When you play in a sport that has a 17-week regular season, and you, as a team, "turn the corner" in week 17, it might be a little late.
Well, then, it's better late than never for the New York Giants.
Through the first two weeks of the 2007 regular season, the New York defense gave up 80 points. Better late than never, their defense regrouped, and is, in large part, the reason they are back in the Super Bowl for the first time in seven years.
Since the day he was drafted, Eli Manning was questioned on everything from his demeanor to his dedication. Better late than never, despite shaky regular season statistics, all of those questions have been squelched about him--thanks to one glorious postseason ride.
So how did this glorious ride begin? Would you believe, with a loss?
On December 22, the Patriots arrived in New Jersey and departed as the first team in NFL history with a perfect 16-win regular season.
The Patriots were playing for history that night. On the other hand, the Giants were playing with house money. They had their playoff seed wrapped up, they had nothing to gain with a win or a loss--except momentum--and it turned out that, quest for momentum is why a "Manning" might win the Super Bowl for the second conscutive year...probably not the one you thought, though.
Never have I really seen a team gain so much from a loss. Has a team ever lost their regular
season finale after playing as hard as they possibly could and saw that development as a positive?
The Giants did not concern themselves with risk of injuries in that final regular season game---they could have rested their starters. The Bucs and Cowboys did just that, and look where it got them: A first-round ticket out of the postseason, courtesy of the Giants.
A game down to the wire against the so-called greatest team in NFL history gave the Giants the confidence they needed. After all, if the Patriots are perhaps the best ever and the Giants came within a whisker of defeating them, so how tough could seriously flawed Tampa Bay and Dallas, be as opponents?
So do the Giants have a chance in the Super Bowl? I think so. After all, the closest the Patriots came to being defeated this season came at the hands of the Ravens. The same Ravens that lost nine in a row this past season. If a team that didn't win a game for more than two straight months takes you to the wire, why can't New York?
-"Z"
