Is Saturday the Giants' Super Bowl?

by Ed Valentine on Dec 28, 2007 9:51 AM EST in New York Giants News

Highly respected sports blogger Dan Shanoff is taking the position that the Giants should forget about the playoffs and sell out everything to try and defeat the New England Patriots Saturday.

Here is Shanoff's reasoning.

Pats at Giants in the regular-season finale is bigger than any Giants playoff game, and the Giants should compete in it like it's their Super Bowl:

I appreciate that the Giants have to prepare for the playoffs, but does any fan really think that the Giants have a chance to win the NFC, let alone the Super Bowl? And even if they do win the NFC title, who cares? Like they wouldn't get mowed down in the Super Bowl?

Wouldn't it be even bigger for the Giants to deny the Patriots their 16-0 season than to win this year's meaningless NFC Championship?

History would certainly remember these Giants for that in a way that they wouldn't remember them for a playoff flame-out. (Want proof? The 1985 Dolphins.)

That's why the Giants should play in this game like it IS their Super Bowl; it IS their biggest game of the year. It IS bigger than any playoff game could possibly be.

Do you agree or disagree?

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I would much rather...

...get a win in Tampa and then upset our division rivals, the Cowboys. I'll be happy if they don't get anyone hurt and don't get embarrassed tomorrow night.

by drunkUncle on Dec 28, 2007 9:58 AM EST reply actions

The Cowboys

I was thinking about this today. If I were the Giants, I'd much rather face the Cowboys in the 2nd round than the Packers. I think it would be very difficult for the Giants to go up to Green Bay against that defense and against Favre and win a game. But against Dallas, it's just an NFC East game. I'd give the Giants a 50/50 shot at winning that one. You know the team, you know the players, you know the scheme, you've seen it twice this year. There's no surprises. Plus, I think the fact that they've beat you twice this season actually works in your favor. It's pretty damn tough to beat a team 3 times in a year.

Bleeding Green Nation Philadelphia Eagles Blog

by JasonB on Dec 28, 2007 7:04 PM EST up reply actions

Rockchalk and Shanoff have convinced me to modify

my position to something like potroast's. Don't play Plax and Jacobs, but otherwise play firstringers. If the Jints get blown out in the first half, play Lorenzen and other subs.
You know, with our defense, we do have a longshot at stopping the Patriots. I'd want more than the quoted odds to bet on it, though.

by george cronin on Dec 28, 2007 10:09 AM EST reply actions

Question

what was the 1985 Dolphins record? who was the 1985 Dolphins leading rusher? what was the score of the 1985 Dolphins/Bears game?

now answer this: what was the 1985 Bears record? who was the 1985 Beras leading rusher? what was the score of the 1985 Bears Super Bowl win?

most people wouldn't be able to answer any of the first three questions, but almost every avid football fan would be able to answer the last three.

regular season victories don't mean shit. playing a game to ruin another team's season is a loser mentality. if the giants were 3-12, then i'd say go wild and leave it all on the field against new england. but this is a 10-win football team that is going to the playoffs. PLAYOFF wins matter more, period.

i don't remember anything about the giants win over the 13-0 broncos in 1998, however, i DO remember every play of their collpase in the playoffs in San Fran in '02 and that they haven't won a playoff game since 2000.

by SBakerTheTouchdownMaker on Dec 28, 2007 10:57 AM EST reply actions

Playoffs

To me, the critical thing you said is that the Giants have not won a playoff game since 2000. To take a real step forward as a franchise, this team needs a playoff victory. I'm tired of watching the Giants be first-round fodder. I will stand by what I've said all week -- I care about the Buccaneers, not the Patriots.

by Ed Valentine on Dec 28, 2007 11:23 AM EST up reply actions

In Harry I trust

Harry Carson said yesterday Giants have to go all out, play to win, and rest on Sunday

If its good enough for Harry, its good enough for me

I'm in the Holiday Spirit, so here goes:

Giants 27 Patriots 24

Patriots will score with 7 minutes left in the game to take the lead 24-20. Giants will take the ball, and mount a 6:30 minute drive, culminating with a TD run by Ahmad "Not Funny Frank, Not Funny" Bradshaw.

Nobody gets hurt, nobody dies, nobody even gets slightly tired. As a matter of fact, after the game, Giants Team Doctor James Warren will announce that the win over the Patriots has miraculously healed Plaxico Burress' ankle, and at least 2 of the teams broken fibulas.

by Jim Schmiedeberg on Dec 28, 2007 11:22 AM EST reply actions

While we're talkin

85 Dolphins went 12-4

Leading rusher was Tony Nathan

Final score was 38-24

And I swear to God the only thing I had to look up was the leading rusher

How I knew that score is beyond me. I could meet someone in 10 minutes and forget their name in 15, but I remember the score of the Dolphins-Bears game at the Orange Bowl on MNF 22 years ago

by Jim Schmiedeberg on Dec 28, 2007 11:29 AM EST reply actions

<no comment>

wow. you should take on the schwab.

by SBakerTheTouchdownMaker on Dec 28, 2007 3:57 PM EST up reply actions

I'm with Harry too...

A great game against the Pats might just remind the G-men that they are better than they have shown. In fact, on all cylinders we are a force to be reckoned with by any team, including the best of the AFC.

Nothing good can come from laying down and letting anybody walk over us! As the great George Patton said,

"Nobody ever defended anything successfully, there is only attack and attack and attack some more."

I say we give em hell! No retreat! No surrender!

by giant fan since 57 on Dec 28, 2007 1:33 PM EST reply actions

Hey Shanoff...

Remember the 2003 Yanks/Sox ALCS? Seven games, a great series, one for the ages.

So which of those teams won the Series? What's that you say? The Marlins?

The point is that come playoff time, there are no moral victories. You win or you don't. Making the postseason is never a given, so when you do, you go all out to run the table. Period. Forget the point spread and PLAY.

Trade the unlikely prospect of an upset in a meaningless game for a good shot at a playoff win the following week? No way. Don't believe the hype.

by django48 on Dec 28, 2007 3:58 PM EST reply actions

Hey Strokeoff...

Come on....I don't see any reason the Giants won't be picking pieces of Garcia out of their teeth with a toothpick. Dallas.....well who is to say Romo's palms will sweat a few ball drops like last year. The only Giants superbowl is at the end of the playoffs.It's the Frickin NFC for godsake...My grandmother could show up and get HOT.though hot and grandmother in the same sentence isn't right, you know what i mean.

by johnd134 on Dec 28, 2007 4:42 PM EST reply actions

Yeah, we know

Maybe you should have picked a better analogy, although we get your point.

by Ed Valentine on Dec 28, 2007 4:59 PM EST up reply actions

um ....sorry

just not feelin' the Apathy or Futility.

by johnd134 on Dec 28, 2007 5:41 PM EST up reply actions

I seriously doubt...

...that Coach Tom will "sell out" for the win. In other words, if it's 28-7 Pats midway through the 3rd quarter - a sizable deficit, but one that could be overcome - Burress, Osi, Manning, Jacobs, et al are coming off the field.

But if it's a close game, I think they'll all play and do their best. I just disagree with the idea that this game is somehow more important than a playoff game. It's just not. Going back to an earlier post, the Pats have won 3 Supes since the last time the Giants WON A SINGLE PLAYOFF GAME. It's much more important for our "franchise QB" to get a playoff win under his belt than it is to win on Saturday.

Let's get the Jeff Garcia monkey off our back (perhaps another bad analogy) instead! He's hosed us twice in the playoffs, and needs to be beaten to a pulp next week.

by drunkUncle on Dec 28, 2007 5:45 PM EST reply actions

Garcia Monkey

Yes, I would like to see the Giants beat the Bucs -- and see Garcia get knocked senseless.

by Ed Valentine on Dec 28, 2007 8:15 PM EST up reply actions

Go figure

I was just on my way here to say basically the same thing as Shanoff's blog posting. I don't realistically think the Giants are going to Super Bowl this year, let alone winning it. Beating a 15-0 team the last week of the regular season is memorable, regardless of what comes next. Going 10-6, winning the wild card game, and then losing in the next round is forgettable, regardless of what came before.

by Josh @ Big Blue View on Dec 28, 2007 8:25 PM EST reply actions

this is my last post on this, i promise

these comments just continue to baffle me.

what people are forgetting is the fact that even if the giants beat the patriots tomorrow, if they lose the next week to tampa bay, that win means nothing. zilch. nada. who gives a shit if the giants are remembered in 20 years for being the one team to beat the 15-0 patriots on the last day of the regular season. WHO CARES? are they going to hang a banner or raise a flag at giants stadium that says "2007: Prevented Patriots from Perfect Season?" of course not. when people talk about Dan Marino nobody says, "Oh well, Dan-O never won a Super Bowl, but hey, he did prevent the Bears from going 16-0 in 1985" nobody cares.

i am just completely shocked from what i'm hearing from some giants fans that are hinging the whole season on this game. it makes zero sense to me.

i mean really, which is a better season? 10-6 and the first playoff win in EIGHT seasons or 11-5, with a win over the 15-0 patriots coupled with a fourth consecutive first round loss?

any giants fan that thinks the latter is an idiot. do i want the giants to win tomorrow? yes. but would i take a win tomorrow if it meant a loss to tampa bay next week? absolutely not, and any real giants fan would agree with that.

i wish they were just playing the niners or somebody tomorrow so we could focus on what's really important right now: the playoffs.

by SBakerTheTouchdownMaker on Dec 28, 2007 10:16 PM EST up reply actions

well, but

Are they going to hang a banner that says "2007: won a wild card game and then lost in the divisional round of the playoffs"? That also seems pretty unlikely. Yeah, as you point out, people remember Marino more for never winning a Super Bowl than for keeping the Bears for going 16-0 in 1985. But do people remember how many earlier-round playoff games he won before losing? I sure don't.

I'm sorry, but if you're the Houston Texans and you've never even been to the playoffs before, winning a Wild Card game is an achievement you should be proud of. If you're the Giants, winning the Wild Card game shouldn't be any sort of a benchmark for success.

Look, obviously the Super Bowl is the ultimate goal, but let's be realistic. These flawed Giants aren't winning three straight playoff games on the road and then the Super Bowl against New England or Indianapolis or whoever at a neutral site.

And give me a break with the insinuation that I'm not a "real Giants fan" because I disagree.

by Josh @ Big Blue View on Dec 29, 2007 10:06 AM EST up reply actions

all good points

but which is a bigger step towards 2008, winning a meaningless regular season game over a 15-0 team and then losing a fourth straight first round game? or going 10-6 and advancing to the Conference semifinals, with a playoff win for the first time since 2000 and that first round loss monkey off your back?

and i stick to my point that if you would rather spoil a team's perfect season than capture PLAYOFF win for the first time in seven years, then you don't know what you're talking about. if that's how you feel, you should go root for the jets. "spoiling" other team's seasons is all they have to shoot for.

by SBakerTheTouchdownMaker on Dec 29, 2007 4:50 PM EST up reply actions

You talk as if it's "either/or"

You know the Giants could actually win both games? To be honest, the argument that going all out tonight will actually help your chances next week makes as much sense as resting everyone. It's not like resting guys against the Pats guarantees a win on the road against the Bucs. You could say that it would hurt their chances.

Sometimes teams that rested guys come out flat in the playoffs(see Colts a few years ago). Sometimes they come out sharper... point is that there's no guarantees.

Bleeding Green Nation Philadelphia Eagles Blog

by JasonB on Dec 29, 2007 6:04 PM EST up reply actions

Absolutely Not

I would definitely enjoy watching the Giants ruin the Patriots perfect season and finish off 11-5 but I'd much rather see them beat the Bucaneers and advance to the second round.

Frank Brigano

by Frank Brigano on Dec 29, 2007 3:19 AM EST reply actions

The Patriots are 15-0

which means 15 OTHER teams lost to them, WHEN IT COUNTED a whole hell of a lot more. This game means nothing for the Giants, and just because 15 other teams couldn't beat them - this responsibility rests NOT on our shoulders. If it's such a big deal to beat the Patriots, then why didn't any other team before us?

This is not our Super Bowl, and it is NOT something we need to plan for. Look towards the Bucs.

by GAgiantfan on Dec 29, 2007 2:30 PM EST reply actions

I'm confused

Can someone explain the logic of assuming the Giants can't win any meaningless playoff games like the NFC Championship or the Superbowl, yet thinking they have a chance v. the Pats? It seems like you're cherry-picking your assumptions when failure in both instances is exceedingly likely.

The Giants should rest injured guys and play everone else and try to win. But they have to prioritize the playoff game. If you believe they can somehow beat this Patriot team how can you be so pessemistic about their chances at beating Dallas in the 2nd round (which would be just as sweet by the way - stick it right in Romo's goofy mug!)?

by Nick T @ Big Blue View on Dec 29, 2007 6:35 PM EST reply actions