Giants win Super Bowl XLVI

Eli Manning celebrates another title.

GIANTS 21, PATRIOTS 17 

Now the Giants PR staff can post "Giants: Super Bowl Champions" on the Giants website, because the New York Giants are world champions for the second time in five years.

Once again Eli Manning drove the Giants down field in the final minutes, and once again Tom Brady came up small in the final seconds as the Giants beat the Patriots 21-17. While this game was not a classic, nor as dramatic as Super Bowl XLII it was still an incredible victory for Big Blue.

For the Patriots they will regret one big play. With New England facing a 2nd and 11 at the Giants 44, Brady had Wes Welker wide open for a first down at the Giants 20, but the usually sure-handed receiver dropped the pass, forcing a third down. Brady then, threw another incompletion on third down forcing New England to punt.

At that point, Manning took full control. In the building that his brother Peyton built, Eli Manning proved that he is indeed one of the elite quarterbacks in this league. On first and ten at the Giants own 12 yard line, Manning rolled to his left and found Mario Manningham streaking down the sideline, heavily covered by two corners. Manningham made the catch down the sideline, keeping both feet in bounds for the first down near midfield.

Later, Manning him Manningham again, this time for 16 yards; then he found Hakeem Nicks for 14 more at the Patriots 18. With the clock ticking down, the Patriots decided to let the Giants score, as Ahmad Bradshaw went backwards into the end zone for the score to give Big Blue a 21-17 lead.

The strategy for New England was very similar to that of the Green Bay Packers back in Super Bowl XXXII, allow your opponent to score, and give yourself time to comeback and score. Only problem was the Patriots forgot that the Packers lost a game with that strategy. Brady had Deion Branch and Aaron Hernandez open but they all dropped passes, before Brady was sacked forcing a fourth down. Brady completed his next pass to Branch for a first down, but after that, time was running out on New England. Three straight incompletions, including a desperation throw into the end zone cost the Patriots any hope of victory, as the Giants held on to win.

Tom Brady walks off in defeat, again.

For the Giants they opened this game very fast, grabbing a 9-0 lead, thanks to a weird safety call on intentional grounding, and a Manning touchdown to Victor Cruz. While the Giants offense went into a virtual funk for a better part of the game, managing only two field goals, the Giants defense did a fine job keeping the game within reach at 17-15.

The Giants defense sacked Brady twice, and they never allowed the quarterback to make big plays to his tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Even Branch, Ochocinco and Welker had quiet days for the Patriots. While it wasn't the kind of performance we have seen from the Giants in their previous Super Bowl against this Patriots team, it was still a solid effort by this unit.

The win now changes the legacies of Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning. Much maligned by Giants fans who booed and heckled both throughout their careers in New York, they have two Super Bowl rings on their resumes. Coughlin, you can now argue, is a Hall of Fame coach. He created a solid team in Jacksonville, and led the Giants to two miraculous Super Bowl runs.

As for Manning, he is only getting better. He was very solid for the Giants, completing 75 percent of his passes, for 296 yards. He was deadly accurate with his throws, threading the needle throughout the game, and was completely poised. While he may not have the numbers his brother does, he has one more Super Bowl ring than Peyton, and one can argue is one of the best fourth quarter quarterbacks in football today.

Giants fans who have called for the heads of both of these men, need to keep their mouths shut and thank them for bringing them two Super Bowl titles.

So now all the die-hard Giants fans, and bandwagon hoppers can jump in the streets as the Giants are World Champions. The parade will be Tuesday in New York City.

Giants' Chris Canty predicts Giants win hours before kickoff

The Giants are really enjoying sticking their own foot in their mouths this week, eh?

Well, Chris Canty thought it was appropiate to post on his Twitter account that the Giants will win Super Bowl XLVI by a score of 28-17! That's right, he included a score!!  And it came 5 hours before kickoff.

What in the name of Rex Ryan guarantee's is going on here? The Giants are setting themselves up for disaster. They slammed the Jets all week last week for helping them get to this very point, then started Super Bowl week by poking fun at Tom Brady and the Patriots. Then on Saturday the Giants posted a collage on their website declaring the team world champions, and now this.

The Giants who like the consider themselves a classy organization are looking classless with each passing moment leading up to this Super Bowl game.

If the Patriots don't need extra motivation, they are certainly getting it. Take the Giants own arrogance + the fact that everyone is picking the Giants could equal a Patriots victory. Remember no one is better at getting his team revved up as the underdog than Bill Belichick. The Giants are in big trouble.

Giants website prematurely publishes Super Bowl Champions page

Remember four years ago when the New England Patriots mistakenly handed out T-shirts that read 19-0?

Umm, well, it's happening again, and this time, it's the Giants who are making the big booboo! The New York Giants published on their website a collage titled "The Giants are Super Bowl Champions," with Super Bowl XLVI championship gear and the trophy in tow.

Now unless, the Giants got into a time machine and fast forwarded to Monday morning, this was a really dumb mistake by Big Blue.

Do the Patriots need any extra motivation? Well, now they have it.

The image was removed from the Giants site, but guess what? Everyone knows about it.

Curtis Martin heading to Hall of Fame, Bill Parcells misses out

In what has to amount to a drastically different Hall of Fame class than what many expected, the NFL announced a pretty shocking list of members for pro football's highest honor.

Jack Butler, Dermontti Dawson, Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Willie Roaf, and Curtis Martin will all make the Hall of Fame this year. A list that focuses mostly on offensive and defensive lineman, with the exception of Martin who was a running back with the Jets and Patriots.

It's a rather shocking list due to the fact that Giants/Jets/Patriots head coach Bill Parcells was left out of the Hall of Fame final selections. Here is a coach who resurrected three different franchises and established a group of coaches who had worked under him that are now currently successful head coaches in the NFL. Parcells should have been elected to the Hall of Fame, but the vote continues a pattern established by the NFL of not electing two-time Super Bowl winning coaches for this honor.

Andre Reed, Chris Carter and Tim Brown, all terrific wide receivers, were also held out of the Hall of Fame, as well as Steelers running back Jerome Bettis.

As for Curtis Martin, his induction is a bit surprising since he was not exactly the best back of his era, and he was a notorious compiler throughout his career; one can make the argument that Bettis was a better running back than he. Yet, the voters were swung by Martin's numbers since he ranks fourth in the NFL in total rushing yards.

So while Giants fans might be disappointed that Parcells will not get in, Jets fans can take some solace that Martin will make it, making him only the third Jet to enter Canton.  While Parcells may not be enshrined in the NFL's Hall of Fame, chances are he will introduce Martin into the Hall. Martin and Parcells were close during their time in New England and New York, and in some respects, Martin considered Parcells a father figure.

In 1998, when Martin was a free agent with the Patriots, Parcells brought him to the Jets to help turn around that franchise. The Jets went 12-4 in '98, their best team, arguably, ever during the regular season. Martin spent seven years with the Jets, retiring in 2005; he led the league in rushing at the age of 31 in 2004 when he out-gained Shaun Alexander by one year.  Martin had 10 years of 1,000 yards or more during his 11-year career, becoming one of the most consistent backs in NFL history.

Peyton Manning cleared to return to field

The ball is now in the Jim Irsay's court to make his move.

Earlier this week a story surfaced that Peyton Manning would likely retire because the nerves that extend from his neck to his shoulder and arm have not cooled and healed as expected and, in turn, would truncate his velocity if he should play again.

However, on Thursday night news broke that Manning has been cleared to rehab and play football by two doctors, including Dr. Robert Watkins who performed Manning's neck surgery in December.

Watkins said that Manning's neck fusion surgery had achieved firm fixation, and the four time MVP should begin an aggressive rehab program in time to return to the field next year.

Now the questions will abound about where Manning will play next season. The Colts seem intent on moving past Manning and drafting Stanford's Andrew Luck with the first overall pick in April's draft. Before that happens, the Colts have to either pay Manning his $28 million signing bonus in March, or release him from his contract, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Numerous teams from the Redskins, Seahawks, Cardinals, 49ers, Dolphins, and Jets are all be rumored to be interested in Manning.

On the Jets part, owner Woody Johnson has never TKO'd the notion that Manning would be in green and white next year, and rumors have swirled that the Jets are ready to pursue him. Even players in the Jets locker room have expressed their desire, albeit anonymously, to have Manning on the team next year. Heck, even Jets hall of fame running back Curtis Martin endorsed the idea of having Peyton Manning in the Big Apple.

For that to happen, the Jets would have to likely outbid the Redskins, Dolphins and Cardinals who are thought to be the most aggressive pursuers of Manning. The Redskins and Dolphins have deep pockets, but the Cardinals at least offer Manning a better chance to win coming out of the dreadful NFC West.

In addition, the Jets are paying Mark Sanchez $16 million over the next two years which could prevent Gang Green from making any move. So, stay tuned...

Plaxico Burress slams Mark Sanchez and Jets

I thought Super Bowl week was supposed to be all about the Giants and Patriots?

Well, not really.

Other than the obvious fact that both Big Blue and New England started their winning streaks with victories against the Jets, and the fact that both teams have publicly ripped the Jets over the course of the past two weeks with Logan Mankins of the Patriots calling the Jets "full of hot air," it has not been a good week for Gang Green. Not only are they getting ripped to pieces publicly, but they have to watch their two hated rivals go at in the Super Bowl for the second time in four years. Ouch.

This is what happens when coach Rex Ryan guarantees a Super Bowl trip only to come up snake eyes as Gang Green tanked at 8-8 this year.

Apparently receiver Plaxico Burress takes little solace in the fact that the Jets season crashed and burned. The former Giants Super Bowl star took some of his free time in Indianapolis this week to also rip into the Jets and Mark Sanchez.

When asked about what he thought of Mark Sanchez as a player and leader, the lanky receiver offered this wisdom: "Mark Sanchez is what Mark Sanchez is." Ouch. Talk about getting thrown under the bus. Burress, like a lot of people inside the Jets locker room, has next to no respect and admiration for Sanchez. As most know, several Jets players said Sanchez was not developing as fast as they would have liked, and that it was time for the organization to move on.

For those who like to compare Eli Manning's early struggles to Sanchez, keep this in mind: Burress never once threw Eli under the bus during his time there, the way he did Sanchez. Maybe this means that Burress understands how mediocre Sanchez really is.

When pressed about what he thought of how the Jets used him this season, Burress responded, "They used me the way they wanted to use me," which, if you were paying attention to any Jets games this season, Burress was used sparingly.

Clearly Burress will not be back with the Jets, and who is going to miss him? Nobody, and I am sure the feelings are mutual . While Burress says he has no regrets not returning to the Giants, who are in this Super Bowl, one would have to think that Big Blue's success is killing him.

NYNJSports.com is coming soon....

Attention readers of the Cohen's Corner sports blog: I would like to announce that in the near future Cohen's Corner will be making a transition to a brand new proprietary website, http://www.nynjsports.com/.

The site will be an expansion of this blog with richer and more interactive features. In addition to posting links to stories on the day's local sports headlines, game recaps and editorials, I will also begin covering live games and publishing them to the site, with photos and video.

It is my goal to have a sports website that is user friendly, covering the vast area of sports in the New York/New Jersey area, and, eventually, becoming a recognized piece of the sports media landscape.

While Cohen's Corner has enjoyed much success since its inception on June 20, 2008, the new website will be the beginning of even brighter days for our readers. Keep posted to Cohen's Corner Sports for more details in the coming days and weeks; links to the new site will be posted here to start.

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-Michael Cohen
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