Fireworks exploded in my house Sunday night as Jets and Giants fans celebrated the unthinkable, a 17-14 Giants victory over the previously undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl. This wasn’t just unthinkable, it was impossible, it was never going happen, it was laughable on Saturday night, and it was laughable on Sunday morning. The idea of the Giants winning this Super Bowl had every sports analyst hard-pressed to pick against the Pats. How could you? (Random side note: Broadway Joe Namath, who picked his Jets to upset the heavily-favored Colts in Super Bowl III, picked the Giants.)

Let’s look at the pre-Sunday night Pats: 18-0, league MVP quarterback, the highest scoring offense of all time, the number four defense in the league, an introverted, mad scientist coach with three Super Bowl wins under his belt, an enigmatic star receiver in Randy Moss who, on the backend of a stellar career, was hungry for a ring.

Let’s look at the pre-Sunday night Giants: there wasn’t much to say. People doubted Eli Manning, they underestimated the Big Blue defense, and most of the folks I talked to thought head coach Tom Coughlin simply looked like a “before advertisement” for Olay moisturizer after the Giants game against the Packers in freezing Lambeau Field: his face looked like it was going to peel off and reveal a talking, coaching, yelling skull.

But it happened. I’m not a fan of either team and hope to comment without bias, but I went to sleep last night completely uncomfortable and I couldn’t figure out why. This morning, I figured it out. The result just didn’t make sense. I don’t care if you are a Giants fan, a Patriot-hater, or anything in between; the headlines that ran across major newspapers this morning and ESPN.com last night are not what you expected. Deep, deep down, even for Giants fans, they aren’t. I watched almost every Patriots game this season. I watched, mouth agape, in real astonishment as the Pats torched every other team in the league. There are good teams and there are great teams. This one was the best I’ve ever seen. You can rattle off stats and rankings, but to watch this offense work the field and the defense smother other teams was a thing of beauty. In fact, it was really a thing of Madden; something you don’t think can come true unless you are controlling the team on a video game. I loved the “screw everyone” mentality and tuned in to each game eager to see Head Coach Bill Belichick’s slight smirk when he shook the other coach’s hand.

So, what happened?

1) The Patriots crumbled. In an honestly sad fashion, the team of my lifetime and of many others’ wilted in the most important game of its season. First of all, Tom Brady choked. He didn’t even choke; that’s really too nice a word. He pissed his pants when it mattered the most. Sure, he looked cool as the other side of the blanket most of the game, but he didn’t make the throws he needed to, and that’s how you are successful in his position. Brady under-threw Moss on several deep balls, he missed a wide-open Moss on a standard out rout in the end zone, and generally seemed like a chump taking hits all game and not delivering the way he had all season.

2) The Pats defense (Ellis Hobbs) played poorly. Brady took a smack almost every Pats possession, and I could count the number Manning took on one hand. There was literally no pass rush from the Patriots. They tried blitzing, they tried stunts and nothing seemed to work. A defensive line with three guys in the Pro Bowl didn’t play to all-star level or even starting level. The slow Patriot linebackers continued to be slow and did nothing in pass coverage. The Patriots’ secondary, Hobbs, was torched by Amani Toomer, Plaxico Burress and tight end Kevin Boss. Hobbs should be cut from the Patriots’ roster tomorrow.

3) The Giants’ pass rush was phenomenal. No one, really no one, not even these Giants in the final game of the regular season, could ever get consistent pressure on Tom Brady. Sunday night Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck, and Osi Umenyiora dominated the overrated Patriots offensive line. Brady got knocked down more times than he was all season and that high-powered passing offense was completely out of sync. When Strahan came around right corner to flatten Brady late in the game, I was amazed. Someone had actually figured out the Pats.

4) The Pats played like a normal team. Anyone who watched them this season knows this isn’t what they were. They were amazing, out of this world, better than everyone. But they played like a run-of-the-mill NFL team and paid for it. Where was the run-and-gun offense, the cockiness, the going for it on fourth downs at any point during the game, the fearless bombs downfield, the methodical, bold destruction of other teams with swagger and gall? It wasn’t there. For one reason or another (I can’t think of any) the Pats abandoned their driving force in the most important game of the year. Good call.

5) To their credit (and I hate saying this because I don’t like either of them), Manning and Coughlin did their jobs. I still maintain that Coughlin looks like the dad rat from Rataouille and Manning looks like the Gerber baby, but they showed up on Sunday. Manning’s career was saved in this game. A player berated almost daily by the New York media, his whole career earned the respect of the media, his teammates and the NFL with a Super Bowl MVP performance. Seeing old bro Payton jumping around like an idiot in a skybox was painful, but Manning was legit. His performance, and maybe his career, will be defined by a play on the Giants’ game-clinching drive. It was third down on the Patriots’ 40 or so. There was 1:29 left on the clock and the Pats were up by four. Manning dropped back, and the Pats actually got a good pass rush. The pocket collapsed and a Pats defender grabbed Manning, almost dragging him to the ground. Manning wiggled free and stumbled behind the pass rush and launched a 30-yard bomb into the air just before getting nailed. The pass fell perfectly into the hands of receiver Steve Smith who cradled the pass against his helmet at the Patriots 15 yard line. The game was basically over at this point. Manning, you are a star, for now, and we won’t stop seeing that play for years.

So there it is. The Pats blew it; the G-men came up big. 19-0 becomes 18-1. I hope I can sleep tonight.