It was February 3, 2008. Super Bowl XLII, in which the New England Patriots were supposed to complete the second undefeated season in pro football history. Instead, the underdog New York Giants put Tom Brady in a special section of hell with pass-rush concepts that had their defensive linemen moving around gap to gap, and often standing up in NASCAR fronts for which the Patriots seemed to have no answers. Brady was sacked five times, and hit nine more times, completing 29 of 48 passes for 266 yards, one touchdown, and a passer rating of 82.5 in a 17-14 Giants win.
Not what anybody expected from a quarterback — and an offense — that had set the NFL ablaze all season long, but Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo had the perfect plan for Brady and the Patriots, and that bore out. Spagnuolo threw the entire buffet at Brady with advanced blitzes, moving linemen, and NASCAR fronts in which as many as all four defensive linemen were standing up pre-snap.
