Why the New York Giants Won't "Pull a Dallas"

On the surface, it would seem that the divisional round playoff game between the G-men and Philly is a familiar story played out just last season, when the Giants played the Cowboys. 

Dallas was the No. 1 seed in the NFC then, just like the Giants are now, and the Giants were riding the momentum they acquired late in the season and into the playoffs as the Eagles are now. 

But in truth, the similarities end there. The Giants owners aren't punching their team's ticket to the championship game like Jerry Jones did (literally). 

Unlike the 'Boys from a year ago, this season's No. 1 seed is made up of men.  They are actual champions, not paper ones. They will not crumble around Eli Manning the way Big D did around Romo. 

They have rid themselves of their dysfunctional star receiver, whereas Dallas remains  dependent on T.O. 

The Cowboys overlooked the Giants because they demolished them in their two regular season games last year, but the Giants couldn't have had a tougher time contending with the Eagles.

And the final reason why this year's divisional round will be different than last year's is that the Giants have an x-factor: Eli. I didn't realize it at the time, because of my nerves, but if you look at the tape of him jogging out for the first series of the game winning drive in the Super Bowl, you know what you see? Confidence. It's oozing from him. 

He did something in the Super Bowl that Montana would have been proud of.  And as I was watching that fateful drive unfold before my very eyes, I had a very strange sensation.

I felt nervous because I didn't know how things would play out, and yet at the same time I felt as if I were watching the first step in what would turn out to be a legendary  career.  I could sense what was happening but was also too worried that by acknowledging it I would somehow jinx it. 

Imagine that you were a 49er fan back in the day, and knew what Joe Montana was going to turn out to be from the first time he took the field. You could sit back, relax, and watch history in the making as it all unfolded before your very eyes.  That is how I feel about Eli. 

He possesses that ethereal quality that all the great ones seem to have.  Ernie Accorsi called it "magic." Think about how poorly and inconsistently he played the first couple years of his career, and yet he always seemed to be able to rally his team late in games. He was always able to bounce back.

And that was him playing with half a deck. He was Batman without his utility belt.  It is only now that his game has truly developed to where it needed to be. And it is now that the true Eli saga will unfold.      

So, with that said, if Donovan McNabb thinks history will repeat itself, and he's going to be doing that idiotic, giddy routine of his at the end of this weekend's game (someone should tell him how ridiculous he looks), he should think twice. There's something Big, Bad, and Blue waiting to wipe that stupid smile off his face.