Schooled in football in Baltimore during the era of the peerless Unitas, I am properly reverential towards the special attributes of the great quarterbacks. And yet, over the years, it has been defensive players that I have found especially exciting–Rick Volk and Bobby Boyd, Mike Curtis, Jack Lambert and Jack Ham, Ronnie Lott, and the incomparable Lawrence Taylor. No doubt it’s the violence; I chortled conspiratorially when LT said that he liked it when he hit a quarterback hard enough for a snot bubble to come out of the guy’s nostril. But over the last 20 years or so, the NFL has become more quarterback-centric than ever, and with all the schemes and formations, football has become a game that is more about offense than defense. Thus it was especially thrilling to a fan of the old school to see a defense win a big game. Yes, Eli played very well, and yes, it was his amazing escape and David Tyree‘s spectacular catch that will brand this victory, but it was the relentless defense that ravaged Tom Brady and collapsed his running game and held the Pats to their fewest points all year, and that won this game. Not since the 2000 Ravens has a defense done so much. Brilliant work all around!
