How? Why?!

I sit here...the day after one of the most devastating sports losses witnessed during my lifetime and the only thing I can think is: WHY?!

WHY did the vaunted Patriots offensive line (which is sending three of their five to the Pro Bowl) suddenly morph into a junior varsity version of themselves? Brady spent most of the game on his back...which I hear makes it hard to throw the ball.

WHY did the Patriots decide to play a completely different game than they have all year? The 18-0 Patriots were angry, ruthless, efficient...these Patriots were scared, guarded, conservative. Only at the very end of the game did they "unleash the hounds" and had success because of it. The rest of the game was spent intermittently testing an ineffective running game and throwing short dump passes.

WHY did the defense get no pressure on Eli Manning? It did not seem like many blitzes were called and when they were called, the Patriots rushers either couldn't get to Manning or, when they did, couldn't bring him down.

WHY does Asante Samuel feel like he has to try to intercept every single pass that comes anywhere near him? The Giants first touchdown doesn't happen if Samuel simply tries to bat the ball to the ground rather than holding up two hands to try for a pick. Needless to say, there's a reason he's not a receiver.

WHY is Ellis Hobbs ever single-covering anyone; let alone the other team's star receiver?

WHY did Eli Manning suddenly become Tom Brady and vice-versa?

WHY did Tom Coughlin suddenly become Bill Belichick and vice versa?

There are so many questions from this Super Bowl that will forever go unanswered; those are but a few. I will never understand, as long as I live, why the Patriots played the way they did. This was the single greatest offense that this league has ever seen and they curled up right from the beginning. For whatever reason, this team lost its swagger at the worst possible time and because of that, lost the Super Bowl as well.

Credit the Giants for the win; they were the best team on the field yesterday.