Super Bowl Stunner: The Gisele Curse
Athletes and Celebrities, NFL February 4th. 2008, 9:59am
A reader wanted to point out that Tom Brady has not won a Super Bowl since he began dating Gisele. Unofficially, they began dating late in the 2006 season, so they were ‘a couple’ when he lost to the Colts in a tremendous AFC Championship game last season.
For the record, it appears as if he began dating Bridget Moynahan in 2003, and his baby momma was by his side for the 2004 and 2005 titles. Even though Teflon Tom’s going to get destroyed by the media today, he wasn’t terrible against the Giants. Sure, he missed badly on a few throws, but his offensive line was really was to blame. They were completely overwhelmed by the Giants front four. The o-line was a whirlwind of ineptness; Brady was sacked five times and pressured countless others. With each offensive snap, the line kept collapsing like the housing market. The Patriots running game (which we kept pointing to as a weakness throughout the season) rushed just 16 times for 45 yards.
New England’s order of offseason moves are thus: 1) Decide what to do with Randy Moss, 2) Get Brady to move on from Gisele, 3) significantly upgrade the offensive line, perhaps through the draft by selecting Boise State’s Ryan Clady.
For those of you wondering, yes, we will get to Belichick later in the day.
40 Responses to “Super Bowl Stunner: The Gisele Curse”
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February 4th, 2008 at 10:01 am
The running game is ultimately what cost them, and we should have been able to see it coming. Eventually they were going to face a team that could pressure Brady and disrupt the passing game, and could they fall back on the running game? The answer: no. They are lucky it happened this late. It should have happened against Baltimore late in the season.
How about that 75 yard heave from Brady on one of those last plays? Holy.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Can you use “Giselle” and “curse” in the same sentence??? Hm look at that. I just did, so I guess you can. Doesn’t seem like boning a Brazilian supermodel in the butt is much of a curse.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Why weren’t they in the shotgun all game like they were all season? It made no sense.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:05 am
jeff - 2shey, 2shey (I dont have a dictionary).
February 4th, 2008 at 10:07 am
The running game wasn’t there, but I am with CRM and wondered myself why they were not going with the Shotgun or just slinging it down the field.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:08 am
@Sean Jean–agreed on the hail mary–that was like those Lebron James Powerade commercials…what a cannon
February 4th, 2008 at 10:08 am
I kind of agree with you Sean Jean. I say “kind of” because I think they have the ability to run the ball (look at the previous 2 playoff games), but for whatever reason (I honestly think it’s arrogance) they decided to not even try. They didn’t do anything to slow down the Giants pass rush (screens, slants, draws, etc.)
As a Pats fan, it’s not that they lost the game (I’ve seen them lose in the Super Bowl before and probably will again), it’s the arrogance they displayed in their playcalling that made them lose.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:10 am
How in the Hell does Jim Carrey still pull Super Bowl tickets?
February 4th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Ms. McCarthy.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:11 am
fixed
February 4th, 2008 at 10:16 am
They let him keep the Mask-enhanced junk.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:17 am
@ St. Bear
So you think the genius was out coached by Coughlin and Spags? A little bit maybe?
February 4th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Um, they weren’t going shotgun and slinging it down the field all game because they couldn’t protect Brady for more than 2 seconds.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Really, upgrade the O line? 3 pro bowlers and still the best o line in football. Its called a running game to keep the defense honest. Or how about max protect? The o line was vunerable, but the coaches did nothing to help them out.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:21 am
I’m late and busy as hell at work today so I will just say that was a great game and Eli driving his team down the field at the end to win was the last thing I expected to see.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:24 am
@ tedkerwin and SM
Yes, the Pats were outcoached to some degree. Although the Giants scheme wasn’t really brilliant or groundbreaking. To rush the QB using the best pass rushing D-line in the league doesn’t take a genius. It was NE’s refusal to abandon or even modify their passing attack.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Both teams didnt have a running game yesterday. I was stunned the Giants were as innefective as they were, or at least seemed to be. To stunt the pass rush the Pats adjusted, they went to screens out wide and quick hitters. For the most part it worked, but the Giants got key stops when they needed and those stops kept them out of rythm.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:27 am
No need to upgrade the O-Line, they are young and incredible, dont overreact TBL. The Linebackers and secondary need to add depth and quality. The O is young in the right spots and its the Def that needs the overhaul this offseason.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:29 am
This is the end of the Pats as a dominant team. As long as Tommy is playing they’ll still be good, but the “dynasty” is over.
HGHarrison and Seau are done. Asante will get $90 mil from someone this spring. Bruschi and Vrabel are on the downside. Randy, even if he comes back won’t duplicate this season because of age and attitude. A loss (choke) like this hangs over a team.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:29 am
I was a little shocked that the Pats didn’t keep a TE in to block. I’ve never seen Brady heave so many throws up for grabs like he did last night.
His O-line is fine, they just got outplayed. I’d like to see him try and survive behind the Steelers’ offensive line. I’m going to venture a guess that Ben didn’t buy any watches for his OL this year.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:29 am
@ CoRM - I think that the Patriots died with the whole screen/bomb philosophy. All year long they took what teams gave them, either turning short passes into decent games, or exploiting defenses playing up on the short pass by going over the top.
What they didn’t expect was the Giants’ speed off the ends, and the quickness of the LB’s on the Kevin Faulk in the second half. That made all of the difference.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:34 am
SM - Three pro bowlers certainly didn’t look like it for one minute last night. It’s one thing to protect against the worst division in football.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Sanchez - They kept Brady in to block a few times, but i recall one replay of Usi (oops, Osi) simply discarding Brady (who was an absolute bust on the Jets out of PSU) and then sticking Maroney in the backfield.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Come on TBL, they held the Colts, Steelers, Cowboys, Giants (once), Skins, and when it mattered the Ravens, Eagles front sevens in check. One bad game does not mean they are miserable. I dont recall you saying the Cowboys need to dismantle their Defense when they were upended, I think Ware could have made a play, but didnt, so he sucks and should be replace.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:39 am
replaced…but hey, at least I have started to work.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:43 am
So, can we stop referring to Belichick as a “genius”?
As CRM already pointed out, they refused to go to the shot-gun against the Giants suffocating pass rush. But what about their awful final possession?
Yeah, they only have 30 seconds. But with 3 timeouts and Tom “Jesus” Brady and their wide-outs had to give them a chance, right?
So what happens? Belichick plays it the same way anyone playing Madden would do: Hail-Mary after Hail-Mary to Randy Moss. Any schmuck with a PlayStation would have done it the same way! Only the Madden-player would be smart enough to run more than one receiver deep in that situation (like, maybe Donte Stallworth on a trail? or Welker on a deep-out?)
Did anyone else notice this?
February 4th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Osi, not Usi, and how about some credit where credit is due? the pats o-line isnt the first pro bowl caliber o-line that the giants front 4 embarrassed this year. they have been playing out of their minds ever since the regular season finale and are easily the MVPS of the post season for the giants.
mannings - a family of champions.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:48 am
I didn’t follow the Pats that closely, but is Watson that poor of a blocker? Watson, Brady, Heath Evans, they needed to keep somebody in. An honest effort to run the ball may have helped keep the Giants from just rushing all out as well.
TBL - I clicked on your link at the top. I didn’t realize you had so many women coming to your blog back in the day.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:53 am
There was nothing about the Cowboys loss that made me think, ‘wow, they haven’t been able to do x right all game long, this needs to be overhauled’
The Cowboys moved the ball, racked up plenty of yardage, Barber rushed for 129 … the Giants just made plays when it counted.
But from the first play of the game, Brady had no time to do anything. Heavy pressure - and most of it done with just a four man rush. 4 on 5 and you’re getting that much heat on the guy? Nobody’s saying they need to replace anyone, but i you are the Patriots and you go into the draft, what are the needs? LB (Seau old), maybe corner and WR since those two will want big $, and you’d have to say OL, right?
February 4th, 2008 at 10:58 am
I think the Pats don’t need to change a thing. (Unless Seau retires, then they need LB help). you win 18 out of 19 games, I dont think too much change is necessary.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:04 am
LB and Secondary help (jury is still out on Merryweather), thats it. The OL had a bad game. You are completely overreacting. There are seven OL guys that could start for 90% of NFL teams, they just picked a bad time to shit themselves collectivly.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:05 am
I think Samuel wants top dollar, and I believe Moss will be asking for large $$ also. It’s a matter of whether they want to win, or they want to get paid.
And historically, the Pats dont pay.
i have not explored the contract situation of the o-lineman.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Samuel is gone so they will need CB coverage. Also, they will need to replace the LBs. I thought A. Thomas finally came out and played the way I thought he would all season. Looking forward to seeing him get better next year.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Samuel is definitly gone. did you see the way he show-boated after every good play he made ? (which was about 2)
February 4th, 2008 at 11:42 am
its not that the o-line sucks or shit themselves, its that the giants d line is unstoppable. osi and strahan are both starting DE and justin tuck is a back up. tuck has arguably been the best player on the giants d since the second half of the season. any 3 of them would start on every nfl team. the pats oline is still excellent and you would take their unit going into next year over most other teams.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Can’t say I ever thought of Tom Brady as a ‘wallet-in-left-hand’ kind of guy, actually I am not sure any guy is that kind of guy. Now I’m no fashion expert so maybe I missed something, but (and I understand this is an odd/metro thing to comment on) I use my wallet for things like holding money so maybe this is code for - rob me. Then again dude is 6′5 and probably works out so maybe he wants to get into a street fight.
February 4th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
You can’t win if you don’t throw the ball downfield. A lot of it was because of the Giants pass rush but Brady (again) didn’t have a long pass completion. Even when he had time he just threw those short passes. I thought maybe he was injured but he looked fine throwing those long passes near the end (that one to Moss that was knocked away must have been 60 yards in the air). At least attempt to go deep to keep the safeties honest.
February 4th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
The only mistake the Giants defense made last night was in the first quarter when Antonio Pierce got that QUESIONABLE call in the endzone on a 3rd and 17 which brought then to 1st and goal. Other than that, the defense was unstoppable!
February 4th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Come on Ivana, he tackled Watson. Nothing questionable about it. I actually thought it was a very-well officiated game.
February 4th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Grab a stud linebacker in the draft and keep Roosevelt Colvin off IR. That’s when their defense started to stink because there was absolutely no rotation for the elder statesman at linebacker.
On offense, Josh McDaniels needs to learn to stick to the run and not June Jones it up all the time when you feel the clock tightening up on you.