Maybe I am still in a daze.
What I am seeing really is not taking place is it?
It should be just a matter of time before I wake up and find out that this is nothing more than an extended dream that will end the second I open my eyes.
In the meantime, I will keep the eyes closed and take it all in.
At 8-1 right now, the world champion New York Giants are still on a roll that started at the beginning of this calendar year. They have taken down the toughest foes that the National Football League has had to offer. They have stared their opponents down and have beaten them. Observers may have thought last season’s playoff run was a fluke. It is being proven that it was anything but.
Anyone under the impression that they were simply going to take their championship last season and go home is clearly mistaken. Your only chance of winning it is by stealing it like a burglar in the middle of the night, or hitting them over the head with a lead pipe so hard that they are unconscious and do not get up.
Every time I watch this team now, I am amazed.
You know, it was not to long ago when we would mutter and complain about their ineptitude and lack of play making. They would break our hearts in the most gut wrenching of fashions. The “one eye open, one eye closed” theory certainly applied to this team.
No lead was ever safe. Disaster was always one play away.
To none of our surprise, the worst usually happened.
I guess you can say it started in Dallas when for the final 12 minutes, we all held on for dear life, as they were able to destroy the Cowboys season. When R.W McQuarters picked off Tony Romo’s pass, we all let out a sense of disbelief that they actually came through despite all odds.
When they won the Super Bowl, it was the ultimate. I doubt seriously that we will see another defensive performance like the one we did that night. But this time, it was Eli Manning, who 95% were looking to ship out at this exact same time last year, drove the Giants to the winning touchdown. In all of that was the unbelievable catch by David Tyree.
I remember old CBS and FOX broadcaster Pat Summerall say the following in the 12 years following another great “Catch”, this one by Dwight Clark of the San Francisco 49ers that leaped up in the back of the end zone to catch the game winning pass to beat the Cowboys in 1981 and began their decade long dynasty.
“Some might say it was only a catch. But pro football hasn’t been the same since.”
Pat Summerall
The same can be said right now for the Giants. Since that night, nothing has been the same. Here it is, they sit atop the NFC and are favorites to make a return trip to the Super Bowl. If they are somehow that lucky to get back and perhaps win it, history is something that awaits them.
Who could have predicted this?
Before the season, I forecasted the Giants finishing with the same 10-6 record that they had last year, but using the caveat that they were a better team, but due to a tough schedule, would not have their improvements reflected in the record.
Did I pick them to go the Super Bowl?
No.
I was content with the incredible championship. Publicly, I had no problem saying that the team had at nice three to five year grace period before I would start complaining again. It was more than fair.
Instead, I have given this incredible gift as an encore.
It is to be reminded that the trophy is not given out after nine games. Plenty of football is left to play. Yet, one can’t take a moment to at least envision this possibility.
Two methods of thinking about the Giants season going in the way I looked at it. They could either become the 2002 New England Patriots, whose overachieving team that won the Super Bowl played back to their talent level and got old at the same time.
The other comparison was the 1998 Denver Broncos. That team had a similar road to a championship as the Giants (capped by their remarkable Super Bowl upset of the Green Bay Packers), came back the next season, and was one of the NFL’s greatest teams. Starting out 13-0, they dominated the league and won back-to-back titles.
Right now, they are playing like the 1998 Broncos. No one knows where this will all lead. As it stands, watching these guys every week provides more and more enjoyment.
It is a team any fan can watch and appreciate. There is no hype or style, just pure substance. It is a dedication to a gritty work ethic and never being satisfied with just being good.
Surely, talent has something else to do with it, and on this team, they come at you in waves. As you view, one cannot help but marvel at the incredible collection of players on this team. From the quarterback to the “Three Headed Monster” of running backs. The plethora of receivers to choose from. And all of it being able to function behind an offensive line that’s the best in the business.
You may have thought that losing Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora would have severely depleted the pass rush on this team, not when you have others that stepped up and raised their level of play. From bookends Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka to the veteran savvy of “Big” Fred Robbins and young star Barry Cofield.
The linebackers will not remind you of the 1986 Giants, but they are a solid group. Backing them up is a youthful strong athletic secondary that has grown with age and experience.
When all that is done, having reliable kickers and punters to boot field goals and pin opponents deep in their own territory provide more weapons.
It is the ultimate “team”. Maybe they all will not make entry into Canton, but it doesn’t matter to them. They are a group that focuses on one thing only.
Winning.
And they have done a lot of that in the last 11 months. Now, when I watch them, I do not wait for the worst. In many ways, I expect them to rise up and slam the door shut on the opponent. It never used to be that way.
When they have the ball, trailing, there is now an expectation that they will be resourceful enough to find a way to scratch, claw, and eventually find success. Whether it be Jacobs pushing forward for an extra three yards; Steve Smith making a big first down catch or the offensive line giving Manning enough time to survey the field and connect on a big pass play.
The interesting thing about all of this is that we are all very humble about it. We know where we came from. All of the tumultuous times that we experienced with the Giants over the years where excessive penalties and the inability to stop another teams offense was the order of the day.
Now, this is no longer the case.
I still wonder where this will all lead. While it’s nice to look ahead to future possibilities, I check myself instantly when I remind myself of the 1989 playoff game the Giants had against the Los Angeles Rams.
Former coach Bill Parcells always said that team was better than the team that won the Super Bowl the next season. Yet, in a one game scenario, a wacky set of circumstances played out in Giants Stadium that Sunday afternoon. Flipper Anderson streaked past the defense for a touchdown and a trip to San Francisco for the NFC Championship Game.
As easy as success can happen, it can all be taken away in an instant.
This is why I am cherishing every moment of this team and this season.
Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
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