(suspenseful music)
- [Clara] It's February 3rd, 2008, Super Bowl XLII.
We're at the University of Phoenix Stadium
in Glendale, Arizona.
The New York Giants trail the New England Patriots by four.
They're facing third and 5 on their own 44
with 1:15 left on the clock.
The fact that the Giants are this close
to overtaking the Patriots is unbelievable.
You know those stories of moms lifting cars
'cause their baby's stuck under there?
Well, this is like if that stuck baby
lifted the car off itself,
and the car was really cool, like a Porsche or something.
To realize just how many expectations
have been thwarted to get us here,
we have to rewind.
The Giants are behind 14-10,
which is closer than anyone thought they'd be.
They weren't even supposed to be a Super Bowl team.
There was a time not too long ago when the Giants
looked like potential championship contenders.
In '05 they won the NFC East with a record of 11-5.
It was Eli Manning's second year in the league
and everyone was like, "Whoa,
that Manning family oughta be studied in a lab."
But before anyone collected the DNA,
Eli pooped the bed in the wild card game,
and while it is technically a suitable sample,
nobody wants to collect DNA from poop.
Under a mountain of criticism,
Eli managed to lead New York
to a 6-2 start the next season.
With momentum behind them,
the Giants politely moved out of the way
and let that momentum pass them by.
Eli shouldered most of the blame for the slide,
which makes sense, 'cause he had some terrible performances.
Going into the 2007 season,
nobody expected much from Eli and the Giants.
Coach Tom Coughlin simply hoped to keep his job.
And the Giants lived up to the anti-hype,
losing the first two games.
The defense was the most striking problem.
They allowed 80 points and 846 yards
in those first two weeks.
The Giants' season seemed doomed,
but in Week 3 they got a necessary spark.
Clinging to a seven-point lead with 58 seconds left,
Washington had first and goal
from the New York 1-yard line,
and that woeful New York defense?
They made a goal line stand to hang on for the win.
That spark turned into a blaze
as the Giants went on a six-game win streak.
The defense was clicking.
Steve Spagnuolo, hired just this year,
used a nickel defense to utilize his four quick rushers.
Veteran Michael Strahan, recent Pro Bowler Osi Umenyiora,
and up-and-comers Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka
were an intimidating group.
They finished first in the league in sacks with 53
and the team finished with a record of 10-6,
all while Eli led the league in turnovers.
Come playoff time, the Giants weren't expected to do much,
but then Eli morphed into Advanced Eli.
He led the team past the Bucs in the wild card game,
past the Cowboys and their 13 Pro Bowlers
and finally, past Green Bay to win the NFC championship.
Okay, okay, in this one, the defense helped too.
They picked off Favre in overtime
to set up the winning field goal.
It was an inspiring Cinderella run,
but even Cinderella isn't that great.
I mean, she loses her shoe
as an adult.
The Giants weren't given much credit
and nobody forgave them their early season flaws.
In the Super Bowl they were heavy underdogs,
but a large part of that was because
of who they were playing: the New England Patriots,
a team that is currently giving Eli Manning the business
just as they've been giving the league the business
for quite some time.
New England recently won three Super Bowls in four years,
and yet the 2007 squad
was not only better than those other Patriot teams,
but they were potentially the best team
the NFL has ever seen.
Of course they had Tom Brady,
with his winning smile and winning arm,
but after the Patriots blew a 21-3 lead
in last year's AFC championship,
Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli made moves
to surround Brady with talented targets.
They picked up 5'9" undrafted free agent Wes Welker.
Welker had spent the last three years with the Dolphins
where he was mostly a punt returner,
had two starts last year
and lived next door to someone
who didn't believe he was in the NFL.
But Belichick, smarter than your average neighbor,
saw something in him.
The Patriots also grabbed Randy Moss.
Sure, he's kind of a handful
who had reportedly lost a step,
but they signed him to just a one-year contract.
If it didn't work out, it didn't work out.
And what do you know? It worked out.
Apparently, being on a team
just slightly more competent than the Raiders
was good for Moss.
Defenses were scared of him,
which allowed Welker to make big plays from the slot.
Once Welker established himself as a threat,
space opened up for Moss.
The result:
one of the most dominant offenses in league history
that literally could not be stopped.
They set a ton of individual and team records this season,
and most impressively, the Patriots are undefeated.
They were the first team in history to go 18-0, which is,
sorry, Patriots fans,
kind of annoying.
Come on. Nobody's perfect.
That's the rule we've all been living by.
The Patriots can't just change it.
So I must point out that while their record was perfect,
their behavior had received some criticism.
First there was Spygate.
In Week 1, the Patriots were caught
videotaping the Jets' defensive signals from the sideline.
Some thought there should be an asterisk
next to the Patriots' record,
while others thought their quality of play
totally eclipsed Spygate.
The Patriots were also accused of running up the score,
but that's kind of a compliment if you think about it.
It's like saying you're so much better
than the other team, it's mean, actually.
Some Patriots were accused of playing dirty,
but that did little to hamper their confidence.
None of these accusations really stuck.
Prevailing wisdom was the Patriots are perfect
and they're gonna roll the Giants
and become the first team ever to go 19-0.
But wait. This is a close game.
How has the worst Super Bowl team
managed to hang with the most-winning team in history?
I know what your first guess is:
the New York Giants went to a warlock before the game,
he put a spell on them that made them actual giants
and they've been literally stomping
and crushing the Patriots all game.
But come on. Look at 'em.
That's clearly not what happened. What a weird guess.
So what did happen?
Well, the New York Giant defense came to play.
Steve Spagnuolo used all the talent at his disposal
to keep pressure on Tom Brady.
Osi and Strahan used their speed on the edge,
Justin Tuck mixed it up,
and at one point Kawika Mitchell pulled a fake fake blitz.
The Patriots were straight-up flustered.
The O-line had false starts,
Tom Brady threw incompletions and yelled at his linemen...
He was not used to being under so much pressure.
The Giants sacked him three times in the first half,
one of which caused a fumble.
Oh, I almost forgot: they also contained Randy Moss,
who had just one catch in the first half.
But it wasn't just that the New York defense was effective.
There was also the matter of Bill Belichick
not respecting said defense,
which was never more evident than in the third quarter.
New England was winning 7-3.
They had fourth and 13 at the Giants 31.
Tom Brady had just been sacked a fourth time,
this time at the hands,
or rather the body, of Michael Strahan.
Yet Belichick ignored that as well as usual practices
and decided to go for it.
New England had converted 15 fourth downs this season,
which is the second-most in the league,
so why not try again in the Super Bowl?
Besides, Belichick had confidence
from the Patriots-Giants Week 17 matchup.
To be fair, the Giants were locked into their playoff seed
before this game, yet still played hard
and only lost by three.
To be critical, Big Blue's D allowed 38 points
and only had one sack.
But tonight Belichick flew too close to the sun
and his sweatshirt wings burned up
and sent him falling to earth.
Brady threw an incompletion.
In the fourth quarter, Brady and Moss
did finally manage to look like their usual selves,
get the better of the D and connect
for a touchdown to take the lead.
With 2:39 left, Eli Manning still had a chance.
He got two first downs and then was like,
"Hey, remember how many interceptions
I threw in the regular season?"
and nearly threw another one,
missing his wide receiver David Tyree
and hitting Asante Samuel in the hands.
It seemed there was some miscommunication
between Eli and Tyree, but there's no time
to figure out who was at fault.
Right here, right now, Manning's in a tight spot.
He's gotta count on whoever can give him a target,
including David Tyree.
2003 sixth round draft pick Tyree
is a self-proclaimed steady guy.
The Giants drafted him as a special teams player,
but he wanted more,
and then-coach Jim Fassel saw potential in him.
The Giants were riddled with injuries,
so Tyree got to start the last three games
of his rookie season, where he was pretty all right.
In 2004 he had just one start,
but also got his first touchdown
on a play that Tom Coughlin praised.
Meanwhile, he excelled as a special teams player.
His teammates were full of praise
for what Tyree could do defending the punt return,
and in 2005 he made the Pro Bowl
for his special teams prowess.
Last year he had a shot to prove himself as a receiver
when Amani Toomer went down for the season in November,
but he didn't.
Eli didn't look his way,
and by the end of the season,
Tyree was called a barely-adequate wide receiver.
At camp this year, Tyree, getting older,
had no guarantees he'd stay on the team,
and then he broke his wrist.
Luckily, Tom Coughlin was willing to keep him on the roster.
While perhaps not the strongest show of support,
it's enough.
Tyree came back with strength on special teams
and got into the receiver rotation,
mostly because Sinorice Moss turned out to be a dud,
but then disaster struck.
In mid-December, Tyree's mother
suddenly passed away from a heart attack.
Tyree traveled home and missed two weeks.
Before she passed, his mother actually predicted
the Giants would make it to the Super Bowl.
She might've been the only one who called it.
So far in the season, Tyree has more tackles than catches,
but there's still time to add to his stats.
At the start of the fourth quarter, down 7-3,
Eli used his rookies to work his way down the field.
Then he was like, "Whoa, who's this guy in the middle?"
and hit Tyree with a five-yard pass.
Touchdown, Giants.
The special teams player
who knew he was receiver caliber since day one
just caught the Giants' only touchdown pass thus far,
and now Eli just needs to stay on his feet
and keep this drive alive.
To get here, the Giants dug themselves out of a hole
that started three seasons ago
and lasted until Week 2 this year.
The defense turned itself around
and Eli found his stride.
They got here in the face of universal doubt,
and now they cannot falter.
The Patriots have not faltered all season.
A great team that added carefully selected pieces
to become an unfathomably great team
just has to hang on to immortalize themselves
with an unprecedented 19-0 season.
Welcome to a moment in history.
- [Joe] Pressure from Thomas off the edge.
Eli Manning stays on his feet.
Airs it out down the field.
It is caught by Tyree.
- [Clara] Oh, right. Giants still have to score.
Eli and Plaxico connect and make sure
that moment in history wasn't for naught.
- [Joe] Burress, alone! Touchdown, New York!
(soft music)
- [Clara] Thanks for watching.
This has been a presentation of Secret Base.
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As always, I'm Clara Morris,
good night and good game.