Of course, not sure how they let you WRITE THIS —-, and get paid for it, it’s beyond me. Now, Brady was NOT going to lead Welker into a safety to get killed.

Hello?… You don’t “lead” Welker anywhere.. I cannot stress this enough, when a receiver is WIDE OPEN down the field, you throw the ball right to him.. Yo DO NOT try to lead him.. For as good as everybody says Tom Brady is, that was poorly thrown ball.. In fact, I don’t blame Welker, at all, although it’s true he could have certainly picked up his QB with a spectacular catch, it was Brady’s poor throw that turned a routine play, into an almost impossible catch..

Bottom line: Welker has to make that catch and didn’t. Brady was off for a good part of the day and made some errant throws and poor choices. The Pat’s have to draft better this year and bring in good DBs and a bonafide WR. Brady can’t put this team on his shoulders anymore…..still a very good Q.B. but one that needs a better supporting cast

Strange, but I have the opposite reaction to the Patriots future,the post-Brady one. Brady has not proven to be an elite qb in too many recent big games. Should the Pats consider trading him and used the money saved to improve other areas of the team? Should Bill begin seriously working out the backups in games where the Pats are clearly in charge? How much better is a clearly injured Brady to a fully healthy backup?

Strange, but I have the opposite reaction to the Patriots future,the post-Brady one. Brady has not proven to be an elite qb in too many recent big games. Should the Pats consider trading him and used the money saved to improve other areas of the team? Should Bill begin seriously working out the backups in games where the Pats are clearly in charge? How much better is a clearly injured Brady to a fully healthy backup?

 Evidently, you’ve never played football. Unless receivers are stationary, a QB always has to “lead” his receivers.

Brady didn’t have to lead him.  The problem with the pass wasn’t because it was behind Welker, the problem was that it was high and behind.  If he hits Welker in the chest or gut (making Welker turn his back shoulder), Welker can easily make the catch and get yards after.  That was not a good pass, especially since Brady wasn’t under pressure and there was a better spot to throw it.  So sure, Welker could have made the catch but Brady could have made a better throw too.  So when it gets right down too it, there was nothing that influenced Brady to make a poor throw.  But Brady’s poor throw made it a much tougher catch than need be for Welker to make.  That means it has to be more Brady’s fault then Welkers.

Brady has become impatient, bordering on arrogant (I don’t mean his personality – I mean his decision-making). He doesn’t step into throws with the same authority as I remember and his accuracy in pressure situations is diminished.  I’m not ready for a new QB but the defense holds a team to 19 points (Brady chipped in the other 2), the Patriots are supposed to win. I guess I’m agreeing with Garyritter.

Could Brady have made a better throw to Welker, probably, but it was in his hands and then he dropped it, he holds on and Pats pretty much r in, how about the one Fernandez “dropped”, perfect pass, the Branch one i thought was catchable. Funny i didn’t see Brady on the field the last 4 min when the giants literaly walked down the field from there own 22 yd line. Even if yur a giants fan u have to feel that there was a whole lot of luck that they were even there, and don’t forget the 2 fumbles that bounced the right way. Kirk u r as prejudice a N.E. sportswriter i’ve read in my 60 yrs. as a Boston fan, at least have the commen sense to put the blame on the right people, u r just using yur ignorance to try and make a name for yourself, trust me it won’t last,  (yur name) not yur ignorance, you’ll always have that.

that pass was right where it needed to be welker has every right to be kicking himself thats a catch he has made a hundred time you dont lead him and you have to throw it over the linebacker watch the play the pass should have been caught that was the game right there. Also the d played great except thats bonehead 12 men on the field after they recovered a fumble which gave the giants 7 points also the game 2 plays that should have been made that usually the pats make..

It wasnt just wes,branch needed to make his catch and though hernendez had a hell of a game he did make a big 4th qtr drop. The whole offensive crew was pretty much insignificant for most of the second half.

I think the fact that Brady had no deep threats is drasticaly over looked. The offense becomes to one dementional by the fourth quarter and though the inside recievers are quick and shifty when you know  where the ball is going it is a lot easier to defend and stop a comeback. The Giants played a better game and protected the ball when it really mattered. Perhaps Tom gets a real deep route reciever with some significant speed next year.Until then it’s going to be all about big blue. Congrats giants fans it was a well played game.

manningham made a catch that was darn near imposible!when it was needed to win! the pats recvers did not! gronk aside, nobody that ever played qb could have made better throws on the last drive! branch,welker ,and hernandez dropped balls when it mattered most!all 3 were pedestrian catches if made!dont blame brady! he was as good as always! i am chuck from new york and the giants were a little lucky as well!!

Hey Minihead — you’re an idiot.  The pass to Welker hit him right in the hands…you’re going to put that on Brady?  The pass to Branch was tipped and STILL hit him in the hands — but that’s on Brady too?  I’m sure the one that Hernandez dropped in the 4th Q (also hit him in the hands) must have been Brady’s fault as well — why did you leave that one out?

Fernandez?  Who the heck is Fernandez????

All I hear in this article is IF, IF, IF. Typical Pats writer in complete denial. What if Gronkowski wasn’t hobbled? What if Welker did not drop the ball. What if Brady played better? The fact is, you got beat by a better team. A team that now beat THREE #1 ranked teams in the playoffs! A team that got their on the road. A team with a better defense, better running game, better wideouts,and a QB that steps up in big games. End of story!

A lot of blame game nonsense going on in here.

Can’t wait to listen to all of the poor EXCUSES getting thrown around tonight. 

I have to disagree with you Kirk.. if Brady wins a 4th before he retires how does that not put him back in the running for best QB ever? Montana only made it to 4… granted he was 4-0 but if Brady makes it to 6 and goes 4-2 then it looks worse on Montana (I think) for only having made it to 4…

Kirk Minihane should be tarred and feathered in Kenmore Square. 

Kirk Minihane should be tarred and feathered in Kenmore Square. 

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The blame  doesn’t start with Brady. It starts with the idiot who offered you a job.

Brady was to blame for the stupid (but never called) safety, the greedy interception, and the batted balls.  That’s about it.  The rest of the offense can take up the rest of his blame.  The pats need a deep threat no doubt.

We never have to hear Brady is the greatest ever again!!! He is not Montana is 4-0. What is Brady’s lagacy now? He is 3-2 in the super bowl and could lose more.

As for the defense, we need a ball hawk.  We weren’t even close to covering those stupid fumbles we caused.  We need to have someone who instinctively is around the ball.

How was that a poorly thrown INT????  He was rushed out of the pocket and only had a split second to throw that ball.  If anything Gronk should’ve slowed down a little, he clearly overran the ball a little bit, which a person with an ankle injury should not be able to do.

Tell me something I dont know.. I’m not saying Brady is the greatest ever right now. I’m saying if he does win another one in the next 4 years or so til he retires he goes right to the top again or at least side by side. If Brady is 4-2 and Montana is 4-0 then I have to think that favors Brady. Making it to the super bowl 6 times compared to 4 is a little bit of a nudge for Brady never mind the stats piece…

Tell me something I dont know.. I’m not saying Brady is the greatest ever right now. I’m saying if he does win another one in the next 4 years or so til he retires he goes right to the top again or at least side by side. If Brady is 4-2 and Montana is 4-0 then I have to think that favors Brady. Making it to the super bowl 6 times compared to 4 is a little bit of a nudge for Brady never mind the stats piece…

So we’re blaming Brady for the Tyree circus catch and the Welker drop? Thats what these Superbowls came down to. He played better than Rodgers, Ryan and Smith did against NY.

So we’re blaming Brady for the Tyree circus catch and the Welker drop? Thats what these Superbowls came down to. He played better than Rodgers, Ryan and Smith did against NY.

I agree. Eli Manning has ALOT of big playmakers around him, Brady only has a couple. Its also why the Colts only won 1 time, Peyton had the whole weight of the team, and if he didn’t have a 120 qb rating theyd lose.

I agree. Eli Manning has ALOT of big playmakers around him, Brady only has a couple. Its also why the Colts only won 1 time, Peyton had the whole weight of the team, and if he didn’t have a 120 qb rating theyd lose.

If Tyree can make that circus catch, Welker should have made that catch. Period.

John Elway is 2-3 in the Super Bowl and he’s considered one of the greatest ever… Dan Marino only made it to 1 Super Bowl and same with Peyton Manning.  I guarantee you Peyton Manning is a first ballot HoF player and it takes Eli 10-15 years longer to make it to the HoF.

Gronk looked open when he threw the ball, too.

Kirk… stick to whatever sport you usually cover, because it’s obviously not football! The Giants DID NOT want to score on Bradshaws run. They would not have thrown into the endzone, they would have let the clock run down to under 5 seconds and kicked the game winning field goal! …Yikes!

Yeah, it’s Brady’s fault their defense was ranked 31st in the NFL.

Should Brady have hit Welker. Sure. Does Welker maker that catch 90% of the time? Sure. The gane didn’t hang on that catch. If the Pats DB’s don’t go back to playing like they did 2 months ago, Brady id probably the MVP with that performance. The fact of the matter is that the defense tackled poorly and the DB’s allowed too many receptions to wide open receivers. There was enough offense to win. The problem was that there was no defense when it counted. The blame for this one goes to Belichek for his “throw enough shyte against the wall and something will stick” approach to the defensive backfield. There were a few really good plays in pass defense, unfortunately, there were none when the pressure was on.

bottom line… a winner makes that catch, and welker did not. manningham made the catch, the giants won the game..simple as that….winners make plays, losers dont make plays

all comments of Patriot’s past greatness, repeat past greatness, should be “asterisked” with the cheating years. A hallpass cannot be given, and complete picture of Patriot “greatness” should be always brought to light.  Football “gods” have spoken, history will show no cheating, no SB VICTORYIES, NO DYNASTY.  May the legacy be remembered as “die-nasty” and forever this franchise be remembered, as having to cheat other NFL teams to appear great.

You are so full of CRAP!  Tom played fine.  His receivers were far below the NYG recievers.  You didn’t see any of them dropping balls that were right to their hands.  Weilker did and if he had of caught that ball he would have scored and we would all be celebrating now.  End of story. 

have you not seen the photo of the ball right to Welkers hands?  The Giants blew coverage and that was a very catchable ball.  One Welker usually catches with ease.  Any receiver worth anything catches that pass.  It wasn’t like he had to go up for it or lay out for it.

Patriots made too many mistakes …. N’vch penalty, 12 men. Brady made poor decisions … grounding, interception to Gronk.  Too many passes dropped … Welker, Hernandez. 

What you call embarassing …. Madonna … was by far the best entertainment of the night. By comparison the foottball was a bad joke and waste of time. 

The record books dont care what you have to say… and thats all that matters… I think Goddell and the NFL have a little better of a perspective on it then you do… instead of doing it from the press box they did it from the sideline.. stealing signals is a part of the game… they just had a camera on the sideline opposed to the press box… guys are in the stands stealing signals every game… you still got to go out and execute… why do you think every team got a memo that year?

You can’t bring a mediocre game to the Super Bowl.  You need to be your best like they were with Denver.  That playing was worthy of super bowl playing; yesterday’s performance was a disaster.  All those dropped balls, Brady being off his game.  He lets Eli get in his head and Eli owns Brady and Belicheck!  A very big disappointment; I couldn’t wait for it to end so I could shut the TV off.  From the outset when Brady threw that ball to nowhere and put points on the board for the giants, I knew we were done!

So if Welker makes that catch, which he should have, brady is MVP and the best of all time with Montana. But Welker drops it and Eli Manning is as good as Brady and Brady isn’t that great anymore? Really? Does that make any sense? No it doesnt.

Brady 10% at fault Welker 90% but there were many other missed opportunities a win or a loss never comes down to one play.Bottom line Giants got it done when it counted Pats did not.

You know a lot of people are going to blame Brady, Belichick, Welker, or whoever…and yes that ended up being a very winable game for the Patriots; but I think most people are forgetting that the Patriots weren’t really supposed to make the Super Bowl this year.  Blame Brady all you want, but he’s made it to 5 in 11 seasons as a starter…that’s impressive; and this year once the defense came around he was still without a deep threat, a meaningful running game, and Gronkowski was clearly hurt.

Very good point. I thought they would be one and done in the playoffs. When they weren’t I started to get my hopes up.  The game was sooo win-able, though — it’s hard not to be disappointed and blame-place. It’s a great problem to have, though – being disappointed that you lost the Superbowl.

AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I HATE TODAY

Wow… trade Brady, that’s your answer?  Have you noticed how many HORRIFIC QB’s there are in the league right now? 

Really? even if he makes that catch, who is to say they don’t fumble on the next play and the giants run it in for a TD. That’s sports. If montana doesn’t hit john taylor they don’t beat the bengals, if london flecher doesn’t make that tackle the titans are champions. If they don’t call the tuck on Brady the raider’s go to the super bowl. That’s sports. The patriots did nothing in the second half, period.

the “safety pass” was a huge huge mistake for the Patriots

But he didn’t make the catch!!!! That’s sports. Brady played awful with the game on the line. Beside the first drive of the second half he did nothing, they never scored again. The dink & dunk doesn’t cut it, so he completed a lot of passes it wasn’t effective. In 5 super bowls Brady has never completed a TD of more then 12 yards and most of them were under 10 yards. If the giants don’t get called for holding on that horrible call against Wilfork the giants go in and the score is 16-3. There are what if’s all over the place. He didn’t make the play. Choke city

Kirk, I get what you’re saying but doesn’t the fact that Brady got hurt on the Tuck sack, kind of mitigate his not playing well in the 4th Q? Look at his stats before and after that sack. Now that makes sense to me.
  

As per usual the quarterback gets more credit than he deserves. In all three recent wins both super bowls and this years regular season games, Manning throws a crappy pass and something good happens. In the super bowls two receivers make near impossible catches, in the regular season game the receiver has to come back on a poorly thrown ball, runs into the defender and gets a flag on the one foot line.

What a bunch of bull.  Brady had a B rating of 144 prior to getting sacked.  From the time he was sacked till the end of the game his rating was 32.  He got hurt when he got sacked.  We may never hear the details but I’m sure he was hurt.

Contrary to what you have to say…Brady IS the greatest quarterback.  Eli-teless Manning can’t hold a candle to him 

First, I think Boomer is right.  Brady was hurt on that Tuck sack – that was why Hoyer was warming up.  I think they decided a hurt Brady was better than an inexperienced Hoyer.  Brady was not as accurate as he was before that hit.  Second, I think Tom’s wife was right as well…he can’t throw the ball and catch it too.  The Giants receivers made some spectacular catches in the 4Q for Eli and the Patriot receivers dropped the ball.   This whole opinion piece is just another poor Minihane rant.

It is not fair to single out Brady.  Dropped passes, too many defenders on the field when the Giants turned over the ball – blame the whole team.  The Patriots had a great run, and despite all the mistakes nearly won the Super Bow.  This is one Giants fan who thinks you should be a little more respectful of the Patriots team.

Hey, no need to put down ELI, I like him and his personality better than his brother, and he’s proved he’s one of the best in the league in the clutch.  Clutch is important and Brady got knocked down a notch in that category yesterday.  However, let’s compare Brady Super Bowl Rings, and Brady championship trophies….3-2, and 5-2,  not too shabby.

The INT was Brady’s mistake, no doubt. But the dropped ball that secures the win for the Pats…that was 100% on Welker. The ball was right there, the game would have been over, and the Brady-bashing wouldn’t be happening…and Eli would have been seen differently as well. I don’t know what game you were watching. Hernandez and Branch also had drops AND he was working without Gronk…and still put up just about the same numbers as Eli with his core of elite receivers. I also saw 12 men on the field negate a fumble recovery, and an offside call negate a third down stop. I saw fumbles by the Giants that they got to before the Pats. Were those Brady’s fault? They lost because the Giants made a play or two more in a very even game between two very good teams…not because of Tom Brady.

NOW let’s talk about the real 300 lb gorilla in the room…DRAFTING…   I don’t know if its scouting or Belichick but someone has to go to the woodshed over DRAFTING.  Our number one got yanked last night, our number 2 didn’t see the field all season, and the best DB’s we’ve drafted in the last few years have been traded toot sweet because they weren’t Bill’s type of guys.  

i am tired of hearing how great eli manning is….he is the luckiest quarterback in the nfl….his first touchtown to cruz should have been intercepted by mayo….if mayo was watching eli, that was an easy intercept and td…his fluke with tyree and asante samuel should have ended that superbowl….come on people, eli threw 25 interceptions last year and 16 this year…..brady is ten times the quarterback and will win another title….eli will never win again!!!!

if a receiver is moving, you have to lead him. if you don’t, and throw it ti where heis, he won’t be there anymore when the ball arrives

On what basis do you say the safety had ramifications all the way through? Also,  did Brady make the decision to leave a hobbled Gronkowski in?  Yes, the Pats scored only 17 points, but, remeber, the other team gets paid too, and the Giants defense held opponents to an average of 14 points in their last 5 or so games.  The Pats have gone deeper into the playhoffs every year for the last three years.  And they will get better. (FYI  I am a Giants fan, so matbe I have a little more objectivity than you). Your column is awful. You are not a journalist, you are a sour-grapes fan.