THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY SUPER BOWL WEEKEND

The time has finally come to go over the last week of football until September (don’t even mention the preseason to me). As a Jets fan, I was in a bit of a lose-lose situation with this Super Bowl. I either got to hear trash talk from the rival Patriots’ fans or I got to watch Giants fans walk around my city all year long in their Championship shirts and hats.

Either way, I could not be happier for Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin, who have gone from having to worry about their jobs to all but sealing their names in the Hall of Fame. They deserved this win. Once again the underdog Giants found a way to come together as a team to put on a spectacular performance to knock off the top seeded Patriots. Let’s jump into it.

The Good: Three of Mario Manningham’s five catches come on the Giants’ winning drive, including a spectacular 38 yard catch along the sidelines.

It was hard for me to not put Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning here, but I think Manningham had way more to gain by his performance than Eli did. Everyone expected Eli to be perfect in this game, especially against such a weak defense. However, Bill Belichick game planned on “making Manningham beat us,” and that’s exactly what he did.

Anyone who knows Manningham’s story, knows he had a lot to prove in this game. Manningham was a highly productive receiver at Michigan and wowed Wolverine fans with his acrobatic catches and game changing plays. At one point, he was thought of as a first round pick, but fell to the third round because of character concerns and running a slow 40 yard dash at the NFL Combine, which was a red flag for a lot of teams that his work ethic was questionable.

After his first two seasons with the Giants, he became one of Eli’s favorite targets in 2010 recording almost 1000 yard and nine touchdowns. 2011 was the last year of his rookie contract and many people expected him to have the type of season that Victor Cruz ended up having. Manningham had a decent season in 2011, but still failed to reach expectations.

In the Super Bowl, Manningham clearly had a lot of pressure on his since the Patriots were going to do everything they could do to take Hakeem Nicks and Cruz out of the game, and after the Giants lost their only two pass catching tight ends, that only left Manningham to come up big for Eli.

Manningham had received criticism from the announcers during the Super Bowl on a play in which he ran his route too close to the sidelines so that Eli did not have enough room to fit the ball in to him, which resulted in a huge missed opportunity for a big play. Manningham clearly learned from his mistakes because on his 38 yard catch, he was running the same route, but managed to stay further away from the sidelines, leaving room for Eli to place the ball right where only Manningham could catch it. He had two other crucial catches on that final drive and has solidified himself in Giants’ history.

Manningham might not be on the Giants roster next season, but he definitely made himself a good amount of money with his performance in the Super Bowl. Whoever signs him this offseason will have to pay significantly more due to just a few plays at the end of this game.

Runner-Up: Giants’ defense holds the Patriots high-powered offense to just 17 points.

The Bad: Wes Welker’s confidence level.

Anyone who blames Welker for the Patriots’ loss is out of their mind. Was his drop a big swing in emotion for his team? Yes, absolutely. Would that play have put the game out of reach for the Giants? Not necessarily, but it certainly would have made it significantly tougher for them to come back. However, it is still just one play and there will always be missed opportunities whether you win or lose.

On that play, Tom Brady’s pass was off target and Welker made a great adjustment in order to just get his hands on that ball, like he always does. Nine out of ten times, Welker will pull that down for the Patriots, but he just could not handle it for whatever reason. There were plenty of other key plays that hurt the Patriots, but you could tell that this one had a huge effect on the team’s morale. If Welker is dropping passes, what can the Patriots count on?

As bad as the media criticism has and will be, there will not be anyone tougher on Welker than himself. You could tell after the game that Welker thought that he had lost the game for his team and was emotionally crushed.

Since Welker’s contract is up, I am praying that his drop at the end of the game does not hurt him in contract negotiations with the Patriots. Welker has been one of the most underpaid players in the NFL for the last few seasons now and I hope he finally gets his due.

As much as I would love to see Welker go elsewhere, there is no way this happens. Welker is the second most important player on this Patriots team next to Brady and Tommy Boy is significantly more productive with Welker in the lineup. Welker will get a big payday, I just hope he does not hurt himself in negotiations by blaming himself for the Patriots loss.

Runner-Up: The Patriots force three fumbles, yet fail to force a turnover all game long.

The Ugly: Rob Gronkowski’s dance moves.

In a game that did not have too many poor performances, the ugliest thing that happened Super Bowl weekend was off the field. And boy oh boy was it ugly.

Let’s look at it this way. Imagine you are a young player who has just had one of the greatest seasons anyone at your position has ever had. Your team has gotten to the Super Bowl, but you are still hobbled from a huge hit two weeks earlier. You play the game, but are unable to really contribute and your team loses. What would you feel like doing? If the answer is anything but get a good night’s rest and stay away from the media, you are doing something wrong.

Gronkowski not only did not try to get some rest and heal up his ankle, but he got drunk and jumped around the dance floor with significantly more energy than he showed at any point in time on the football field earlier in the day. He made himself look like a total moron and I am sure there are guys in the Patriots’ locker room who will think differently of Gronkowski after seeing his excitement right after such a devastating loss.

What Gronkowski does not appreciate is how incredibly difficult it is to get to a Super Bowl and have the type of season he had this year. After the Patriots almost went 19-0, it took them four years to get back to the Super Bowl. At age 34, Brady probably only has four or five years left at best and the Patriots are not nearly as strong of a team as they were four years ago. And once Brady is gone, the Patriots are going to have a hard time replacing him.

Tony Gonzalez is possibly the greatest tight end to ever play the game and he is most likely going to have to retire without ever winning a single playoff game. Gronkowski needs to appreciate the situation that he is in or else Bill Belichick will not hesitate to cut bait with a player who clearly does not abide by his code of conduct.