Miracle Helmet

this guy has watched it even more than I have. FO charters, lol:

The Pats rushed four, and every Giants lineman except for McKenzie got beaten and beaten badly. Snee didn’t block anyone, looking like he wanted to help out O’Hara, but by the time he had decided to the defender had already blown past him. He just stood there doing nothing for the rest of the play. Diehl got beat on a speed move to the outside, but kept at it as best as he could, steering the defensive end around Manning, who was forced to step up– right into the arms of Green, who had run right through Seubert, and Seymour, who had run right through O’Hara.

And then… what the! Manning manages to break free from the jersey-grasping, helped tremendously by the fact that Seubert, despite being beaten, had not given up and had continued to fight, keeping Green from being able to gain leverage to bring down Manning and pushing him into Seymour, pretty much doing the same to him. When Manning squirted out the back, O’Hara, Diehl, and Seubert were squared up quickly to provide a wall of blockers. O’Hara pretty much whiffed, but Diehl and Seubert sealed off the Patriots’ rush at that point.

And Eli… felt the pressure coming from the left side of the offensive line. Stepped up, which was his only option, even though it put him in dire straits. Protected the ball, which is not something he has always done. Showed great balance and strength, and wrestled free– and immediately acted like he had just taken the snap and did a five step drop, getting his balance, squaring his hips, planting his feet while looking downfield, made the instantaneous decision about where he was going with the ball, and stepped into the throw.

Not perfect, but amazing under the chaos that the play had been to that point.

You can’t see all of the receivers on the play from the TV replay, but you can see a few. Smith was covered in the short middle. Jacobs, who isn’t the best of hands anyway, is covered in the right flat. By the looks of the break off the line, Plaxico was covered. When the ball left Manning’s hand, Tyree was standing in a hole in the coverage. It was the right decision on where to throw, which is astounding. That was great by Manning to be able to orient himself to what was happening downfield and to process what he saw quickly.

The throw wasn’t perfect– as often is the case with Manning, it sailed on him a bit. But one thing you can say about Eli, is that he can put some mustard on the throw. It might not have been the most accurate dart, but it was still a dart and it was close enough to allow Tyree to make a play on it. If that ball floats, it is easily broken up or intercepted.

And while Tyree did not get the ball at its highest point (a physical impossibility), he timed his jump so perfectly that he did get the ball at HIS highest point. Harrison’s arm gets into the ball and pretty much smacks him in the face in the process, Harrison’s knee in his back, flailing at the ball and bending Tyree backwards to the ground over his leg– his leg pretty much keeping Tyree, and the ball, from hitting the ground (which would almost certainly have resulted in the ball popping loose). Tyree losing his right hand off the ball, pinning it to his helmet with his left as he desperately reaches his right arm back up to get both hands on it, somehow keeping the ball from ever touching the ground.

Inconceivable.

Tyree running off to high-five Jared Lorenzen. Brady shaking his head in disbelief. He wasn’t the only one. What a play. What a play.

:: Gerry — 2/4/2008 @ 5:34 pm