FanPost

It's A Team Sport

Here's what I think the 2011 Giants really have most in common with the 2007 Giants.

If you take the 22 starters (offense and defense) that started for the Cowboys on the last game of this season and lined them up next to the 22 Giants starters, I think there are only a handful of positions where the Giants clearly had the better player. And the same is true for the starters for the Packers vs. the Giants in the divisional playoff game. It wasn't unreasonable for the fans at Acme Packing Company to look at their season record and their players' stats before that game and say, "Hey, we've got this."

Except that players don't win football games. Teams do. More than any other professional sport (with the possible exception of rugby) it is the best team that has the best chance of winning on any given Sunday.

No one can predict the future. Injuries, turnovers, and the wilderness of officiating always break up predictions based on past performance, but more important is how the team reacts (or doesn't) to these uncontrollable factors. The Packers have been a good team (the Philben tradgedy may have distracted them some) - but the Giants may be a great team.

Franchises that put their hopes in collecting the best individuals (think Eagles' 'Dream Team') or that try to improve themselves by bringing in prima donnas like Terrell Owens or Santonio Holmes (who are not in any way 'team' players) are pursuing self-defeating strategies. Parcells knew this and had an impact wherever he went. (Even he couldn't keep T.O. from having a negative impact on the Cowboys, and so T.). had to go.)

It's taken me a long time to warm up to Tom Coughlin, even after the Super Bowl victory. But after all the ups and downs of this season, once again he is bringing the Giants into the playoffs with coaches and players playing for each other, sharing a common vision, and focused as a team. More so than the Falcons or the Packers. Doing it twice is not mere coincidence -- I think now that TC may be a truly great coach.

And if we can get past the 49ers (who are as tight as a team under Jim Harbaugh as we are under Coughlin), I like our chances against either the Pats or the Ravens, who are great collections of players with some amazing stats, but not nearly the teams their NFC counterparts are.

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