Some early takeaways from the Super Bowl, where the Giants lead 9-3 early in the second quarter:
1. Rob Gronkowski isn’t exactly looking like his normal self. He’s blocking just fine but not playing with his usual explosion.
2. The Patriots are making the types of mental errors that they usually watch other teams make. Tom Brady’s intentional grounding penalty cost the team 2 points. Their 12 men on the field penalty cost the team seven points.
A few Patriots coaches switched headsets after their defensive series where they gave up a touchdown. That could have partially led to the confusion which led to the 12-men penalty.
3. New England is changing things up quite a bit. Tracy White started at linebacker. Julian Edelman hasn’t played on defense. They gave different looks out of their dime package. They need to settle down because they aren’t substituting well.
Jerod Mayo had a great chance to make a play on Victor Cruz’s touchdown but he whiffed. The whole Patriots defense are not playing composed football.
4. The Patriots are winning the battle up front against the Giants guards, but Eli Manning has made all the right decisions getting rid of the ball.
5. New England has won a lot of games coming from behind this year. They’ll need to do it again.
6. Giants tight end Travis Beckum couldn’t put any pressure on his leg on his way off the field after suffering an injury. It didn’t look good.
UPDATE 7:21 p.m. ET: Beckum has a torn ACL. He’s their backup tight end but plays a lot for them.
