag Archives: Aaron Hernandez
The Super Bowl Is Set, Now Brace Yourself For Narrative
Without doing some quick research, I wasn’t able to remember the last time a Super Bowl rematch took place. And I was pretty confident that this so-called-rematch-of-Super-Bowl-XLII would be, at least one of the, quickest in the game’s history. But how soon I forget those laughable Buffalo Bills years where they were seemingly in the Super Bowl all through the 90′s. In 1992 and 1993 the NFL had the same teams play each other both years, Dallas Cowboys versus the aforementioned Bills. There was also Steelers versus Cowboys in ’75 and again in ’78, and the 49ers versus the Cincinnati Bengals in ’81 and then again in ’88. So it’s not as unprecedented as I initially thought, but rare nonetheless. And if one isn’t a fan of either team, and let’s face it, both these teams are love-them or hate-them, this Super Bowl may be a burden to watch for the masses.
The Patriots defense has shored up over the last half of the regular season. During the first 8 weeks of the season, the Patriots secondary gave up over 300-yards passing six times. Over the last 8 weeks, they only gave up 300-yards or more twice. That may be an unscientific barometer to gauge the team’s defense but it certainly proves they were heading in the right direction, improvement wise. During the Patriots first playoff game against the Denver Tebows Broncos, it appeared the defense was playing at a higher level then they had all season. More gang tackles and more group centered congratulations after big stops than I had noticed all year-long. Not to mention it seemed another Broncos offensive player was being helped off the field after each play in the final quarter. It was more of the same versus the Baltimore Ravens in the American Football Conference Championship game, with typical corner back play giving up big yards and eventual scores (re: the Torrey Smith touchdown where Devin McCourtey went for the pass defense, and not staying behind to attempt a tackle) but also clogged running lanes and successfully brought ball carriers down.
Fast forward to the weeks leading up to the big game and the talking heads and pundits will be rehashing Super Bowl XLII. I’m sure the collective football audience will see David Tyree with a ball on his helmet replayed millions of times as well as the non-whistle and subsequent non-sack of Eli just moments prior. The fact of the matter is, these two teams aren’t the same teams that faced each other on that faithful day. There is no Randy Moss for the Patriots, but the Patriot team that lost didn’t have the dynamic tight end duo of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. The Giants don’t have the same Brandon Jacobs as they did and don’t have Plaxico Burress, but they do have Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks who both eclipsed the 1,000 yard receiving mark this past season. The Giants are less rounded team as they were in 2007. Eli Manning was close to the 5,000 yard mark in passing this past season which sums up their game plan. Throw. Throw to #80 and #88. As for the Patriots, they may showcase more Danny Woodhead and Aaron Hernandez out of the backfield than we are used to, as the Giants run defense is a little suspect. As their normal game plan, throw to the big tight ends to cause mismatches, should also wreak havoc on the Giants linebackers and safeties.
On the surface, this year’s Super Bowl could be a shoot out. But since both teams have had season long defensive improvements, it very well could be a similar outcome to the Super Bowl that stopped the Patriots’ winning streak. But we will have a long, two-week David Tyree replay filled layoff before we find out.
Andrew E. Irons is the New England Patriots blogger for The Penalty Flag. Andrew helps run and contributes to a Rhode Island based Hip-Hop website, The Echo Chamber Blog, as well as a baseball blog, Why Sacrifice? both under the pseudonym Verbal Spacey. You can track his daily diatribes by following him on Twitter.
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