Madatory Credit: US PRESSWIRE

A lot of interesting things happened on Super Bowl weekend. Here’s some of my thoughts about the NFL’s final weekend of the football year:

-Congratulations to the New York football Giants. While I think Peyton Manning is a better quarterback than his brother Eli, I’m probably not the only one who thinks Eli is a better clutch performer. That throw to Mario Mannigham in the final drive was positively sick.

-The Detroit Lions have the fourth best odds of reaching the Super Bowl next year. They sit at 20 to 1, along with the Super Bowl winning Giants. Only the Packers, Saints, and Eagles have better odds in the NFC.

-Nice to see Clint Eastwood hawking Chrysler products. But it didn’t send chills down my spine like Eminem’s commercial did last year.

-I find it hilarious that Matthew Stafford won the “Comeback Player of the Year” award. Don’t you have to accomplish something first before you can comeback from it? Like Stafford said, I hope he never wins that award again.

-The Lions raised their ticket prices for the first time in five years. They raised prices an average of 8%. Not a bad deal, They have a shot at the Super Bowl next year and they will still be ranked 23rd or 24th in cheapest tickets in the League. Martin Mayhew is making all of the right calls for this organization so the product should remain a relative bargain compare to the rest of the league.

-Dick Stanfel, who played offensive line for the Detroit Lions in the 50′s, failed to make the Hall of Fame this weekend. I’m not too broken up over him not making the Hall, because before the process started I had never heard of him, and trust me–I know my Lion’s history.

-Is it me or is the Hall of Fame being watered down? I watched Chris Doleman and Cortez Kennedy play their whole careers and never once thought, “yeah, he’s definitely Hall of Fame material.”

-I find it interesting that Cris Carter fell short of the Hall of Fame again. Personally, I think he and Charles Haley both belong. Wouldn’t it be funny if that “not special enough” receiver for the Lions, Calvin Johnson, made it in before Carter did?

-Did you notice that I have the Lions taking center Peter Konz in the first round of my Mock Draft? Todd McShay has them taking a offensive guard, Cordy Glenn of Georgia. I just don’t see a linebacker or corner worth taking at that spot. Konz is 30 pounds heavier than Dominic Raiola.

-I have a lot of time to talk about who the Lions will draft, so I’ll get to that later. Now that the football season is over and Draft season is upon us, I can’t get this song out of my head by Andy Williams: “It’s the most Wonderful time of the year!”

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Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

New York Giants 21, New England Patriots 17 (box score)

The New York Giants weren’t the heavy underdogs against the Patriots that they were four years ago but the result was the same. Eli Manning led a late scoring drive to take the lead and in doing so became a two-time Super Bowl champion, one more than his older brother Peyton.

It was the Giants that started fast. An intentional grounding call in the end zone put them up 2-0 and a Victor Cruz touchdown pass made it 9-0 before the first quarter was over.

The Patriots were able to find their footing in the second quarter and took a lead into the halftime locker room thanks to a short field goal and a touchdown run by Danny Woodhead. It looked like the Patriot may have seized control in the third quarter when Tom Brady found Aaron Hernandez for a 12 yard touchdown pass to give the Pats a 17-9 lead. However, it would be the last time the Patriots scored on the evening.

Lawrence Tynes’ two field goals pulled the Giants to within two at 17-15 and set up the fourth quarter theatrics. The Giants took over at their own 12-yard line with 3:46 left but wasted no time in getting out of the shadow of their own end zone with a 38 yard pass from Eli Manning to Mario Manningham. Eight plays later, Ahmad Bradshaw spilled into the end zone to give the Giants the lead.

Tom Brady’s hail Mary fell to the ground before Rob Gronkowski could grasp it to seal the victory for the Giants. Eli Manning was named the game’s MVP for his 30 of 40 performance for 296 yards and one touchdown.

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Madatory Credit: US PRESSWIRE

Outside of the teams in the game, I’d say that the person facing the most pressure on Super Bowl Sunday is the singer of the national anthem. Christina Aguilera succumbed to the pressure last year in an infamous flub of the lyrics. Take a look, if you can bare it:

Fortunately we didn’t have the same issue this year. Kelly Clarkson’s rendition was powerful yet not over the top. The twitter response was pretty universal, she nailed it. Here it is again:

Some on twitter went as far as to say it rivaled Whitney Houston’s National Anthem performance prior to Super Bowl XXV. What do you think?

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