A Game of Inches and Oblong Balls: The Giants' Run To the Title Filled With Fortune

The Giants had three fumbles in this game, though only two were official. The first was the fumble by Victor Cruz, which would have been a key swing play in the game, but was nullified because the Patriots lined up with 12 men on defense. That one was actually recovered by New England for naught. The other two came in the second half with the Giants trailing, and could have ruined any chance of a comeback.

The first was Hakeem Nicks, who fumbled it backward where it was recovered by Henry Hynoski almost five yards back from where the ball came out. The Giants scored the field that made it 17-15 (thus altering the end of game strategy of the Patriots) later that drive.

The second came right after Tom Brady threw the interception by Chase Blackburn. Ahmad Bradshaw fumbled it, and the ball spun back to Chris Snee, when it could have just as easily gone in any number of directions, most with Patriots waiting. If the Giants lose the ball there, New England has it inside the 15, already up by 2 at the start of the fourth quarter.

As Bill Barnwell of Grantland notes: “The Giants recovered eight of the 10 fumbles that hit the ground during their four playoff games, and had they failed to recover either of the Kyle Williams muffed punts or the Bradshaw fumble on Sunday, they might not have won the Super Bowl.”

Forcing fumbles and holding on to the ball is a skill. Getting the ball to bounce to your player in a pile is not. In the regular season, the Giants recovered 10 of their 18 offensive fumbles, and fell on 11 of 21 by the opponent. The Giants had some fortune on their side, and now we get to debate legacies as a result.

So now we have a Super Bowl champion who (and I think this is completely fair to say since they were 9-7 and needed to win 6 straight games) had more luck than any team that has ever won the title. You can’t point to any single play in 1985 that could have changed the Chicago Bears as world champions. The San Francisco 49ers were never one play from missing Joe Montana’s fourth Super Bowl win. Most Super Bowl winners may have a handful of key swing plays during the season or the postseason run that could have changed the outcome. The Giants have too many to count.

From Romo to Welker, the Giants had two passes that were missed that could have ended their season, and they could do nothing to prevent it, only relying on lack of execution. Remember the Victor Cruz non-fumble going to the ground controversy at Arizona? That’s just another one that could have altered the season. In a season with 7 wins when trailing in the fourth quarter, any one of which doesn’t happen, there were a lot of plays the Giants had to execute, with no margin of error, just to get where they ended up.

Should they apologize? Absolutely not. That’s what makes this game so great and unpredictable. We just need to watch how much our perceptions are influenced by things beyond our control. This Giants team won a title by making key plays, and also having plenty of key plays happen for them.

[photo via Getty]