As I bask in the glow of yet another Giants Super Bowl win over the Patriots, I’m debating whether or not the Giants should have taken more time off the clock as the game was winding down. I really do see both sides of the argument.
On one hand, you want to kill as much clock as possible so you don’t leave Brady with time to march down the field. You’re really playing with fire giving Brady 57 seconds and a time out. As it turned out, he was THISCLOSE to completing what would have been the most amazing finish in Super Bowl history. If Gronk’s ankle was fine, we're not having this debate, and I’m still wiping the blood out of my eyes.
On the other hand, nothing’s a given, and you take the points when you can get them, especially if the defense is letting you score. Say Bradshaw went down at the 1, was it a lock that he was going to score on the next three tries? It was Bradshaw who fumbled earlier in the game, not to mention the non-fumble call in the 49ers game two weeks earlier. Even if the Giants decided to kick a field goal, those aren’t gimmes either. Just ask the Ravens. I love Tynes but anything can happen in that situation. Bad snap, he slips, whatever.
What say you guys?
You stop at one and make them use last timeout. I'd try and score TD on 3rd with the chip FG as fallback although Pats probably let him score on third like they were on second.
Always take the points. We've all seen missed chip-shot FGs, snaps that fly 10 feet over the holder's head -- hell, even trying to reposition the ball for a FG could result in a fumbled snap. In the biggest game of the year, you don't fuck around. You take the points and play D. It's not like the Pats were scoring at will.
That's what I was thinking, Hoodge. Take the points when they're available.
I would have taken the knee and tried for the TD on 3rd. FG on 4th. I think that's what was going on in Bradhsaw's head at the time. From reports after the game, Coughlin didn't consider the option that NE was gonna let them score so Bradshaw was shocked at the parting of the Red Sea. As he goes in untouched, he stops and wonders if he should score, but the momentum was already there and he took the safe option. It worked out in the long run, but there were a few moments on that last drive where I wish there was less time and no timeouts.
What they did wrong was that ran the ball and didn't pass. Not because that's better strategically, but because I missed the over/under by one god damn pass, and that's what's most important. Bitches cost me 60 bucks.