Another ‘dominant’ TV rating for Super Bowl

Bolstered by another down-to-the-wire finish between the Giants and Patriots, not to mention Madonna’s halftime drawing power, Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVI broadcast on NBC broke last year’s record to become the most-watched program in U.S. television history.

The game was seen by an average audience of 111.3 million viewers, up from 111 million for last year’s Packers-Steelers game on Fox.

NBC recorded a 47.0 Nielsen rating, meaning an average of 47 percent of U.S. TV households were tuned in to the game, and a 71 share, meaning 71 percent of TVs in use at any one time Sunday night were tuned in to the Giants and Patriots. That’s the highest Nielsen rating for a Super Bowl since 48.3/70 for Super Bowl XX in 1983 and was up from 46.0/69 for last year’s game.

New York and New England bolstered the audience with another tight finish in the Giants’ 21-17 victory, and Madonna gave NBC a record boost with her halftime show featuring the singer M.I.A.’s one-fingered salute to the crowd in Indianapolis. The halftime was seen by 114 million viewers, nearly 4 million more than last year’s show featuring the Black Eyed Peas, with a 47.4 Nielsen household rating.

Read more from Chron.com

2.7.12

Biggest play of Super Bowl XLVI belongs to unlikely hero Blackburn

INDIANAPOLIS — The story behind Chase Blackburn is ridiculous, the kind of thing that would make your head explode if we got into it just yet, so let’s leave that for later and get into something else ridiculous, something else that could make your head explode. Let’s get into the play that Chase Blackburn made that salvaged Super Bowl XLVI for the New York Giants, kept them in it, gave them the chance to win it late — as of course they did, Eli Manning driving the team 88 yards in the final minutes for the winning touchdown in a 21-17 victory.

The touchdown drive was something else. Eli Manning was sensational, Mario Manningham backed up his abrasively confident talk early in the week by catching three passes on the drive, Hakeem Nicks caught two more, andAhmad Bradshaw grinded out the final seven yards, plowing the final six into the end zone for the winning points.

All good stuff.

But not head-explosion stuff. Not Chase Blackburn stuff.

Read more from CBSSports.com

2.6.12

Amid Super Bowl’s Noise, Quiet Leadership Prevails

Unlike a small number of boisterous Giants, Eli Manning rode the high road to championship heaven, officially making it a habit of besting Tom Brady and the Patriots in theSuper Bowl. No brag, just fact.

Manning set a Super Bowl record by completing his first nine passes. Brady bettered him with a record 16 straight. But Manning had the ball late in the fourth quarter and that, Brady knew, was going to be trouble.

“Eli’s had a great season,” Brady would say, softly, disconsolately, referring to the seven fourth-quarter comebacks engineered by Manning, including the biggest of all Sunday night at Lucas Oil Stadium. “He made some great plays in the fourth quarter.”

Read more from NYTimes.com

2.6.12

Super Bowl XLVI: Eli Manning? Better than Peyton? Only time will tell

INDIANAPOLIS — People can’t be serious.

People are talking like Eli Manning’s legacy can surpass that of big brother Peyton Manning.

Seriously?

It seemed like for the past decade people were talking about whether Peyton Manning was better than Joe Montana or John Elway or Johnny Unitas. Since the 2007 season, when the New England Patriots were 18-0 going into their Super Bowl against Eli’s New York Giants, the fervent debate became Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning.

And now, the talk leading into this Super Bowl XLVI rematch of Brady’s Patriots and Eli’s Giants is if Eli beats Brady again Sunday in Peyton’s home stadium, Eli’s legacy will have catapulted beyond his great older brother.

Read more:Super Bowl XLVI: Eli Manning? Better than Peyton? Only time will tell – The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_19865057#ixzz1l8F3G9Pk
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2.1.12

Giants’ QB Eli Manning could be in store for a record day against Patriots

INDIANAPOLIS — Eli Manning will pick up his second Super Bowl trophy on Sunday night against the defensively challenged Patriots. While he’s at it, he could make a place for himself in the Super Bowl record book for most passing yards.

The Giants’ strength is throwing the ball. The Patriots’ weakness comes anytime the ball is put in the air.

Manning is going to torch the Patriots secondary. New England gave up the second-most passing yards in NFL history this season, and Manning threw for nearly 5,000 yards. The Patriots’ pass defense is made for the Giants’ pass offense.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/giants-qb-eli-manning-store-a-record-day-patriots-article-1.1014993#ixzz1l8Dqqo9h

2.1.12

Super Bowl XLVI: New England Patriots By the Numbers: Bill Belichick Once Again Looks to Put Stamp on History

New England Patriots head coachBill Belichick finds himself, once again, breathing a lot of rare air these days. Only this time, there’s an even sweeter smell in the atmosphere as his Patriots find themselves in the biggest game of the year.

Read more from NationalFootballAuthority.com

1.30.12

Where are they now: David Tyree

INDIANAPOLIS – David Tyree does not want his life defined by one hellacious catch — even if that dramatic snag four years ago is one of the most memorable freeze-frame moments in Super Bowl history.

Tyree never caught another pass.

It mattered little to him that by 2008, at only 28, his NFLcareer effectively was complete. His real work was merely beginning.

“As great as that catch was — as great as that moment was — I knew I wasn’t going to have a moment that eclipsed that,” Tyree said. “It gave me a sense of peace as far as moving on.”

Tyree’s ridiculous third-down catch in the final minutes of Super Bowl XLII fueled the New York Giants‘ winning touchdown drive in a 17-14 victory against the New England Patriots.

Read more from USAToday.com

1.30.12

Rob Gronkowski arrives at Super Bowl in walking boot as status for game still uncertain

INDIANAPOLIS — The first glimpses of Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski here included what looked to be a walking boot — the same type of support apparatus he was wearing last week ­— underneath the left leg of his pinstripe slacks.

When the Patriots scattered from their team bus around 4:30, the mammoth tight end was able to put pressure on the area — injured during the third quarter of last Sunday’s AFC Championship Game victory over the Ravens — as he walked away.

Read more from StarLedger.com

1.30.12

Super Bowl rematch between New England Patriots and New York Giants is not about revenge

By now, their faces would have been on money.

By now, middle schools would have been named after them, and inside, children would spend mornings writing sonnets about their legacy. By now, they would be aging legends, gathering on the sideline of other very good teams that did not measure up to them.

By now, the 2007 New England Patriots were supposed to have been immortal.

By now, they were supposed to have been perfect.

As it is, they were just another team in a nation that doesn’t bother to remember runnersup. If the conversation is about the best team that didn’t win a Super Bowl, well, the Patriots are the trivia for you. Otherwise, the legacy that could have been has faded away with their imperfection.

Read more from TampaBay.com

1.30.12

Burwell: Super Bowl coaches are the stars

Another Super Bowl week is upon us, and it is the natural sporting instinct of most red-blooded American football fans to immediately assume that this week is going to be a six-day lovefest for the GQ quarterback (Tom Brady) and the DNA quarterback (Eli Manning). Life in the NFL is all about the big name QB who can deliver you to this Promised Land of corporate excess, over-the-top hype and incredible exposure known as the Super Bowl.

We talk all the time about how you can’t get to the Super Bowl without a great passer, and Super Bowl XLVI is a shining example of that. But as the AFC champion New England Patriots and NFC champion New York Giants arrive in Indianapolis, this is one of those rare times when Brady and Manning should share top billing for Super Bowl week with their very successful bosses.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bryan-burwell/burwell-super-bowl-coaches-are-stars-this-year/article_420cafeb-b47b-50e6-b8aa-4b138e55256d.html#ixzz1kwUdZbxM

1.30.12