It’s always better to have a cancer in the locker room than a cancer on the field.

(report as inappropriate)

Pats 2001 combined playoff point differential: 13
Pats 2003 combined playoff point differential: 16
Pats 2004 combined playoff point differential: 34

2004 wasn’t any better than the others. The differential doesn’t matter, its getting the final W of the season that does. Otherwise the Pats somehow are lesser champs because their combined SB win differential is 9 points in 3 years? I don’t think so.

By your name, I must assume you are a Pats fan. (Pat the Patriot was a way better logo IMO, though.) Just let em enjoy the win. It was probably the second biggest upset/choke(/whatever) in professional sports only after the Yanks/Sox series. Either way, the Pats have to be the favorites going into 08, still.

Clinton WT

(report as inappropriate)

(report as inappropriate)

Nitpicker.

(report as inappropriate)

Okay Bavaro89, let’s confine my observations only to the NFC (I could name 8 better teams in the AFC). Dallas and Green Bay WERE better teams last year. Both had far superior offenses and defenses. I also argue that Tampa Bay was a better team with their lights out defense. As for the three teams that were just as good, yes, Washington emerged as a very good team despite losing a great teammate and one of the best defensive players in the league. Minnesota and Seattle were also at least as good as the Giants.

The Giants backed into the playoffs losing 2 of their last 3 to the Redskins and Cowboys and barely winning against Philly the week before. Remember the Philly kicker bouncing it off the uprights? The Giants started the season strong and then stumbled through the last half. They finished the season with only a +22 point differential (yes, I know the Redskins finished with only a +24, but they had a worse W/L record and the NE blowout skewed the results). The Giants got lucky and they found wins where they should have lost. They were NOT a great team.

So, who’s to say they won’t get lucky again? Certainly not me. But please don’t confuse them with a great or even very good team.

(report as inappropriate)

The point is that no amount of lucky breaks is gonna get a truly crappy team (Hello, Detroit!) a Superbowl ring. They have to be pretty good to begin with for lucky breaks to make a difference.

Hard to believe that this needs to be spelled out.

(report as inappropriate)

MaineMan: “The Catch” didn’t involve the Giants or the Patriots.

(report as inappropriate)

“And this is the point I want to emphasize…Eli Manning played perhaps the best year he will ever have in his career last year…and that isn’t saying much.”

Eli has improved every year in the league. I’ve taken the time to get you a link with some recipes that might come in handy this winter.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,crow,FF.html

(report as inappropriate)

“The giants were not a good team. What happened with the Vikings game? 41-17. Cowboys beat them pretty bad in week 10. It was a big fluke, the better team didn’t win for reasons we may never know.”

For reasons you may never know? Did you even watch the Super Bowl?

(report as inappropriate)

I assume you’ll include the Cowboys whom the Giants gave a competitive effort to in Big D during Week 1 and whom they beat in the 2nd Round. Now, in that game the G-men got a couple of breaks (Crayton’s dropped pass, a couple of poor exchanges from center, and a huge punt return). That said, the defense, especially the line was tremendous and beat up Romo all day.

I guess you also consider Green Bay to be a superior team. Well, the Giants kicked the shit out of the Packers in the title game (in Green Bay, BTW; in “Brett Favre” weather conditions). The game went to OT only because of a pair of missed FGs and a ridiculously FLUKE TD by Driver, in which he should have been called for offensive pass interference.

Who else was better than the Giants? The Saints who never play defense and who call trick plays on third and short? The Bears who have one of the worst QBs in the league, not to mention one of the worst receiver corps? The Vikings, who…well, see the Bears description. The Eagles are usually solid, but the Giants always match up extremely well with the Birds, even during the Eagles best seasons…You can’t possibly refer to the Redskins who got embarrassed by the Giants in week 3 and were going to miss the playoffs if not for a Hollywood-esque performance from a career backup QB.

Further, if you know much about football, then you would be aware that Phil Simms was hated in NY for the first 4-5 seasons in the league. Sound familiar? (hint Eli was hated for his first 4+ seaons). Phil had a great arm but made bad decisions and was often injured b/c he hung in the pocket too long while waiting to make the perfect pass. It wasn’t until Parcells made him a GAME MANAGER until he became a steady leader for one of the best teams of the 80s.

Finally, nobody has or will ever put Eli in the same class as Elway or Marino (or Montana) b/c those are three of the best QBs in the history of the game. Period. There’s no shame in being in a class beneath those icons. Mr. Favre is certainly NOT in that class, either.

As for Flying Elvis, usually every playoff team (or even SB winning team) has a game or two each season that makes you scratch your head. The great 49er teams in the 80s and 90s sometimes lost to inferior Lions or Falcons teams. The Cowboys during their run in the early 90s had problems with mediocre to bad Redskin and Giants teams. The recent Pats usually struggle with the Dolphins, at least once a season. It happens. That’s why it’s dumb to go back and judge a team by an irrelevant regular season contest. Judge teams based upon their playoff performances.

(report as inappropriate)

(report as inappropriate)

(report as inappropriate)

Strahan is gone. Shockey is gone. And this is the point I want to emphasize…Eli Manning played perhaps the best year he will ever have in his career last year…and that isn’t saying much. Eli will never be the game-saving QB of a Favre or Elway or Marino or even a Phil Simms. He is a game manager–period. The Giants overachieved last year, and just like Flying Elvis said, one and done.

This year, you will see Dallas and Washington again from the NFC East, but Minnesota and Green Bay will fight it out for their division with the loser taking the other wild-card spot. Sorry NY fans, but you will look more like the Chicago of two years ago after the Super Bowl than the Patriots.

(report as inappropriate)

The Pats shouldn’t have let it get that close to begin with so the catch shouldn’t be the reason to call the win a fluke.

Hopefully Kaczur will keep his Oxy’s to himself this year.

(report as inappropriate)

“GIANT WHERE A ONE YEAR WONDER! THANK S TOM!”

Better a one year wonder than an every year blunder! Any of the Giants backup QBs are better than Chicago’s starter. And who is that by the way?

(report as inappropriate)

(report as inappropriate)

Is it a fluke when your defensive line completely abuses its opponent by battering the QB and stuffing the running game? Or when your offense controls the line of scrimmage? I cannot believe that people are still reluctant to give the Giants credit for their playoff run. Are you a bitter Iggles or Cowboys fan? Or dare I ask, a Pats fan with yet another chip on your shoulder?

As for Bearable, you’re obviously bitter that your team hasn’t had a decent quarterback since the mid to late 1980s. Your team also did a nice job of REFUSING to draft a QB in this year’s draft despite one of the deepest QB pools in recent years. Oh yeah, your receivers are awful too. Good luck with the Devin Hester experiment.

(report as inappropriate)

That said, the Giants, as talented as they are, have had ongoing problems with producing a consistent, coordinated, high-level effort and with internal disruptions. While getting rid of Shockey may help the team to get past some of this, it certainly isn’t a complete solution. Also, I’m not confident that their other off-season moves have been a net positive with respect to on-field talent and potential success in 2008.

The Giants are a very good team, but in one of the two toughest divisions (currently) in the NFL. They face a slim margin for error whereby only a couple of bad breaks or bad decisions can make the difference between 10-6 and 7-9. If they end up this season with the latter record, it won’t be because they were some sort of “fluke” in 2007 or poseurs or because Coughlin is a crappy coach (he’s not) or because “Eli isn’t really that good” (he is). It’ll just be, well, football.

(report as inappropriate)

-That’s because Ford Motor Company is unveiling its all new 40mpg hybrid models in week 1!

“The Chiefs are close to signing rookie CB Brandon Flowers.”

-I didn’t know the guy from The Killers played football.

(report as inappropriate)

(report as inappropriate)

(report as inappropriate)

Is that where he goes to get his cornrows out?

“Lions President Matt Millen promises fans they’ll like what they see.”

So, he’ll be inviting them to his house to see the arrival of the moving van?

“Says Colts coach Tony Dungy of QB Peyton Manning’s injury, “If he’s truly out six weeks, it’ll be hard for him. He doesn’t like to stay inactive that long.”

Ctrl-Alt-Delete
Shutdown
Hibernate

“Says Rams rookie Chris Long of the eight-figure guarantee on his new contract, “I can’t comprehend those numbers. I can’t grasp what all those numbers really mean on a day-to-day basis.””

It means that you’re about to get a whole lot of new friends.

(report as inappropriate)

(report as inappropriate)

(report as inappropriate)

Somehow I doubt it unless what he’s showing them is his letter of resignation.

(report as inappropriate)