I feel sick this morning.
No, not from the cancer, from the game last night. Very disappointing. The Patriots largely did what I thought they would need to do in order to win the game; effectively neutralize the Giants' rush which, on balance (the first rush on Brady resulting in the safety a notable exception) I thought they did- Brady mostly had sufficient time to throw, Benny and Woodhead had room to run. For the most part the secondary adequately contained the Giants' receivers, keeping them short-to-mid range between the red zones (with the exception of those few deeper ones to Manningham;) the Giants' receivers didn't scorch the secondary. The play of the Pats front seven was average. Offensively there was a decent mix between pass and run, though I thought the passing game wasn't at it's best (a few balls thrown behind receivers, Branch and Hernandez, Gronk too, had a couple of crucial drops, and obviously the drop by Welker, one that, if made, likely would have resulted in three, possibly six, points on the board; at the very least it would have helped chew clock deep in Giants' territory.) Special teams didn't give up any big plays. I thought the Pats seemed a bit flat throughout, seemed as if the Giants had a bit more spark, more energy. And yet it was an eminently winnable game- close, as many expected, but winnable.
A tough loss.
To quote Leo Duggan: "I'm drained."
