Quit Counting Out The New York Giants

17-14. The final score of Super Bowl 42. The New York Giants defeated the "unbeatable" New England Patriots. With that win the Giants became the best team of the 2007-2008 season. Despite that win, nobody believes that the Giants had a good team last year and this year. The Giants did have a lot of momentum which carried them through the playoffs, but momentum wasn't what won them the Super Bowl. What won them the Super Bowl was that they won the battles in the trenches. Their offensive and defensive lines are both near or at the top in the NFL. Now, the Giants have started 2-0 this year, most recently demolishing the St. Louis Rams, yet no one seems to talk about how good the Giants are. All anyone wants to talk about is the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles. 

The Cowboys win over the Eagles was an extremely exciting game and it showcased two high-powered offenses swinging back and forth until the Cowboys finally won the game by stopping Donovan McNabb. Despite how great both of the offenses were, the defenses were equally atrocious. The Cowboys gave up an average of 5.3 yards per offensive play. They could not stop a receiving group missing its two best players, Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown even though they contained Brian Westbrook out of the game. He was not a large factor in the game. Even though they neutralized the best player on the Eagles, they still could not stop Donovan McNabb and his group of wide receivers. In addition to their inability to stop the pass, they also gave up over 100 penalty yards. That is absolutely terrible discipline and they will not continue to win games over quality opponents if they do that. We all knew before the season that the offense was great, but if they can't play defense then it will be the same story as always come the playoffs.

The defensive woes of the Cowboys were nothing in comparison to the Eagles. The Cowboys were at least able to stop the Eagles occasionally on defense, whereas the Eagles looked absolutely clueless against the Cowboys offense. The Cowboys converted 60 % of their third downs (which were few and far between). Tony Romo and the rest of the offense averaged 7.3 yards per offensive play. That is an absolutely obscene number. The only team that was ever good enough to put up those kinds of numbers is the 2007-2008 New England Patriots. This year, the Cowboys have the best offense in the NFL, but even they are not as good as the Eagles allowed them to be. The interception that Tony Romo threw was caused by the Eagles pressure and was one of the few plays which the Eagles defense played well. In contrast, the fumble was a lucky break for the Eagles caused by a bad snap and a broken play.

As the Giants showed last year, defense wins championships. Offensive stats are great, but what it really comes down to is whether or not you can get that final stop and win the game. When either the Eagles or the Cowboys show me that they are better than the New York Giants, I will admit, but until that point the Giants are the superior team in the NFC East and my pick to be back in the Super Bowl for the NFC in 2009.