Jets vs. Giants: Which NFL Team Runs New York?

It's certainly a question that can be debated between the entire City of New York. Who runs the city, Jets or Giants?

Well, with their big Week 16 game that has playoff implications, the winner will definitely be on the forefront of media tabloids everywhere.

Before kickoff though, we must briefly look at each franchise's history to make a determination about where the future appears to be headed, so let's begin a case for each team and solve this once and for all.

New York Giants

They began and 1925 and had no pro football competition until the Jets came along as the New York Titans in 1960.

So, all the Giants had to do was own the fall season with the New York Yankees owning the summer, and virtually every other time before it. Well, since their founding, the Giants have accumulated seven total NFL championships (three during the Super Bowl-era).

The dark years were from the mid-1960s through 1980, where the G-Men failed to make even one postseason appearance. Somewhere Joe Pisarcik is weeping.

When 1981 happened, so did Lawrence Taylor and the Giants went on to win two Super Bowls with the best defensive football player to ever live. It was obvious who owned the City of New York at the time.

After the mediocre 1990s, the twenty-first century got the Giants back on the NFL map. Appearing in Super Bowl XXXV, and then again in Super Bowl XLII, one could argue the Giants level of popularity to be on the same as the Yankees.

Since the 2007 season however, it's been nothing but disappointment.

The NFC's No. 1 seed in 2008, the Giants lost their divisional game to the Philadelphia Eagles and have missed the playoffs each of the past two seasons. With the inconsistency continuing in 2011, it's uncertain as to how the franchise's 87th season will pan out.

Right now The Big Blue Wrecking Crew sit at 7-7, but control their own destiny in the NFC East thanks to a win over the Dallas Cowboys a couple weeks ago. That being said, only the New York Jets stand in their way before trying to close the deal.

New York Jets

When the 1960 AFL season began, the New York Titans (now the Jets) were established. Unfortunately, not much success happened until the 1968 season.

There, the Jets won the AFL championship and earned a trip to Super Bowl III. As heavy underdogs to the Baltimore Colts, the Jets pulled off arguably the biggest upset in NFL history. That was the catalyst to merge the NFL and AFL shortly thereafter.

At that time, the New York Jets most definitely ruled the City of New York over the Giants, and arguably the Yankees as well. But, then 1970 happened and Gang Green didn't have another winning season until 1981.

Still, the Jets were on the back-burner behind the Giants thanks to Lawrence Taylor and company. Even The New York Sack Exchange led by DL Joe Klecko got overlooked because of Big Blue's success.

Throughout the '80s the Jets would make four playoff appearances, but get no further than the AFC championship. And with limited success in the 1990s, the Jets once again were on the doorstep of the Super Bowl, but fell to the Denver Broncos in the 1998 AFC title game.

So since Super Bowl III, Gang Green has made four AFC championships games, losing all four. Making the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in 2009 and 2010, while also getting to the conference title game, is more than the Giants can say for the past two years.

So, Who Runs The Big Apple?

It's definitely gone back and forth throughout the years, and the Giants definitely owned it from 1925 through the mid 1960s, as the Jets didn't come aboard until 1960.

However, for that brief time from the mid-'60s through the early-1970s, NYC belonged to the Jets. Let's put it this way, although the Giants have more Super Bowls, no QB is bigger than Joe Namath in The Big Apple.

That said, neither team was relevant until the 1980s, but Big Blue ruled the city through the mid-1990s, with two Super Bowl wins and having LT dominate opposing offenses.

Then for a few years, thanks to Keyshawn Johnson and the 1998 season, the Jets saw a brief time atop the pedestal of New York, but then quickly relapsed. The Giants took control once again with two more Super Bowl appearances, winning it all in 2007 in a game comparable to Super Bowl III.

So, since the NFL began back in 1920, and even when the Jets were established forty years later, The Big Blue Wrecking Crew has ran NYC over the Jets quite often.

As for the past two seasons though, the Jets have taken center stage with two AFC title game appearances, while the Giants haven't made the playoffs since 2008. The winner of their Week 16 matchup clearly increases their playoff odds.

And on top of that, the winner also takes control as the team who runs New York City. With so much on the line, it's who's better now that gets the spotlight.

As we saw with the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers and 2010 Green Bay Packers, all that matters is that you make it to the January dance. Therefore, right  now it is the New York Jets who run the City of New York based on the past two seasons.

From a historic perspective it's been the Giants, and if time were to stop right now, it would be the Giants because of their collective success. Anyway you slice it though, the victor in Week 16 gets the nod.

Follow John Rozum on Twitter @Sportswriter27