Giant Contribution

Last night the New York Giants won their second Super Bowl in 4 years and did it by, again, beating the New England Patriots.  It was an exciting game that ended a very exciting season for all fans but especially Giants' fans.  Looking back at the season it is easy to say that Eli Manning stepped into the role or leader and commander of the offense so well as to be named the MVP of the team, however, it is the contributions made by another player that I feel lead to the Giants appearance in the post season and ultimately the Super Bowl.

Chase Blackburn had been a New York Giant backup linebacker and special teams star for several years.  Blackburn was released before the start of the season this year.  Why?  I have no idea, but he was and the Giants went through a large part of the season without him.  After suffering a massive number of injuries on defense and experimenting with different combinations of players to try and find a way to improve a squad that was ranking near the bottom of the league in defense, the Giants needed to look towards an old friend.

Blackburn was asked back to the team in the first week of December to be the starting middle linebacker.  He made his presence felt in his first game back by racking up 7 tackles and intercepting a pass from Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers.  With Chase back on the field the Giants went 7-2 and the their ability to stop the run was greatly improved.  He was always around the ball and the energy he brought to the defensive side of the ball appeared to be contagious.

In the post season Blackburn was steady in his play and critical in the Giants victories against the Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers.  Both teams were at the top of the league in rushing offense and, though the 49ers ran for 150 yards, both teams were kept in check and weren't allowed to dominate the games with their ability to rush the ball.  Blackburn's 16 tackles in those 2 games were a big part of helping the Giants get the opposing team off the field without scoring a lot of points.

In the Super Bowl, Blackburn was exposed in the passing game against the Patriots tight ends, but he managed to have a big impact in the game.  On a 1st down play in the second half, Tom Brady was scrambling and spotted Rob Grankowski deep down the field.  Blackburn was in coverage on Grankowski and allowed the tight end to slip behind him.  Brady threw the ball at Grankowski, but left the ball just a little short.  Blackburn was able to recover from his earlier mistake and locate the ball in the air and come down with an impressive interception.  The Giants would end up scoring points on the possession gained from take away.

While Manning had the best year of his career and was no doubt the teams MVP.  Chase Blackburn's contribution during his shortened season where equally as significant and his presence was definitely felt on the defensive side of the ball.  From the time he was injected into the lineup the defense performed better and appeared to have found the leadership outside the defensive line that it was looking for most of the season.  Eli was the MVP, but I think Chase was the catalyst.