PatsFans.com Menu
PatsFans.com - The Hub For New England Patriots Fans

Do any other fans feel cheated by the playoffs and this Giants rematch?


Status
Not open for further replies.

PatriotSeven

In the Starting Line-Up
Joined
Dec 23, 2011
Messages
2,906
Reaction score
182
I'm probably in the minority here, but I always lived by the principle that if you wanna be the best you gotta beat the best not shy away from it. I know some are fond of the idea of the Patriots being able to get their revenge on the greatest stage of all, and I am too, but for me, there's just a bigger principle that goes unmentioned.

For the third time since 2007, 3 pretty average teams have found their way into the Super Bowl, with the Giants now twice and Arizona Cardinals a few years back. I don't have a problem with the Giants doing exactly what every other NFL team should be doing as a football team, which is fight tooth and nail to make their way into the Super Bowl when they get that opportunity. That part doesn't bother me and they should be commended for it

The part that does bother me about this whole deal is that this playoffs system cheats fans, football teams and other players out of seeing the best teams teams at the end and with a shot at the Super Bowl. This is a perfect example of where yes, the Giants were the better team on that day when they played the 49ers and Green Bay. Without a doubt. But there is no way both of those teams wouldn't beat the Giants 8 out of 10 times this year if they faced each other. In fact they both beat them earlier this year and so have the Saints. The Saints dominated the Giants. It wasn't even close. But they never got a chance to face each other in the playoffs.

GB and the 49ers went 1-1 with the Giants counting the playoffs. But the Saints were 1-0, and decisively thrashed the Giants. But because the Giants wins came in the playoffs, they get to advance and the other teams get to go home.

Those teams don't get an opportunity to try again, and prove that they are in fact better. No 2 out of 3, their initial wins mean nothing. They don't get a second shot. All their hard work in the regular season is for nothing. It's like it almost makes you not wanna try to go 13-3 or 15-1 when you know that in the past 5 years 3 teams that made the super bowl were just average and one of them went on to win it.

There is no possible way, after watching the playoffs this year, that you can convince me that this Giants team is the best team in the NFC. It wouldn't have bothered me nearly as bad if it was the 13-3 Cowboys that beat the Patriots in 2007. But the truth is any team can beat another team on any given Sunday, and that's exactly what we saw in the 2007 Super Bowl as well as the Divisional rounds and Championship games between the Giants and the 49ers and GB. That doesn't mean however that any team should get that chance.

My question is, if these teams faced each other twice, what are the chances the Giants would still be advancing? What does it say about all of these teams that excel throughout the season? It's meaningless? That teams should stop trying? Just be average and do good in the playoffs?

Doesn't it rob fans of the better match-ups possible like GB vs Patriots this year, or vs Saints or 49ers teams that truly to me, are much better overall than the Giants? Does anybody else feel like we should have some sort of group playoff system in the divisional rounds instead of one-and-done and you go home?

A group playoff system wouldn't stop good teams and underdogs from succeeding and advancing, but it would certainly filter out lucky teams that just honestly, haven't convinced me they should be where there are. A rematch like this, while great, is going to do one of two things: Either completely expose one team as fake and a joke and bring more criticism to their quarterback or tarnish the image of another.

It certainly doesn't feel like the Super Bowl is a battle of the best. Sometimes it's that, but it seems a lot of times it's a battle of the best vs the luckiest. And it certainly doesn't clarify who the best teams in the conference is.

Try to follow this along: The 9-7 Giants who got beat by the Perfect Green Bay Packers, 49ers and trumped by the Saints beat the Packers, who played pretty crappy in the playoffs, and completely knocked them out of Super Bowl contention on that one game. The 49ers beat the Saints in the playoffs, so the Saints who thrashed the Giants get to go home and then the Giants beat the 49ers, also in an unconvincing fashion, who beat Giants in the regular aseason and also beat the Saints in the playoffs who trashed the Giants earlier....therefore.......therefore what? What the hell does all that prove? That the Giants are the best team in the NFC?

Everyone got that? Is everyone clear why the Giants belong? Ok good! Then will you please explain it to me so I understand? :)
 
Last edited:
Do not agree with this at all. Admittedly I didn't read the whole thing, but under your analysis, if the Patriots win the Super Bowl, the series will only be 1-1 because they lost to the Giants earlier in the year, and the Super Bowl win would not be wholly legitimate.

If you're the better team, you will win when it counts. That's what's great about football, "on any given sunday..."
 
The best thing about the playoffs is that once you make them, the regular season counts for naught in the tournament. If you make the Superbowl, you're a good team and deserve to be there.
 
Last edited:
Welcome to the salary cap era. Although I agree with you in principle about some things, note that this is why the NFL is so tremendously popular. Also, baseball's system is much, much worse.
 
Try to follow this along: The 9-7 Giants who got beat by the Perfect Green Bay Packers, 49ers and trumped by the Saints beat the Packers, who played pretty crappy in the playoffs, and completely knocked them out of Super Bowl contention on that one game. The 49ers beat the Saints in the playoffs, so the Saints who thrashed the Giants get to go home and then the Giants beat the 49ers, also in an unconvincing fashion, who beat Giants in the regular aseason and also beat the Saints in the playoffs who trashed the Giants earlier....therefore.......therefore what? What the hell does all that prove? That the Giants are the best team in the NFC?

It's all about peaking at the right time.
 
this can't be serious.

The Giants beat the defending champs(15-1) and the 49ers (13-3) BOTH on the road.

So they should have to apologize to you for making the Super Bowl? Parity is what makes the NFL great, you don't have the same teams in the playoffs/championship every season like other sports.
 
Last edited:
Damn dude, you wrote a novel. Do you have a condensed version of this you can summarize?
 
You can't just be average and hope to do well in the playoffs. You have to do well enough to get in first. If everyone was shooting for average it would be hella hard to get in at all.
 
Last edited:
I guess the 2001 Patriots should give back their Super Bowl Rings then?
 
No Way! Beating a strong Ravens who hate us for the trip to the show and then getting a crack for REDEMPTION against the Giants couldn't have been written better.
 
this can't be serious.

The Giants beat the defending champs(15-1) and the 49ers (13-3) BOTH on the road.

So they should have to apologize to you for making the Super Bowl? Parody is what makes the NFL great, you don't have the same teams in the playoffs/championship every season like other sports.
Parity. Parity. Parody is what they do on SNL.
 
The idea of 'one bad game you go home' is what makes it so popular. Sure, it's not always fair.

Take 2007 for example, do you recall the Patriots and Colts meeting in the middle of the season (I believe an 8-0 team vs. 7-0 team). That was a classic regular season matchup. The Pats go 16-0, the Colts go 14-2 (their only other loss due to a missed Vinatier chip shot).

From a Pats fan perspective, I was ecstatic that the Chargers (banged up and everything) were able to upset the Colts.

From a Pats fan I was elated, but I can understand why the NFL fan base as a whole would have felt cheated of a Patriots - Colts playoff rematch.
 
I think it's obvious that the Giants weren't a "pretty average team" in 2007.

As for this year; they beat the top two seeds in the NFC, one in a shootout and the other in a defensive slugfest. What else does a team have to do to prove that it "belongs" in the Super Bowl?
 
Also, if San Fran did squeak by the Giants on Sunday, I'm not sure that the Pats-Niners would feel like a battle of titans given San Fran's ineptitude on offense.
 
this can't be serious.

The Giants beat the defending champs(15-1) and the 49ers (13-3) BOTH on the road.

So they should have to apologize to you for making the Super Bowl? Parody is what makes the NFL great, you don't have the same teams in the playoffs/championship every season like other sports.

But both of those teams beat them too. The 49ers beat them by 7 points the first time.
The Saints destroyed them.

But in addition:
The Washington Redskins destroyed the Giants TWICE. The Redskins, who are sorry as hell kept them to only 10 points twice.
The Seahawks whooped them by 11 points.

Neither the Saints, 49ers or GB got beat that bad this season.

Honestly, to me it's bull. There's no finality to who is really the best in the NFC this year. I can't accept the Giants are even the best team in the NFC this year because of the two wins they got in the playoffs.

I guess I have to start viewing the Super Bowl as some kind of entertainment game. It's certainly no longer a representation of the best teams in the NFC vs AFC when the 3 best teams in the NFC are sitting at home.
 
Last edited:
But both of those teams beat them too. The 49ers beat them by 7 points the first time.
The Saints destroyed them.

But in addition:
The Washington Redskins destroyed the Giants TWICE. The Redskins, who are sorry as hell kept them to only 10 points twice.
The Seahawks whooped them by 11 points.

Neither the Saints, 49ers or GB got beat that bad this season.

Honestly, to me it's bull. There's no finality to who is really the best in the NFC this year. I can't accept the Giants are even the best team in the NFC this year because of the two wins they got in the playoffs.

I guess I have to start viewing the Super Bowl as some kind of entertainment game. It's certainly no longer a representation of the best teams in the NFC vs AFC when the 3 best teams in the NFC are sitting at home.

The Giants beat them when it mattered. I am embarrassed on behalf of Patriots fans everywhere that this thread even exists.

/thread
 
Last edited:
GB, The Saints, and the 49ers all could be in the big game right now if they had risen to the challenge and took care of business. They didn't. They've got no one to blame but themselves. This whole "they don't deserve to be there" **** is nonsense and getting old. Does it suck that the damned Cardinals, who we absolutely destroyed to finish '08, were in the Superbowl while we missed the playoffs with 11 wins? Damn straight. But the Pats have no one to blame but themselves. They didn't take care of business during the regular season.

As Belichick says, he's not concerned with the other 31 teams, he only cares about his team. It doesn't matter if other teams had an easier path the playoffs or superbowl. You either take care of business or you don't and go home. End of story.
 
This is what truly sets the NFL apart from all other major sports. The parity is really unmatched and at any given Sunday anyone can win. That truly reflects in the NFC where we have a different team representing in the SUper Bowl virtually every year. The AFC is another story as it seems that the Pats, Steelers, and Colts are always there.
 
I think it's obvious that the Giants weren't a "pretty average team" in 2007.

As for this year; they beat the top two seeds in the NFC, one in a shootout and the other in a defensive slugfest. What else does a team have to do to prove that it "belongs" in the Super Bowl?

Not go 1-1? The 49ers actually still hold the point differential against them. Win decisively?

If they are good, then they shouldn't have a problem winning a playoff group. It would only add an extra week of games, but each team could play each other twice in the divisional round.

What's the fear of actually figuring out who is really the best teams and watching them in the finals? I wouldn't want to watch Brazil vs China in the World Cup, just because China would get lucky and win 2 games in the "playoffs" if the World Cup didn't have groups.
 
This guy wants a BCS NFL, everybody run!!!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.


Thursday Patriots Notebook 4/25: News and Notes
Patriots Kraft ‘Involved’ In Decision Making?  Zolak Says That’s Not the Case
MORSE: Final First Round Patriots Mock Draft
Slow Starts: Stark Contrast as Patriots Ponder Which Top QB To Draft
Wednesday Patriots Notebook 4/24: News and Notes
Tuesday Patriots Notebook 4/23: News and Notes
MORSE: Final 7 Round Patriots Mock Draft, Matthew Slater News
Bruschi’s Proudest Moment: Former LB Speaks to MusketFire’s Marshall in Recent Interview
Monday Patriots Notebook 4/22: News and Notes
Patriots News 4-21, Kraft-Belichick, A.J. Brown Trade?
Back
Top