Manning makes the throw of his life (Photo: NFL.com)

As always, the NFL Films crew was in full force at Super Bowl XLVI, capturing all the sights and sounds of the world’s biggest game as only they can. For this game, the Sound FX team had WR Victor Cruz and LB Michael Boley mic’d up for the Giants, and QB Tom Brady and DT Vince Wilfork wired for the Pats. And the result is every bight as insightful and exciting as you’d expect it to be.

Here are the links to watch the entire Sound FX program on NFL.com: PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4

A few of the more interesting moments from the broadcast:

• Justin Tuck’s pre-game speech inspiring his teammates who have yet to win a Super Bowl to reach for their ring (which possibly inspired the team’s now-famous post-game “I got a ring” celebration)
• Patriots owner Robert Kraft asking to look into Tom Brady’s eyes before the game to see if he has “the look”, and Brady responding “I got it today. I’ve had it for three days”
• Victor Cruz pre-game: “Super Bowl 46 … I used to think it was all about me, and what I could do. It’s all about this team, man.”
• Wes Welker: “I’m open on every play.” Brady: “I know you are, man. I know you are.”
• Brady, following the intentional grounding call that resulted in a safety on the first offensive play of the game

“I looked at Gronk, I looked to Wes, he dropped, then I felt him, I had no place to throw it away. I threw it over his head. I didn’t want to throw an interception.”

• On Cruz’ fumble/non-fumble in the first quarter, when the Patriots were flagged for 12 men on the field, the Giants saw it all the way, urging Manning to snap the ball to catch New England for a free play
• After Jason Pierre-Paul knocks down a Brady pass, the QB says to Welker on the sideline: “It’s like throwing in a forest, dude, those f*ing guys arms are like…”
• When Giants Kevin Boothe was called for holding Vince Wilfork in the 2nd quarter, nullifying a big first down and ultimately killing the drive. Immediately, the referee asks the official who thew the flag “You’re good with it? I thought he spun off of it”, which Wilfork later confirms, saying “That was a bad call”.

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  (Photo: NFL.com)

  In the 3rd quarter, Boley to his teammates on the injured Rob Gronkowski: “Hey, 87’s a f*ing decoy, he’s a decoy … He’s about to be outta here.” A short time later, Gronkowski was outjumped by Chase Blackburn for a critical interception.

• Following Welker’s critical 4th quarter drop, the referee says to another official, “That was the game”.
• Just before the Giants took the field for their game-winning drive, Belichick ominously says this to his defense:

“This is still a Cruz and Nicks game. I know we’re right on them, it’s tight but those are still the guys. Make them go to Manningham, make them go to Pascoe. Let’s make sure we get Cruz and Nicks.”

On the first play of that drive, Manning hit Manningham for a 38-yard reception, and the play of the game.  Manningham had 3 catches for 56 yards on the drive.

• Prior to Bradshaw’s awkward final touchdown, the Patriots can be heard telling each other: “We gotta let them score … let them score.”

(Image via SBNation.com)

We all know how “Planking” and “Tebowing” have swept the nation in the past year, giving people everywhere a reason to take ridiculous photos of themselves and post them to the internet, right? Well, following his latest Super Bowl loss, it seems that Patriots QB Tom Brady has spurned a brand new photo-taking trend across the interwebs: “Bradying”.

As you can see from the banner pic, “Bradying” is emulating Tom’s pose where he sulks on the field after a particularly crushing loss. Bonus points if you can incorporate UGGS or a supermodel into your photo.

(Photo: BustedCoverage.com)

We’re not exactly sure who started this trend, but the Bradying website seems to have been set up months ago as a tribute to “winning. and hair. and winning hair.”  There’s also a Bradying Facebook page that’s dedicated “pointing at your opponent and putting the kibosh on them”. These latest pictures just showed up yesterday (and one has been added to the website), but apparently, someone on Yahoo! Answers came up with the idea well before the Super Bowl.

Regardless of who started it, we have a feeling this thing is going to catch on like wildfire.

(Photo: Getty Images via ShutdownCorner)

• Eli Manning has silenced his critics by winning his second Super Bowl MVP, but Shutdown Corner makes the case that Justin Tuck deserved the award too, based on the pressure he applied on Tom Brady all day, including the 1st quarter safety
• Wes Welker’s dropped pass with just 3:46 left in the game is being singled out as the reason the Patriots lost the game, and based on their reaction yesterday, it’s safe to say some of his teammates probably agree

(via Gifninja.com)

• Gisele Bundchen was also not happy with the Patriots receivers after the game, pointing out that “My husband cannot (bleeping) throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time!”
• Steelers James Harrison and Ryan Clark took a couple shots at the Patriots via Twitter after their loss, with Harrison going so far as to say “Cheaters never win!!!”
• It was quick, so you might have missed it, but M.I.A. apparently flipped America the bird during the halftime show (VIDEO HERE)
• Somebody bet $1,000 that the first score of the game would be a safety.  That person is now $50k richer
• In case it was too noisy at your SB party to watch all the much-hyped commercials, here are all the Super Bowl Ads for your viewing pleasure
• And unless you live in North Platte, Nebraska, you probably didn’t know that Will Ferrell appeared in a SB commercial for Old Milwaukee
• Giants rookie LB Greg Jones proposed to his long-time girlfriend on the field immediately following the game, with confetti still falling around them

Eli = Elite (Photo: NY Giants Facebook)

The New York Giants are Super Bowl Champions once again, and Eli Manning has won his second Super Bowl MVP award after defeating the New England Patriots 21-17 in Indianapolis tonight. With the win, Eli officially steps out of the shadow of his brother Peyton, and cements himself in the annals of NFL history as one of the game’s greatest quarterbacks.

The biggest play of the game came in the fourth quarter, as the Giants attempted to drive the field for the game-winning score. Manning hit Mario Manningham for this incredible 38-yard sideline catch:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

As remarkable as Manningham’s catch was, Manning’s throw was equally as brilliant, delivering the ball on a rope in a very tight space where only Manningham could snare it. And the play will undoubtedly go down in Giants history as one of the greatest plays of all time.

Ahmad Bradshaw finished off the drive with a bizarre game-winning 6-yard touchdown run with just over a minute to go. New York was trying to run out some more clock before scoring the go-ahead points and giving the ball back to Tom Brady, but the Patriots called the patented “Red Sea” defense and left Bradshaw untouched … leading to perhaps the most awkward touchdown in Super Bowl history:

(via Reddit/r/nygiants)

The Giants defense was able to hold off a last-minute drive by Brady, which ended with a failed hail mary as the clock struck zero. And suddenly – after winning his second championship and defeating Bill Belichick head-to-head for the second consecutive time on the game’s biggest stage - Tom Coughlin has to be in the conversation as one of the greatest coaches in NFL history.

(Photo: BleacherReport)

Yes, that’s right. Since there is clearly a lack of opinions on the subject available on the internet, we’re here with our own prognostications for Super Bowl 46!

It’s the Giants versus the Patriots in a rematch of Super Bowl 42 – widely considered one of the greatest championship games of all time – and everyone at R&R HQ has pretty strong feelings about this one. Artie is a diehard Giants fan, while steverodgers is a Patriots backer, so they’ve both been riding their team’s bandwagon to the promised land since the beginning, and are on the verge of an emotional breakdown in anticipation for tomorrow’s contest.

So without any further adieu, here are our picks for the big game (CLICK TO EMBIGGEN):

As you can see, our “experts” our split down the middle, with Artie and COURTNEY (a loyal Cowboys fan) picking the Giants, and going with Victor Cruz as the MVP over the odds-on favorite Eli Manning. Meanwhile, TDH and steverodgers picked the Pats and Tom Brady to bring home the most valuable player trophy.

Most of our gambling will come in the form of inane prop bets that have nothing to do with the actual football game, like how many times they show Gisele on TV, or how long it takes Kelly Clarkson to sing the National Anthem, or whether Madonna will be wearing a hat during the halftime show … all real available bets, by the way.

Enjoy the national holiday that is Super Sunday, and let’s just hope it’s a competitive game that’s worth watching.

(Image via Sportsgrid.com)

We feel badly for Ravens fans today. Honestly, we do. The Baltimore defense played tremendous football in yesterday’s AFC Championship, holding Tom Brady in check, only to have their Super Bowl hopes dashed by a missed chip shot FG by K Billy Cundiff.

Imagine how it must feel to have been a Ravens fan watching it all unfold yesterday. Brutal, right? Now imagine watching your favorite team lose while surrounded by “friends” who came over to your house for the big game, and decided to have some fun by cheering for the Pats all day. Well, thanks to this video, we get to experience the loss through just that perspective.

From the Youtube description: ”Our good friend has a passion for Maryland sports. Maybe an obsession.” And as you’ll see, their good friend’s passion reached its breaking point after Cundiff’s shank, and he decided that everyone needed to leave his house. Immediately.

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

[WARNING: VIDEO NFSW for language]

(Image via PatsPropoganda.com)

This hilarious Lethal Weapon 3 poster spoof – with Chad Ochocinco, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick playing the roles of Danny Glover, Mel Gibson and Joe Pesci, respectively - is apparently the new avatar for Ochocinco’s Twitter account.

Good stuff, but this new partnership hasn’t exactly proved to be “lethal” so far. Unfortunately for Chad, it seems as though he’s spending way more time on Twitter than he is studying the Patriots playbook, netting just 11 catches for 201 yards and 0 touchdowns this year. And while it’s definitely cool, let’s not pretend that Chad actually tried his hand at photoshop and created this masterpiece himself … I’m guessing it’s a piece of fan art from one of his nearly 3 million (!!!) followers.

[H/T Pats Propaganda]

(Photo: SI.com)

Last Sunday’s Bills-Patriots contest proved to be the NFL’s game of the week, as the upstart Bills fought back from an early 21-0 deficit to defeat their AFC East nemesis and improve to 3-0 on the season. 

Fortunately for us, the NFL Films crew was on hand, and had a whole array of players and coaches mic’d up for the game to bring us the sights & sounds of the most exciting thing to happen in Buffalo in years. The resulting Sound FX highlights are definitely worth the watch, to see how the Bills were able to keep their heads in the game after falling behind, and snap their 15-game slide to the Pats.

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

(Photo: Chris Forsberg)

This will surely be hearbreaking news not only to Gisele Bundchen – who put a stop to trimming the Brady locks back in September of 2009 –  but to those who have enjoyed watching Brady’s hair evolve from Bieber-esque, to ponytailed, to full-on androgynous territory.  But now that he’s returned to the close crop, we can get back to focusing on the important things, like Brady’s choice of footwear (Uggs).

Boston.com went so far as to print an obituary for Brady’s long flowing hair, which is worth the read.

Nothing wrong with a little man-love to celebrate a score in Buffalo (Image: 30fps.com)

The city of Buffalo is delirious tonight as their Bills beat the mighty New England Patriots 34-31 in Orchard Park this afternoon, snapping a 15-game losing streak to their division rival. After jumping out to a 21-0 lead, Patriots QB Tom Brady threw 4 interceptions (matching a career low), which allowed the Bills to claw their way back into the game, with the Bills eventually winning it with a last-second 28-yard field goal by Rian Lindell.  To put things into perspective for you, the last time Buffalo beat a Patriots team it was 2003, and the SARS scare was gripping the world.

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 369 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Bills improved to 3-0 on the strength of their second consecutive comeback conference win. Perhaps the most exciting moment of the game came with just over 10 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter, moments after Buffalo had tied the game on a Fred Jackson touchdown run. On the Patriots ensuing drive, CB Drayton Florence picked off a deflected Brady pass and brought it 27 yards all the way to the house, putting Buffalo ahead 31-24 and sending the Bills fans in attendence into a full-on frenzy (see banner pic):

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

[Video via SportsGrid]

The Pats countered with a quick scoring strike from Brady (who also had 4 TDs and 387 yards passing) to Wes Welker, who finished the day with a career-high 16 receptions for 217 yards receiving and 2 TDs in the loss. But Fitzpatrick marched his team 70 yards in 8 plays to set up the game-winning field goal, and prove that these Bills are definitely for real.