Archived Thread

Coming up on 10 years, how were you feeling prior to XLII?

SFGFNCGiantsFan : 2/1/2018 7:43 pm

I don't remember the BBI consensus at the time, but I was quite confident that we had a really good shot at beating the Pats. A lot of it was obviously due to how we played them in the season finale, but I thought we had the DL that could really hammer TB & keep him off balance. Also, it seemed like the Pats were coming back to earth after their blistering start that year. I remember visiting a buddy in Manchester, NH that October & going out to a bar to see them just kill the Skins. I think the final score was 56-7 or something crazy like that. They weren't the same team coming into XLII & I thought the pressure of going 19-0 might be getting to them.

And while it took an amazing play-Eli to Tyree-to set up our win, I thought we outplayed them. We were the better team that day.

Anyways, how confident were you going into the game? It's hard to believe it'll be 10 years this Saturday. Man, time flies. 2/3/08 will forever be one of the greatest days in my life.

Extremely confident

Steve L : 2/1/2018 7:54 pm : link

So much so that I had $450 in bets out there. It seemed like the Pats had hit a plateau and we were peaking. No way we were losing that game.

Go Terps : 2/1/2018 7:57 pm : link

About the game itself, my biggest fear was Randy Moss catching a 75 yard touchdown in the first two minutes and making the Giants play catch up. When we won the toss and started the game with the long drive you could tell the game would be tight. My faith in Eli was total...just had to get him a chance at the end.

As for that actual day, a bunch of us spent it in the city and made a day of it. Watched the previous Super Bowls, got to Dorrian's at like 1PM or something and got our usual table. Nervous wreck. I remember asking my brother what time it was, and he responded, "Two o'clock." After what I thought was an hour and a half I asked him again. "Quarter after 2." Ask again after another hour and a half. "Uh...take it easy..."

There are days that are "before and after" days. That was one.

Now here we are talking about Eli's replacement. Where does the fucking time go?

RE: Extremely confident

mfsd : 2/1/2018 8:01 pm : link

In comment 13816143 Steve L said:

Quote:

So much so that I had $450 in bets out there. It seemed like the Pats had hit a plateau and we were peaking. No way we were losing that game.

Agree with this...Pats hadn�t looked at their best their 2 playoff wins if memory serves, and the Giants, especially our defense and running game, was firing on all cylinders. I knew we had a great chance to pull it off

I felt extremely

cokeduplt : 2/1/2018 8:04 pm : link

Confident due to the season finale but at the same time was extremely stunned when they pulled it off

I just had the feeling something special was unfolding.

bceagle05 : 2/1/2018 8:09 pm : link

I couldn't have scripted the game any better though - still can't believe it ended so dramatically. As Tyree said coming off the field: "This is fairy tale-type stuff."

Can't say I was confidant

ChathamMark : 2/1/2018 8:14 pm : link

or extremely confidant. Definitely thought it would be a competitive game, and if things worked in our favor we would win. Things did work out. Great memories.

I was hyped

paesan98 : 2/1/2018 8:27 pm : link

after we played them the way we did in the season finale. I thought we had an excellent chance to win.

I wasn't exactly confident

djm : 2/1/2018 8:30 pm : link

But I wasn't terrified either. I gave the edge to the pats but kept saying all week that the January pats weren't as good as the October pats and the Giants were playing very very well. I probably had it around 55-45 odds in favor of the pats.

I couldn't help but dream that If the Giants could somehow win the game it would cement that whole postseason run as something out of a Hollywood movie. Best run ever. I just wanted to validate the dallas win even more so. Thank god thank Buddha thank every deity possible.... they pulled it off.

^^^ Agreed

UESBLUE : 2/1/2018 8:30 pm : link

i felt we were in their heads and were rolling and had a very good shot.

Felt we were playing with house money....

BillKo : 2/1/2018 8:30 pm : link

...the Cowboys and Packers' games were that rewarding.

I just wanted to see a competitive game, and frankly, not get blown out.

Then midway thru the third quarter I was like "Are we really going to lose a game where we hold them to 10 points?"

Great, great sports memory with that ending.

RE: Felt we were playing with house money....

BillKo : 2/1/2018 8:32 pm : link

In comment 13816186 BillKo said:

Quote:

I should say SEVEN (7) points.............

Terps

djm : 2/1/2018 8:32 pm : link

I was obsessed with the mantra of not giving up any big plays to moss. I must have said it 100 times throughout the two weeks. NO BIG PLAYS to moss! I was convinced that we could win if we forced the pats to drive the whole field.

And no doubt

djm : 2/1/2018 8:35 pm : link

Week 17 was a huge factor. I watched that game with my brother and friend at grasshoppers by the meadowlands. After the game I said we could be on to something with this team... if they win that first playoff game watch out!

Fuck yea

Nervous. Nobody gave the NYG a shot

The_Boss : 2/1/2018 8:41 pm : link

And I kindda bought in to the point where I hoped we wouldn�t get blown out. I couldn�t enjoy one second of that game because it was close and up until the 4th quarter, it seemed like we wouldn�t move the ball. The 4th quarter was a roller coaster. When Moss scored the go ahead score I threw something because I had zero faith Eli would take the team down and punch it in down 4. I let out a primal scream out my window when the game mercifully ended in our favor. I�d relive it all again tomorrow if I could.

I was neither afraid nor confident...

Chris684 : 2/1/2018 8:47 pm : link

It was a strange place to be as a fan.

By that point in time we had already sent Dallas packing @ their place and then knocked out Green Bay in the Ice Bowl II so I definitely had a feeling that as badly as I wanted them to win, I just wanted them to play New England like they had in the regular season. Winning was beyond my wildest dreams.

That�s what makes the legend of that victory grow bigger with time. New England was so good that season that it was considered an accomplishment if teams could even keep the score close.

Without going back and looking, I think the only team other than us to truly give them a game that year was Baltimore.

I was excited they made it.

Rick5 : 2/1/2018 8:53 pm : link

I wasn't nervous because I didn't think they had more than a 20% chance or so of winning. I became a lot more nervous as the game progressed and they were in it.

I knew they were going to win

Big Rick in FL : 2/1/2018 9:44 pm : link

No clue why, but I knew it. Went to the game in Atlanta. Got to meet all the players before and I just had a weird feeling. Remember it was a Monday night game. Drove right back to Florida after the game. They had a car show at Chick Fil A on Tuesday. I remember sitting in my friend (Eagles fan) car after that game and telling him we were going to win the Super Bowl. Just had a feeling in my stomach. Once we made it I knew it was ours. I wasn't even nervous. Which might be the only Giants game in my life I wasn't nervous.

AcidTest : 2/1/2018 9:52 pm : link

thought we'd lose a close game. But my head wasn't really focused because my father died the day after we beat the Cowboys three weeks earlier.

Are any threads from the week leading up to ...

Boy Cord : 2/1/2018 9:57 pm : link

... the big game archived? How about the game thread?

it was a crazy time - I was in Berlin, Germany with my son

Del Shofner : 2/1/2018 9:58 pm : link

whose BBI handle was Charlie at Columbia. I had a lecturing gig in Austria coming up, arranged months before when the Giants were like 5-5 and i wasn't thinking about the Super Bowl at all, lol. The great BBIer Tony in Berlin took us to a Hertha Berlin match at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin the day before the game. Then, the Super Bowl started at like 1:30 a.m. for us, and it was all in German - and they televised it like a soccer match, no commercial breaks at halftime, so you saw the players just standing around during all the ads. The announcers kept ranting in German about Domenik Hixon, who you'll recall was born in Germany. By the time of all the exciting stuff at the end, it was like 4:30 in the morning and (since we were in a hotel) we couldn't scream or anything. We finally went to bed about 5 a.m. and slept for like two hours before we had to kept to fly down to Munich, rent a car and drive to Kitzbuhel, Austria. Good times!

I was feeling very good about how the team was playing

DieHard : 2/1/2018 10:59 pm : link

They were peaking at the right time, while the Pats were coming off a lackluster W against a beat-up Chargers team. Of course the big question was how Eli and company would handle themselves under the bright lights, with history on the line. I remember seeing Osi on TV just before the kickoff, and he let out a nervous exhale, which led me to think, just for a moment, that maybe they weren't ready. Clearly I was wrong.

Confident.

old man : 2/1/2018 11:02 pm : link

The Pats struggled the last 5 of 6 games I believe, including the 2 playoff games and our game 16, and I thought they could be had if our D played well again.

I was confident becuase I thought we where destined to win

Boatie Warrant : 2/1/2018 11:34 pm : link

I told my wife after the Tampa Game. "If the Giants are going to the Superbowl then so am I" After the Cowboys game I started making real plans. I was going to drive from Virginia to Arizona and rent a parking space and sleep in my car. My plan was to buy a ticket (from a scalper) at half time to save money.

So there I was after we won the Greenbay game and found out the center for disabled auction off two superbowl trips and raffle off two others. To be in the raffle you had to donate atleast $100 dollars. I won one of those all expense paid trips! (airfare, a week at the Ritz Carlton and 2 tickets to the game) At that point I knew there was no way our team could lose :) One of the best weeks of my life!

I had no hope. None.

exiled : 2/1/2018 11:42 pm : link

Woke up my daughter early that morning and we drove down to New Jersey to watch with my family. Me, watch that game up here in Boston? Among these assholes? I couldn�t let that happen.

When we got got there, I realized that everyone really thought the Giants could win. They were optimistic. I actually felt sorry for the NY fans, because they set themselves up for disappointment. I�d had to watch the Pats all season.There was NO WAY the Giants were gonna win that game.

What a miracle.

I was allowing myself

Stufftherun : 2/1/2018 11:53 pm : link

to think it was possible because of how well we played them in the season finale, but what really left me believing, was the guy sitting next to me on my flight out to Phoenix for the Super Bowl. It was a Pats fan who confided in me that he was concerned and felt the Giants were more than worthy. It took me out of my own head just long enough to understand their fans had the very same fear many of us did. What a thing of beauty it was to witness in person ...fuck yeah!

I thought it would be far more competitive game

BlackLight : 2/1/2018 11:55 pm : link

than most of the pundits had it being - it was very common to see predictions where New England was gonna win by 3 TDs. You didn't have to predict the Giants would win, but normally, pundits who predict the Super Bowl will make it a close game, just so they don't look like twats for picking the wrong team.

The fact is, when your team is one of the last two standing, you're going to be confident of winning that last game - you feel like you're a Team Of Destiny.

I felt like the 2000 Giants were a Team Of Destiny, too.

I felt like they had a good chance.

Victor in CT : 2/2/2018 8:32 am : link

They were on a roll and seemed oblivious to pressure.

Was anxious and tense and

Ryan in Albany : 2/2/2018 8:44 am : link

really didn't think we had a shot to beat the perfect Pats season. Game started and those feelings went away and as game went on became very confident right up until Brady hit Moss with that 6 yard TD to go ahead 14-10. I thought the Giants blew it and wouldn't come back.

Holy shit was that last 242 one of the greatest sports moments of my lifetime.

RE: .

SomeFan : 2/2/2018 8:48 am : link

In comment 13816145 Go Terps said:

Quote:

My thoughts were same on first drive. Thought it was apparent that it was anybody�s game which made me even more into the game if that were possible.

I was confident of not getting blown out

Greg from LI : 2/2/2018 9:17 am : link

They'd proven in the series finale that they could play with the Patriots. Beyond that.....I was hopeful but not confident. Hell, I was still amazed that they had won the previous two games. Expecting them to win one more against the 18-0 crew just seemed to be more than I could realistically contemplate. I was looking for them to keep it close, and then anything could happen.

.....

Micko : 2/2/2018 9:30 am : link

I was just happy to be there. Seemed impossible to win. I'm surprised so many were that confident.

Confident.

x meadowlander : 2/2/2018 9:33 am : link

But I was also confident of playoffs before this season, so what the fuck do I know?

.....

Micko : 2/2/2018 9:34 am : link

Greatest weekend of my life. On Saturday, my wife tells me she is pregnant with our first child, which turned out to be twins, and on Sunday I watch the absolute miracle. My wife was feeling sick and sleeping while I watched the game alone. I was not confident at all and learned from 2000 that I'd didnt want to be around people if they lost. I jumped up so high after the Burress TD that I smashed a light fixture with my head. What a feeling.

I thought the game could go either way

Banks : 2/2/2018 9:42 am : link

if Eli continued to play relatively mistake free. He had done so in the playoffs and it made a world of difference. Plus we had a 2 score lead late in the 3rd in the season finale. We could play with them. I didn't see a low scoring affair like that though.

I thought NYG was peaking

JonC : 2/2/2018 9:46 am : link

and would give the Patriots a run for their game, after the regular season contest, but didn't expect to win it.

I fully expected to win SB 46, Giants were the better team.

I�m not sure I�ve ever been �confident� going into a Giants game

trueblueinpw : 2/2/2018 9:50 am : link

Man, some of you have a lot more faith than I do. I go into pretty much every Giants game with the same sense of possible or likely failure and heartbreak. The 18-0 Pats? The Super Bowl? Belichick and Brady and Moss? Fuck all if I was confident.

Hopeful

clarkie02360 : 2/2/2018 9:51 am : link

and confident that we had a shot especially after the amazing playoff run. The hope and confidence however started when I drove down from Boston for the final regular season game with my Son and came away feeling it was possible. Putting up 31, being able to run & pass against their D was eye opening. However the biggest impact I saw was the amount of time Brady was hit. I don't believe he was sacked that much, but he was on his ass often and had that look of WTF is going on. Leaving that game I felt as though we had won even though the scoreboard said differently. We had taken them to the brink, giving them all they could handle. So I felt there was hope if we ever would meet in the SB. We became their worst nightmare which began on that final regular season game in '07.

I was happy to be there

crackerjack465 : 2/2/2018 10:37 am : link

and thrilled we made it. Week 17 gave me a bit of confidence but I honestly thought we would lose. That was the greatest team ever assembled and we were a very aggressive defense, without one of our top 2 play-makers on offense (Shockey).

I believed we would win.

Britt in VA : 2/2/2018 10:39 am : link

Don't know why, just did.

I not only expected to win XLII

George : 2/2/2018 12:11 pm : link

I actually bet that they would.

Most fans are crushed

mrvax : 2/2/2018 12:34 pm : link

when their team loses a SB. It stings. I can honestly say if the Giants lost to the Pats I'd still have a happy off-season. The win over Jerry Jones was so rewarding, anything else was gravy.

I felt pretty good

Dr. D : 2/2/2018 12:56 pm : link

I wouldn't say extremely confident, but I thought we had a pretty decent chance. The Pats weren't looking that dominant down the stretch including the last game against us.

holmancomedown : 2/2/2018 1:27 pm : link

didn't feel too confident. Just thought the Pats were too powerful and would make a few more plays than we did. But as the game unfolded I'm thinking shit we have a really good shot here. When we were in victory formation I was on cloud 9 couldn't believe we pulled off the greatest upset ever. The greatest birthday gift I could ever receive!

I somehow got tickets to the game and was just happy to be there

OdellBeckhamJr : 2/2/2018 1:43 pm : link

I really didn't expect much, just hoped it was a good game.

I was in a group of 25 and my brother and I were the only Giants fans, the shuttle ride back to the hotel afterwards was very fun for us :D

Confident. Especially after that first drive that took up

Jimmy Googs : 2/2/2018 1:48 pm : link

so much time.

I got 14 points on that game and won 2 grand which was all the better...

I thought we'd lose.

BrettNYG10 : 2/2/2018 1:49 pm : link

Anxious

Route 9 : 2/2/2018 2:02 pm : link

Just wanted the game to start. Slowest two weeks of my life. Until super bowl 46.

Very confident

FlyFreeCt : 2/2/2018 2:12 pm : link

The way we won those three playoff games, it just felt like there was no way we could lose...I had I think $300 on the game...Our Defense was playing at a different level and anytime we needed a big play on O it happened...I think after the score to end the 1st half in Dallas, It hit me that we�d win the Super Bowl.

I was pretty calm

Bramton1 : 2/2/2018 2:41 pm : link

I wouldn't say I was confident we would win, but I was confident that we had a shot. I'm pretty sure we were all things we were playing with honey money after beating Dallas and especially after Green Bay.

RE: I thought NYG was peaking

BillKo : 2/2/2018 3:19 pm : link

In comment 13816635 JonC said:

Quote:

and would give the Patriots a run for their game, after the regular season contest, but didn't expect to win it.

I fully expected to win SB 46, Giants were the better team.

Jon - I also thought SB 46 we were the better team, but I also believed karma would come back at us........never did!

Not confident in a win

lawguy9801 : 2/2/2018 3:27 pm : link

but not feeling as dire as the pundits were making it sound. I thought we had a good shot to play a competitive game, given what had happened the last game of the regular season.

was just hoping not to get emabarrassed

Giants86 : 2/2/2018 3:31 pm : link

snd to keep it close. By halftime I was thinking we may win this.
By early 4th I would have been disappointed if we didn't win.

We were the better team that day.

I will be forever grateful to Eli, Tuck, Osi, strahan and the rest of that defense.

Just Happy to be in it

Angus : 2/3/2018 12:47 pm : link

Never expected a win.