It’s not like the Giants haven’t faced adversity before, they were left for dead in the playoffs last year. A one-and-done wildcard team in the post-season that barely made it in, and would exit once they faced a good team. Eli Manning was considered a bust, and Tom Coughlin was almost ridden out of town.
They went on the win the Super Bowl, in one of the biggest upsets in sports history.
Then they enter the 2008 regular season, a season people said wouldn’t be as good as the one before it. They loose Michael Strahan to retirement, and Osi Umenyiora lost an entire season to a knee injury. Mathias Kiwanuka, who was just getting used to linebacker, had to put his hand back in the dirt and play defensive end.
How’s that 12-4 record looking now?
Not as good as that 11-1 start.
Before the end of the season, it seemed nothing could derail the city’s chances of having another victory parade seemed to get smaller and smaller.
Plaxico tried to re-enact the O.K. Corral by himself. Eli seemingly forgot how to throw to guys in his own uniform, and Brandon Jacobs, the YouTube highlight waiting to happen hurt his knee.
Then they played the Eagles on December 7th. Boy that was fun huh? Getting beat 20-14, with half those points coming in the closing seconds, like Oscar De La Hoya landing a jab right before Mani floored him again.
Since then the Eagles have taken on all comers and dismantled them.
Their playoffs really started the last game of the season, with a do-or-die game against the Cowboys, they answered the call, scoring 44 points and holding the Tony Romo show to just six points.
They went into Minnesota and stopped the best running back in the game, Adrian Peterson, on way to a 12-point win.
McNabb cleaned up his act after being benched. Andy Reid actually started using running backs to run the ball.
Outside of the Baltimore Ravens, I don’t know of a team most people would rather not play.
Their defense is on fire. Brian Dawkins is playing like the Lombardi trophy holds the cure for some poison coursing through his veins. McNabb has his “I can dance like Michael Jackson because I’m just that cool” swagger back. Deshawn Jackson is as fast as it gets, and Brain Westbrook makes linebackers look like 60 year olds on a morning jog.
The Giants have the record, the ring, even a little bit of their old edge, they have a week off to heal and prepare, they have a pre-existing knowledge of the Eagles that few teams can boast.
But the Eagles still have the upper hand.
