2007: The Year of the Upset

David Williams

Senior Analyst Written on February 03, 2008

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Eli Manning led his New York Giants to a surprise 17-14 win over the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII

Eli Manning is a Super Bowl MVP.

Let me take a moment to let that all sink in…

Eli Manning—the same “little brother of Peyton,” the same guy who led the league in interceptions with 20 in the regular season, the same guy who was called out by his own teammate for his lack of leadership ability, the same guy whose best accomplishment of last season was posing for a candid drunk photo with some girl—is the Super Bowl MVP.

A year ago, let alone a few weeks ago, there was no one on the planet who could’ve foreseen Eli leading the Giants to a Super Bowl win.

The Giants had to come back from a 14-0 deficit to the Buffalo Bills just to make it to the playoffs. And once they got there, all the Giants had to do was beat the Buccaneers in Tampa, beat the Cowboys in Dallas, and beat the Packers on the frozen tundra in Green Bay just to make it to the Super Bowl.

Defying all odds, the Giants won these games against the three best teams in the NFC and somehow managed to dismantle the perfect New England Patriots to win Super Bowl XLII in one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets of all time.

A movie director couldn’t script the story any better:

The Giants lose one of their best players of all time to retirement. They start out 0-2, their starting running back gets hurt, and they barely make the playoffs.

But then they come together at the right time to win the Super Bowl.

The Giants’ victory signifies the unofficial culmination of the 2007 sports season.

Looking back on everything that transpired, I must say that as a sports fan I feel like I have now seen everything. Everything we expected to happen didn’t. Players who couldn’t perform in the clutch won championships. Powerhouses fell.

2007 was the year that the sports world turned upside town. Let’s take a look at the major storylines which transpired during a year that the sports world will never forget.

January 1, 2007

The heavily-favored Oklahoma Sooners are shocked by the undefeated Boise State Broncos. In what is being called one of the greatest games ever, Boise State wins on a dramatic two-point conversion in overtime by running the Statue of Liberty with star running back Ian Johnson. To top off an incredible 43-42 upset, Johnson then proposes to his longtime girlfriend. You couldn’t script it better than that.

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written on February 03, 2008 Sports