Super Bowl 2012 Highlights: Lack of Big Plays the Product of Familiarity

In the NFL, familiarity doesn't only breed contempt. It also gives rise to some damn good football.

That much was clear during Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, when the New York Giants prevailed over the New England Patriots once again, 21-17.

But, as solid a game as it was overall, this year's Super Bowl wasn't exactly chock-full of memorable plays or stunning moments of gridiron brilliance.

Both teams logged two touchdowns during the game, but none of those scores came by way of spectacular efforts, at least not directly. Mario Manningham deserves major props for pulling in the catch of the game on the Giants' winning drive, but was it more spectacular than the one David Tyree hauled in against his helmet four years ago?

Chase Blackburn's fourth-quarter interception on a Tom Brady pass to Rob Gronkowski qualifies as a "big" play, if only because it was the only turnover of the game and appeared to be a mistake entirely uncharacteristic of Brady, especially given the time and situation.

But the Pats weren't exactly threatening to score at that point, as the pass came from their own 43-yard line.

And the Giants didn't manage anything more than a punt out of the ensuing drive.

And there was still more than 14 minutes remaining in the game when the ball left Brady's hand.

If anything, the majority of the game's most memorable moments came on mistakes by the Pats—the Blackburn pick, the Brady safety to open to the scoring, the dropped passes by Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez—rather than on positive plays for either team.

That's not to say that Super Bowl XLVI was a bad game. If anything, it was a terrific game, one that was only scantly interrupted by penalties, was close throughout and came down to the final minutes, even the final play.

Though, truth be told, it wasn't the most exciting affair, either. The teams combined for three field goals and seven punts, with scant action of note for the majority of the game.

The culprit? Again, familiarity.

Aside from Super Bowl XLII, in which a number of the principles from Sunday's game played, the Giants and the Pats met in Week 9 of the 2011 regular season. New York pulled out a four-point victory on a crucial late drive led by Eli Manning in a game that started slow (scoreless at halftime) and ended in a flurry of activity.

Sound familiar?

Throw in a full two weeks for Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick to prepare their teams for one another, and this year's Super Bowl was bound to be a close, well-played near-stalemate.

Still makes for a good football game, if not the most thrilling fodder for a massive audience hoping to be entertained by fireworks and theatrics.

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