Superbowl XLII Lives Up to Hype With Upset

Rob Nielsen
2.15.08

Every once in a while an event comes along that almost seemingly stops the world. One of those events is the Super Bowl. Super Bowl XLII was one of the most surprising matchups in the history of the game.

Representing the AFC were the New England Patriots, 18-0 and confident to complete the first undefeated season since the ’72 Dolphins. Representing the NFC were the New York Giants. The Giants were10-6 and hadn’t even been projected to make the playoffs. In areas such as yards per game they ranked in the bottom 50 percent. The Giants were 12-point underdogs and it showed as many analysts predicted a New England victory. It seemed like it would be a game for the ages. It lived up to that prophesy.

At the same time, many PLS students were watching either from their homes or at Super Bowl parties. One of these students was senior John Mitchell. Mitchell has been hosting small Super Bowl gatherings for the past three years. Included are Super Bowl XL in which the analyst favored Seattle Seahawks lost to the wildcard Pittsburgh Steelers and Peyton Manning’s capture of the elusive title in Super Bowl XLI. Even with these past games, this year’s game was the most impressive is Mitchell’s opinion.

“It’s probably one of the best Super Bowl games I’ve seen in my life,” Mitchell said.

However, not everyone agreed about the excitement of the game.

“I was kind of bored. I like college athletics a lot more because the pros seem to play for the money rather than the love of the game,” senior Tyler Strawn said.

Strawn also attended multiple parties to watch the game.

Watching along with Strawn and Mitchell were 97.5 million other viewers in America. According to NFL.com, this was the largest audience to ever watch a Super Bowl. It was also the first Super Bowl to be played in the new University of Phoenix Stadium.

Super Bowl XLII seemingly had everything a Super Bowl should: elaborate commercials, two weeks of build-up prior to it and then the game itself. However, unlike many past games, this one was close. The score at the half was New England holding a 7-3 lead over the Giants.

Though the Patriots were an overwhelming favorite to win the game, the Giants had other plans, but for awhile it looked like New England quarterback Tom Brady would come through with one of his famed fourth quarter comebacks. With 2:42 left in the game New England scored and took a 14-10 lead. The Giants then had the task of completing an 83-yard drive for the endzone.

The drive was slow considering the time with many third down plays and even a conversion on fourth and one. The drive’s key play was an escape by Eli Manning to complete a 33-yard pass to David Tyree that he caught by pinning the ball between his helmet and his hands. The drive culminated in a 25-yard toss to Plaxico Burress for the game-winning touchdown.

The Patriots got one more chance at the end with 35 seconds left. But a sack and two incomplete passes forced Tom Brady to attempt a long pass on fourth down with 10 seconds remaining. One PLS student on the edge of his seat was junior Chris Telecky.

“I was just sitting there praying to make him drop it or for Tom Brady to throw an interception,” Telecky said.

Mitchell’s and Telecky’s wishes, as well as the prayers of many Giants fans and anti-Patriots around the world, were answered. The pass to Randy Moss bounced incomplete to the ground. The Giants were Super Bowl champions.