Gisele makes her way to elevator postgame while hearing jeers about her husband, Tom Brady. (Photo: TheInsider.com)

INDIANAPOLIS — The frustrations of another Super Bowl loss spilled over for Gisele Bundchen as she left the luxury suites of Lucas Oil Stadium after her husband Tom Brady and the Patriots fell to Eli Manning and the Giants, 21-17, in Super Bowl XLVI Sunday night.

While making her way toward the elevator, Giants fans were harassing the supermodel, yelling, “Eli rules, Eli owns your husband.”

She responded to her entourage.

“You [need] to catch the ball when you’re supposed to catch the ball. My husband cannot [expletive] throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time,” she said in a video obtained by TheInsider.com. “I can’t believe they dropped the ball so many times.”

That was an obvious reference to Wes Welker, who dropped what would have been a first down on the Patriots’ next-to-last drive and would have likely sealed the win.

Aaron Hernandez also had a drop of a pass over the middle on the last drive of the game.

The video of Gisele’s outburst can be found here.

Justin Tuck speaks after his Giants beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI (Mike Petraglia, WEEI.com)

INDIANAPOLIS – Bill Belichick has more rings but Tom Coughlin has his number.

In an epic Super Bowl performance, Eli Manning and the Giants rallied again in the fourth quarter because they made plays in the clutch down the stretch and the Patriots didn’t.

Belichick was denied his fourth Super Bowl because Justin Tuck and the Giants put just enough pressure on Tom Brady to make life miserable in the fourth quarter.

That’s Tom Coughlin 2, Bill Belichick 0 on the Super Bowl tote board. Coughlin has beaten Belichick three straight times in games that mattered since the Patriots capped their perfect regular season of 2007 with a win over the Giants, 38-35.

What is it that Coughlin has on Belichick?

Ask Tuck and it’s because the Giants feel the love from their head coach at the most important times, like Saturday night in the team’s final meeting before the Super Bowl when Coughlin laid on the emotion thick.

“I was looking for something like, ‘Finish,’ but he came out with the love,” Tuck said. “It was very passionate. If we could’ve come out and played at that point, I think we would’ve been so excited to go out and play. It was hard to go to sleep after a speech like that.

“I don’t know what it is about Coach Coughlin but his Super Bowl speeches, I give him a ‘10.’ That’s two Super Bowl speeches that really got me fired up and ready to play. I know he looks kind of dull at times, it doesn’t look like he’s a fiery guy. But you can just tell it’s from the heart.”

That’s how it goes when you win a Super Bowl. Tom Coughlin makes Mark Herzlich inactive before the game to free a roster spot. Bill Belichick makes veteran Kevin Faulk in likely his final game as a Patriot inactive and will get criticized.

Faulk’s replacement Stevan Ridley was one of four Patriots not to see the field on a single snap. Also on the sideline without a single snap was defensive lineman Alex Silvestro, signed off the practice squad on Saturday night, when the team cut Tiquan Underwood.

Coughlin will go down as the coach who got his players fired up and who made sure everyone was on board. Belichick will have to live with the fact that he made one of his favorite players inactive while cutting another the night before the biggest game of the year.

While Belichick was getting kudos all week for his relaxed approach, Coughlin decided to go with the passion on Saturday night. Read the rest of this entry »

Mario Manningham after his catch helps Giants beat Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. (Mike Petraglia, WEEI.com)

INDIANAPOLIS — This time it was the feet — not the hands — of the receiver that killed the Patriots during the game-winning drive.

Four years ago, David Tyree clutched the ball to the top of his helmet as Rodney Harrison helplessly looked on. On Sunday night, it was Mario Manningham tiptoeing on the left sideline for a 38-yard reception on the opening play of an 88-yard game-winning drive as Eli Manning did it again to the Patriots.

“They’re both spectacular catches,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “I think with Mario’s, the way he kept his feet in bounds and held onto the ball going out of bounds was a remarkable thing. Of course, David’s is forever and that’s the history. That’s never going to change anything. His was incredible. This just continues along in that fashion.”

Indeed, Manningham caught the ball and managed to get both feet down before being pushed out of bounds by Patrick Chung at midfield.

“When [officials] were on the sideline [indicating good catch], I finally realized we might win this,” Manningham said.

“He had both feet down,” Chung said. “Good throw, good catch.”

The man who made the throw — Super Bowl XLVI MVP Eli Manning — again won the respect of his teammates like Manningham for coming through in the clutch.

“He’s a playmaker,” Manningham said of Manning. “That’s what he does. I’m putting Eli in his own category. A lot of quarterbacks don’t talk but you really never hear Eli talk negative about his teammates at a news conference. He just knows what to do and how to carry himself.”

As for comparisons to Tyree’s miraculous catch with Rodney Harrison draped all over him, Manningham took it all in stride.

“If I do, I do, If I don’t, I don’t. We won. I’m not thinking about that. If that’s how it’s going to be, then that’s how it’s going to be,” Manningham said.

Eli Manning has two Super Bowl wins over Tom Brady and the Patriots. (AP)

In the end, Eli Manning outplayed Tom Brady on the biggest stage in professional sports.

Again.

Brady put up perfectly respectable numbers in Super Bowl XLVI — 27-of-41 for 276 yards and two TDs — but Eli was better when it mattered most.

Eli Manning owns the Patriots, which means he owns Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Plain and simple. Eli will never be Brady on a historical scale — though he punched a ticket to Canton on Sunday night — but I guarantee you there isn’t a Giants fan alive who would trade quarterbacks now.

Eli has a 2-0 Super Bowl head-to-head edge over the best quarterback of this era (and that’s as far as we can go with that, the title of Greatest of All Time isn’t going to be Brady’s; two losses to a less-than-immortal QB means Joe Montana can wait for the next guy to come along) and the coach of his generation (again, that’s it — two losses to a very good but not all-timer in Tom Coughlin ends any Vince Lombardi debate).

And these aren’t wins where he stayed out of the way and let the defense do its work. This isn’t Trent Dilfer. Eli Manning has led the Giants on two game-winning, fourth-quarter TD drives in insanely pressure-packed situations and has done it with almost incomprehensible calm. I’ll count the Tyree catch as half-fluke, half-skill, but the throw to Mario Manningham — forget the catch itself for a moment — was as good as you’ll ever see in that situation. Manning then competed four of his next five passes on the final drive, setting up Ahmad Bradshaw‘s bizarre TD rush. (And I was fine with the Patriots letting the Giants score there — does anyone doubt Eli would have completed a TD on the very next play if the Giants let him throw?)

In the fourth quarters of the two Super Bowl wins, Manning was a combined 19-of-29 for 268 yards and two TDs with zero interceptions. In the fourth quarter on Sunday, Tom Brady was 6-of-14 for 64 yards with an INT.

Look, Brady was Brady on exactly two drives — the 96-yard TD drive to close out the first half and the 79-yard drive to open the second half. He was 16-of-16 for 154 yards and two TDs on the two drives, just a master class in clock management, patience and accuracy. The rest of the game he was mediocre at best, 11-of-25 for 122 yards, no TDs and the poorly thrown INT intended for a clearly hobbled (no way he plays if that’s an October game, that was a four, five-week injury) Rob Gronkowski.

Read the rest of this entry »

Chris Canty was all smiles - and predictions - this week, including Sunday, hours before kickoff. (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS — In a response for predictions on Twitter, Giants defensive lineman Chris Canty tweeted Sunday, just hours before entering Lucas Oil Stadium for Super Bowl XLVI, that his Giants would beat the Patriots.

Not only that but he gave a score.

Giants 28, NewEngland 17 he tweeted, responding to a solicitation from ESPN’s Jason Romano.

Canty gained the spotlight during Super Bowl week when he talked about how nice it would be to have a parade in Manhattan’s “Canyon of Heroes” if the Giants beat the Patriots.

“Get ready for a great day on Super Bowl Sunday … and get ready for a parade on Tuesday,” Canty said on Wednesday.

“I don’t care, doesn’t matter,” Canty said when asked if the prediction might ruffle feathers. “Obviously, Tom Brady made a statement at their pep rally [last Sunday]. Obviously, both teams are here to try to win a football game. It just is what it is.”

Canty later said his statement wasn’t meant to be taken as “bulletin board” material.

“I’m not trying to inflame anybody or anything like that,” Canty said. “I want our fans to be excited about the game that’s coming up on Sunday. It’s going to be a great football game. It’s going to be a 60-minute game, and hopefully we can put ourselves in the best position to be successful.”

Super Sunday is finally here! (Mike Petraglia, WEEI.com)

INDIANAPOLIS — The wait is finally over.

After two weeks of analysis, predictions and hype from both teams, the Patriots are set to take on the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI (6:30 p.m. ET NBC and Sportsradio WEEI 93.7 FM).

The Patriots will attempt to win their fourth NFL championship tonight here at Lucas Oil Stadium in the heart of Indiana as they take on the New York Giants in the much-anticipated rematch of Super Bowl XLII.

While the stadium is enclosed, the weather outside resembles that of previous Super Bowls in warm weather climate, with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-to-upper 40s.

The scene here is predictably busy and hectic at the last minute as parking lots are charging anywhere between $200 and $1000 for parking in and around the stadium.

Something else that is predictable is tight security. The NSA has declared this Super Bowl a ‘Level 1′ security event so there will be bomb-sniffing dogs and several layers of security for media and fans to pass through, alike. The stadium gates open for the general media at 2 p.m., with kickoff slated four and a half hours later.

All eyes will be on No. 87 for the Patriots as Rob Gronkowski and his injured left ankle take the field. He is expected to start and play in the game, barring any last-minute setbacks. He was listed as probable on Friday’s injury report and showed no limp in the 90 minutes the team was on the field for a photo opportunity on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“I think he’s doing better,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said of Gronkowski, before the team went on the field to begin the session. “I think he’s doing a little better each day. We’ll just have to see where things (are).”

Belichick has been notably relaxed and laid back this week as his team prepares for a shot at its fourth championship.

“These guys have worked hard, they’ve earned this trip,” Belichick said of Saturday’s photo shoot. “We know we’re here for a job but it’s also a fun thing to be part of this game so it’s fun to be seeing them enjoying it. This is what we all work for. To be here. You want to be here, you want to enjoy it, there’s a job to do but you want to be able to enjoy the trip.”

With a win, Belichick and Tom Brady will join Pittsburgh’s Chuck Noll and Terry Bradshaw as the only head coach/quarterback combo with four Super Bowl titles.

Brady can also make history tonight by himself. With a win, he will earn his 17th playoff victory, which will establish a new NFL record, surpassing the 16 of his boyhood idol, Joe Montana. A win will also move him into a tie for the most Super Bowl championships in NFL history, matching the four of Bradshaw and Montana. Read the rest of this entry »

With Super Bowl XLVI just a few days away many experts are making their game pick. The momentum from the Giants playoff run seems to have many predicting the same outcome as Super Bowl XLII: Giants over Patriots.

Out of the eight ESPN experts only Adam Schefter and Mark Schlereth picked the Patriots to prevail on Sunday.

Additionally, all five of the CBSSports.com experts picked New York to win. Pete Prisco thinks the Giants will win by a touchdown, 31-24, on the strength of Eli Manning‘s arm.

Wrote Prisco: This Giants team is on a roll and getting better. They handled Tom Brady for most of the first meeting, and I think they do a good job slowing him again. Eli Manning lights up the New England secondary.

Following are more picks from several national writers.

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: Patriots 31, Giants 27

Dan Connolly, Baltimore Sun: Giants 28, Patriots 24

Peter Schrager, FoxSports.com: Giants 30, Patriots 21

WEEI hosts are more optimistic than national writers that New England will win its fourth championship on Sunday. The hosts of WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan morning show presented their predictions Friday morning. Gerry Callahan said he arrived in Indianapolis expecting to pick the Giants but now is going with the Patriots, predicting that Tom Brady will rise to the occasion and lead New England to a 26-24 victory. John Dennis predicts a 31-24 victory for the Patriots and an MVP for Rob Gronkowski. Jon Meterparel predicts a 31-27 victory for the Patriots, with Jerod Mayo earning MVP honors.

CBS Sports NFL analyst and New York radio host Boomer Esiason sided with the Patriots during his Friday appearance on D&C, predicting a 30-27 final. But Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, on Mut & Merloni, went with the Giants, 23-20.

WEEI midday show hosts Lou Merloni and Mike Mutnansky were split. Merloni said the Giants have too much for the Patriots to handle, and it will lead to a 34-30 victory for New York. Mutnansky went with the Patriots, 33-27.

Read the rest of this entry »