it rained like hell today and there was nothing interesting on TV, so i took the opportunity to watch the super bowl again.  it gets better every time i watch it.  i'm still confused what the safeties were doing on fitzgerald's long touchdown.  i still can't believe we won with the way our O-line was manhandled.  i'm still thankful the cardinals didn't go no-huddle for the first 50 minutes.  and i still can't believe 7 made that throw to santonio.

for me, it's the greatest throw in super bowl history, and it isn't even close.  there are only two throws that can compete with it --  montana's slant to john taylor with :34 seconds to play to beat the bungles in '89 and eli manning's slant-fade to plaxico with :35 left to beat the pats in '08.  other throws may have been more artful (bradshaw's longballs in supes XIII and XIV) or more dramatic (the david tyree catch) but these were the only three to directly decide the outcome of the game.  so only they can be considered.

here's why ben's is the best: when you look at it, you see, amazingly, that santonio is his third read.  both montana and manning threw to their primary receivers.  montana holds the safety with his eyes for a count but a slant on the goal-line is a pre-snap read; he knows he's going to taylor the whole time.  ditto the slant-fade to burress.  eli makes a nice pump fake and the ball's thrown with nice touch.  but that play is called for burress in the huddle, and plax shakes ellis hobbes out of his shoes so bad a high school kid could have gotten him the ball.  ben's throw to santonio is not only the most brilliant of the three (fitting the ball into that spot was like flipping a quarter into a shot glass from twenty feet), it's the most professional.  his eyes go inside first to hines, then to moore in the flat, and finally, after sliding in the pocket and buying a final second, to santonio in the back corner.  the poise he shows is brilliant.  it's art.  it's the greatest throw in super bowl history.

anyway, if you find yourself with nothing to do one day, watch the game again.  watch ben on the final drive, and specifically on that final throw.  he's rare, our QB.  it's a pleasure to get to root for him.