Super Bowl

There he was, the American profile, leaving the field with his head down, speechless, distraught and disenchanted as the Giants celebrated a comeback victory in Super Bowl XLVI Sunday night. Tom Brady was the hottest commodity in sports for a long time, mainly because he’s the coolest, sexiest athlete who featured in People’s magazine 50 most beautiful people.

In what was not his best performance, he wasn’t perfect, unsuccessful in tying Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw with a fourth Super Bowl ring, leaving Indianapolis empty handed of the Lombardi Trophy, a prize he had on his mind all week — since arriving to Indianapolis to play in a Super Bowl, a familiar event for him after owning three Super Bowl titles. It was one of those scenes that he led the New England Patriots on a remarkable dynasty last decade, but now it seems winning Super Bowl championships are on decline for Brady and his Bunch, losing twice to the New York Giants in a span of four years.

This 21-17 loss to the Giants, in such a hyped rematch after the Pats were beaten by the Giants in Super Bowl XLII, is another calamity for a celebrity/athlete as famous as Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore when paparazzi gazes at Brady arriving to his supermodel’s place. Later, after the demoralizing defeat, he sat near his locker, he had his head down in distress and all he could do was dwell upon the letdown that he and the Patriots let slip away to New York again. This was surely the end of the New England Patriots, a prime example on why Brady needs to grow the hair and beard again, like a survivor marooned on a shipwrecked island.

The last time, when he channeled the Geico caveman, the Patriots were Super Bowl-caliber in an unreal dynasty that the vast majority despised, simply for the Spygate scandal of coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots videotaping opponent’s defensive signals and practices. But those days are long over, and now is the time we are dwelling about Brady, as to where his place in NFL history lies — whether he’s worthy of proclaiming himself as the greatest quarterback ever.

What does this mean for Brady’s and Belichick’s legacies?

Twice now, Giants quarterback Eli Manning has performed better than Brady in substantial games where much is at stake. He’s now, unbelievably so, 2-0 against Brady in Super Bowls. It took another fourth-quarter comeback by Manning, pulling off a dramatic come-from-behind win against the Patriots when he directed an 88-yard touchdown drive that led to an unchallenged 6-yard touchdown run by Ahmad Bradshaw with 1:04 remaining.

Eventually, when it all ended, Brady’s wife and supermodel, Gisele Bundchen, chased him in the hallway, where she caught up to the disillusioned quarterback and caressed him in a prolonged hug. He wore his emotions, his body language was murky, and he had watery eyes and an unsettled stare in his eyes, emotionally hurt following the mortality of Super Bowl pathos. This will hurt Brady and the Patriots for awhile, coming away with nothing, leaving for New England without the trophy that he had his eyes on the entire time in Indianapolis.

Brady, considered among the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, wasn’t so wonderful on this night and was outdueled by Manning, a gunslinger who now deserves credit for leading the Giants to a pair of Super Bowl victories. Trailing 17-15 with just 3 minutes remaining, the Giants started at their own 12-yard line and Manning managed to find Mario Manningham, who made an incredible circus catch down the sideline for 38 yards. With some nice clock management, the Giants killed the clock to force the Patriots to use timeouts in what was a tight, tense Super Bowl.

The suspense had slowly faded when Manning outperformed Brady by throwing that miraculous pass to Manningham, a highlight that restored memories of David Tyree’s awesome grab four years ago. And, once again, the Giants came back to win the game and Manning raised the Vince Lombardi Trophy as confetti dropped. Now, with that in mind, Tom Coughlin is one of 13 coaches with multiple Super Bowl rings. He was smiling and holding the trophy, as well, becoming the oldest coach to win one at age 65 and turning things around after the Giants sputtered to 7-7 but found ways to stay alive as their playoff hopes were uncertain.

This is the agony of defeat, and without much thought, this sort of hurts Belichick’s and Brady’s legacies. Sure, he might be one of the best coaches in NFL history, or at least this decade, but Belichick has been out-coached twice by Coughlin — just as much as Brady has been outdone by Manning. This time, meanwhile, the loss was more agonizing, painful and tougher than the first pratfall. After that win, the Giants became the first 9-7 team to win a Super Bowl. After that loss, the Patriots became the biggest bust in Super Bowl history, faltering at the worst possible time by not winning the BIG ONE!

It couldn’t have been worse for the Patriots, a team that never seemed prepared or aware as the Giants were ready for the challenge, striking us again with another comeback to beat the Pats. The moment of truth unveiled surprisingly when the Patriots had a foolish 12-men penalty early, when safeties Sterling Moore and Patrick Chung couldn’t read Manning’s play and were blown in a two-double zone, or when Patriots’ receiver Wes Welker dropped Brady’s pass that was behind him forcing him to leap and reach for an awful pass with more than four minutes left.

As a matter of fact, with all the Montana comparisons, Brady is not nearly on Montana’s level. For one, Montana won in the Super Bowl. Secondly, Brady had Adam Venateri bail him out with clutch field goals. The Giants are tough, very tough. The Patriots are built with marquee players and legends, but can’t win the Super Bowl. Entering the contest, the Giants weren’t intimidated or terrified by the Patriots — weren’t annoyed or scare to fight Brady or the all-powerful tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski, who played with a high-ankle sprain.

The story behind the Giants is that they played smash-mouth, tough-minded football, coming in with the mentality that they can beat the Patriots, after talking all week with confidence and poise and getting inside the mind’s of the Patriots’ success. The compassion was felt tremendously from Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who Brady wanted this fourth Super Bowl for so badly. Across the way in the locker room, he spoke to him softly and hugged him, embracing his franchise quarterback, win or lose.

It’s always easy to blame the quarterback, but in all, Brady performed well — no it wasn’t pretty or his best performance — passing 27 for 41, 276 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Late in the game, he was in the pocket looking for one of his reliable tight ends or receivers, then he saw the pass rush and stumbled, staying balance and releasing a pass that was intended for Gronkowski.

Before you knew it, Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn jumped in front of Gronkowski to pick off Brady for a great catch that shifted the momentum. It’s apparent, however, that Brady has withered as Manning has blossomed. If Brady is as advertised and great as we’ve all alleged, it shouldn’t be any truth to that — at least not at this moment, until he can finally win another Super Bowl to validate his place in NFL history.

For now, once again, Brady has to wait before capturing glory. Again, the Giants defeated Brady and Belichick. By now, Brady and the rest of the Patriots are shaking their heads. They were all so close, but not close enough to being great.

Written by Jonathan Mathis, Columnist (Archive/RSS)

An aspiring sports journalist, a sports columnist for three sports sites. Sports Judge is all sports. Follow @Jon9685