NFL - Patriots let Giants score winning touchdown

@ 267 - You're right mattoid, it is a bit­ hypocritical and look at the mess we've gotten­ ourselves in lol. To be fair, you're country was­ established a very long time ago compared to ours so­ it's only natural you'd have more attendance­ than us at any time in the last century when it comes­ to football (soccer).

@ 268 - Matt, I'm trying to­ think of what to say. Oh yeah. I don't know if­ you've noticed, but American football players come­ in all sizes. You have the really big guys for defense­ (or offensive line protecting the quarterback). You­ have the cornerbacks, wide receivers, and special teams­ who are smaller yet very athletic. Etc. Etc. I­ don't know who Devon Raider is but you acting like­ your local team is a proper representation of the­ entire National Football League is a bit whack. Play a­ better sport you say? That's like saying "my­ @#$% looks better than yours." Get over yourself­ buddy. Your arrogance makes you look like a douchebag.

In the UK it's a minority sport at best regardless­ of what people like Devon Raider think. People in the­ UK who play American football domestically do so­ because they don't have the ability or physical­ gifts to play a better sport.
I saw my local team play­ once on a Sunday morning and it was a bunch of fat­ blokes waddling around in padding humping each other.­ People who play it in the UK are poor atheletes who­ play a minority sport as they wouldn't make a half­ decent football or rugby squad let alone the bench.­ FACT

As for Devon Raider who goes on about the­ athletic ability of American football players... well I­ play football so I challenge you to a race over any­ distance you like from 60m to a full marathon. You wont­ take me up on that though will you fat boy as you­ aren't an athlete at all.

Rogue;
"the NFL uses the salary cap and it works­ just fine".

maybe so, but that's because it­ operates within a monopoly. where else is a pro us­ footballer going to go to get a higher wage?

"We­ had established our sport before there was a real­­ interest in soccer"

1890 FA cup final,­ 20,000
1895 FA cup final, 42,560
1900 FA cup final,­ 69,000
1905 Fa cup final, 101,117

ahh. 1905. isn't­ that about when you invented the forward pass?

Your­ game barely existed in its recognisable form until we­ were getting six-figure gates at cup finals.

As for­ how your game is run, let them run soccer, It's run­ by crooks, your lot would do way better.
Funny­ isn't it, that the nation that pushes 'free­ trade' on the rest of the world enacts wage caps­ and prevents richer clubs outbidding poorer for new­ college players? Works well, but a bit­ hypocritical.

And there's no such thing as an­ amateur gridiron player.

It's getting old, you Brits bashing American­ Football constantly. You don't like it? Fine. Okay.­ You don't have to like it. And who cares if it says­ World Champions, World Series. There are 300 million­ people in the United States so if someone else plays­ the two most popular sports in the US, in other­ countries, good for them. So what if we call it­ football and not the sport the Brits and most of the­ world (excluding parts of Australia / NZ / Asia) do.­ We had established our sport before there was a real­ interest in soccer. Maybe it was a way of rebelling­ against the old monarchy / empire. I don't know.­ But the ignorant comments about how much it's like­ gay rugby or real men play rugby, or no pads, give it­ up. It's similar but then it's really not. Like­ someone said, they didn't really have much padding­ way back when but you CAN get seriously injured in­ today's game with out it. At least in American­ Football, the linesman know what the fawk they're­ doing and if the coach doesn't like the call, he­ gets to throw his little red flag on the field and­ challenge the call. And then the linesman gets to call­ upstairs to his buddies to check the replay and mind­ you most football stadiums have big screens where the­ fans can witness the instant replay anyway, so if the­ coach was wrong, he loses a time out, and he was right,­ he gets the call reversed in his teams favor. If only­ real football was run as smoothly as the NFL. Oh and by­ the way, the NFL uses the salary cap and it works just­ fine.

I guess in the UK we can at least watch the game and­ the razza matazz one day of the year , its interesting­ because its not a game that we see over here, but they­ have been playing American football for many years now­ and no matter how many times they bring the show to­ other EU countries, it still has not made any headway­ into the rest of the world, mind you not all countries­ can turn out such huge men , and thats the problem. but­ once a year I guess is ok to watch, but if its on late­ I would never bother to watch it. its taken years to­ get the Americans interested in soccer, and the­ American ladies have been world champions, and the­ sport is big in the schools because all you need is a­ ball . the Americans have the potential to be good at­ any sport, my one worry is that they ever get really­ good at soccer, because then they will want to change­ everything about the game, I believe they wanted to­ change the game to 4 quarters to get advertising breaks­ in the world cup in America. once they get influence in­ any sport ,they will ruin it. I enjoy watching their­ Rugby team, you can see the potential for how good they­ could be , but I would fear they ever become really­ good at the game for obvious reasons .

American or yanky football is the gayer of the two

Nice misleading headline.

Anyone who knows and­ understands American Football tactics know that the­ Patriots head coach Bill Belichick made the right­ choice in his actions. They wouldn't have had­ enough time to get the ball downfield if they had­ allowed the New York Giants to run down the clock. What­ would have happened is that the Giants would have­ allowed the clock to go past 20 seconds before kicking­ the easy field goal for an 18-17 lead. By the time a­ Patriots player touched the ball again, there would­ easily have been less than ten seconds on the clock,­ and practically NO TIME WHATSOEVER for New England to­ do anything positive with the ball.

And the plan did­ not "fail spectacularly" as implied. New­ England were able to move the ball as well as could be­ expected under the situation, and on that late fateful­ pass attempt, the Patriots receiver had a chance­ (albeit a small one) to make the catch. Better to be in­ that situation with a chance to do something, than not­ have a chance at all.

I don't speak as a Patriots­ or Giants fan, just as someone who has been a fan of­ the sport for years, and actually understands what goes­ on. I write this in the hope that someone who is­ interested in the sport will gain a better­ understanding, instead of reading and believing this­ disgraceful tripe that passes as a story.

And to­ everyone else commenting negatively on American­ Football and American sport in general, please take­ your misguided hatred elsewhere. This isn't the­ time or place for it. Just focus on the sports you­ like, and be happy.

Umm... most people posting comments about this are­ more­ ignorant than the Americans they are attempting­ to­ bash. Yes Rugby is a fun sport that we love, and­ just­ because you don't understand American­ football does­ not mean you should bash it. And to­ answer your­ question why they wear all that amor...­ it's is­ because it allows them to make bigger and­ strong hits­ than you would see in rugby. I remember­ watching a­ program on the tele that scientifically­ proved that­ American football hits are much more­ harder than a­ Rugby hit, but that is only because they­ wear that­ amor. The only reason for that armor is for­­ entertainment value, I lived in Canada for a bit and­­ played American football. I can tell you I got hit­­ harder than I ever been hit playing rugby and I was­­ glad to be wearing that awful armor.

To understand the pads you have to learn the history of­ the game. There was no pads or very little in early­ years 1800's.-1940s in fact so many men died that­ they started wearing pads. Thats why modern players­ wear pads. Look at rosters these men can be as big as 7­ foot 350 lbs. There are small guys as well because­ every position is like a chess piece. You need big guys­ to block, and to sack the quarterback. Smaller faster­ guys to make to run routes, tall guys to make big­ catches. Also you brits do not understand the tactics.­ You see Tom can score a touchdown in less then a­ minute. The coach wanted to drain the clock down so he­ would not been given a chance.

@254 rgj - cool story bro

i dont give a toss which is the toughest sport, nfl or­ our own football, but i reckon the reason for the body­ armour they wear in nfl is because it sometimes gets a­ bit rough, now you dont see body armour here in­ football because the way things are going it will soon­ become a non contact sport and the bunch of moronic­ over paid prima donnas who play it can get on with­ it instead of going down like a giant redwood the­ minute an opponent gets within a yard of them, but­ ref he messed up my gelled hair, make me wanna puke. If­ you want a tough sport played by real men with bad­ intent, then get your head around some ice hockey, the­ punch ups are a bonus !

the didnt let them get the winning touchdown they­ earned it

Who cares which sport is the most dangerous,as long as­ no 1 gets hurt or bummed playing it then all is good.

CORRECTION - 166.8 million tuned in for some portion of­ NBC’s coverage of the game (This is just in the US)

yes cmon new york

We have an American football team here in Nice, France

The Giants kicker is from Scotland.
Also, on the­ baseball front, it is called the world series cause if­ you are a baseball player (japan, cuba, holland,etc)­ you want to play in the best league, MLB. This could­ also be said about the NHL, NBA and the NFL. The best­ leagues in the World.
111.3 million Americans watched­ the game yesterday. Almost 1/2 the population. What was­ the rugby percentage, 1% of the UK?

Poofs rugby.

Am royally gutted!!! The day before I was going to put­ bets on for first score to be a safety (100-1) and the­ Giants by a 4-point spread, predicted at 21-17!!! I­ swear to any heavenly body I am not lying! Never­ again!!! From now on, lottery every week....