Giants: More like '85 Patriots or '05 Steelers?

[Absurdly Metro]

The Giants are the third team to ever win three road games in advancing to the Superbowl. The first was our own beloved Patriots in 1985. The second was the 2005 Steelers. One of the previous two won the SB. One got waxed. Both had impressive victories with the Pats travelling to MIA and pulling off a huge upset against a team they had never beaten in MIAHere's the tale-of-the-tape for all three teams. My question to Patsfans is; Are these Giants more '85 Pats or '05 Steelers?

'85 Patriots
11-5 regular season (WC t2nd in AFC East)
9th Ranked Off (by yards)
10th ranked Off (by points)
7th ranked Def (by yards)
6th ranked Def (by points)
Playoffs
@ 11-5 NYJ W 26-14
@ 12-4 LA Raiders W 27-20
@ 12-4 Miami W 31-14
SB vs 15-1 CHI L 46-10

'05 Steelers
11-5 regular season (WC t1st in AFC North)
15th Ranked Off (by yards)
9th ranked Off (by points)
4th ranked Def (by yards)
3rd ranked Def (by points)
Playoffs
@ 11-5 CIN W 31-17
@ 14-2 IND W 21-18
@ 13-3 DEN W 34-17
SB vs 13-3 SEA W 21-10

'07 Giants
10-6 regular season (2nd in NFC East)
16th Ranked Off (by yards)
14th ranked Off (by points)
7th ranked Def (by yards)
17th ranked Def (by points)
Playoffs
@ 9-7 TB W 24-14
@ 13-3 DAL W 21-17
@ 13-3 GB W 23-20 OT
SB vs 16-0 NE ???

 

[Watson's IQ]

My first instinct is that the Giants aren't as good as either of those teams. Remember that the Pats ran into an all-time great in the Super Bowl, and got licked. The Steelers beat an alright Seattle team, but they were certainly no '85 Bears.

The Steelers of '05, in particular, had an excellent defense, which really made a big difference. And remember, if Big Ben doesn't make that tackle after the Bettis fumble (or get all those calls in the SB), we might not be having this conversation.

 

[Oswlek]

The Giants are most like the 2003 Panthers, IMHO. Had they just played in the NFCN like them, they would have played a home game and then a couple on the road.

Pitt, you have to recall, was actually one of the top 2-3 teams in the league that had issues with QB and RB injuries mid-season. They really aren't all that close to the Giants and their situation.

 

[patsfaninpa]

Probably a lot of similarities between all three teams. But, their is a major difference in their opponents as previous poster mentioned. 85 Bears were an all-time great team. One of Top 5 of Super Bowl Era. 05 Seahawks are a wild-card if that in the AFC. 07 Pats much more similiar to Bears than Seahawks. Giants can play well and lose. A la Jacksonville. If they play avg. or poorly they will get blown out. I think Pats lose if they play poorly. Don't see that happening.

 

[letekro]

Who cares? It matters less who the Giants resemble, than who the Patriots resemble. Clearly, they're more '85 Bears than '05 Seahawks.

For the record, as others have pointed out in other threads, the Giants are very reminiscent of the '03 Panthers.

 

[Absurdly Metro]

Who cares? It matters less who the Giants resemble, than who the Patriots resemble. Clearly, they're more '85 Bears than '05 Seahawks.

For the record, as others have pointed out in other threads, the Giants are very reminiscent of the '03 Panthers.

It matters only because I'm reading these posts today that make it sound like we should FEAR the Gints. Like they are on some unbeatable roll or something. It is ridiculous actually. If only the '85 Pats could swap opponents with the '07 team. IMO, the '07 Pats beat Ditka's bears AND Grogan, Hannah, Tippett, Nelson et al would all get rings!

 

[realtime]

It matters only because I'm reading these posts today that make it sound like we should FEAR the Gints. Like they are on some unbeatable roll or something. It is ridiculous actually. If only the '85 Pats could swap opponents with the '07 team. IMO, the '07 Pats beat Ditka's bears AND Grogan, Hannah, Tippett, Nelson et al would all get rings!

I don't get what you're saying here. That the '07 Patriots could beat the '85 Bears? Nothing controversial about that -- a '07 Pats win by anything less than 6 scores would be a huge upset.

Are you also saying that the '85 Pats would beat the '07 Giants? LMAO! The '07 Giants would make the 46-10 drubbing the '85 Bears put on the '85 Pats seem like an OT nailbiter by comparison. The Giants are a good, solid, team that could beat the '85 Pats in their sleep.

 

[TX_Patriot]

2 little things, the '85 Pats were a double digit dog and the '05 Steelers were actually the favorite. What does this mean...absolutely nothing. Stay tuned, we still have a game to play and it'll be fun to watch.

 

[Absurdly Metro]

I don't get what you're saying here. That the '07 Patriots could beat the '85 Bears? Nothing controversial about that -- a '07 Pats win by anything less than 6 scores would be a huge upset.

Are you also saying that the '85 Pats would beat the '07 Giants? LMAO! The '07 Giants would make the 46-10 drubbing the '85 Bears put on the '85 Pats seem like an OT nailbiter by comparison. The Giants are a good, solid, team that could beat the '85 Pats in their sleep.

I'm talking in realtive terms here. You're right. ANY contemproary team would beat a team from 20 years ago. The players are all so much bigger, stronger, and faster it wouldn't be close.

I'm saying the Pats of 1985 had the misfortune of drawing one of the greatest single season teams of all time in the SB while this years version drew a middle of the pack team. It'd be a much better match up if the '85 team drew a middle of the road opponent with this years juggernaut Patriots getting to battle another super team such as da Bears fielded in '85. WOW!

 

[National Sports Advisors]

I just don't know why people think the Giants have a shot at this game. It's not like this team comes into this game on a 9 game winning streak or anything. Sure, they won 3 playoff games in a row, but they also were 4-4 in their last 8 regular season games. It's not like this team has been hitting on all cylinders for two months. They beat a very mediocre Tampa Bay team. Big deal. They beat a Dallas squad that they had already faced 2 times and also has not won a playoff game since 1995. Dallas has talent, but it's not like they were this playoff tested team. Then they go out to Green Bay and win against a Green Bay team that was solid, hardly great. New England is a different animal. The Pats played Chicago reasonably tough in 85 and lost 20-7 in the regular season. Guess what? The Super Bowl was a different story and they got spanked 46-10. Let's settle down with the Gmen already. They are NOT better than the Eagles we faced in 2004. They are NOT better than the Panthers we faced in 2003. They are NOT better than the Rams in 2001. In fact, these Giants are probably the weakest NFC super bowl representive since the 2000 Giants. Maybe you can make a case that the Bears were worse last year because of Rex Grossman, but that's about it.

 

[Absurdly Metro]

I just don't know why people think the Giants have a shot at this game... Let's settle down with the Gmen already. They are NOT better than the Eagles we faced in 2004. They are NOT better than the Panthers we faced in 2003. They are NOT better than the Rams in 2001. In fact, these Giants are probably the weakest NFC super bowl representive since the 2000 Giants. Maybe you can make a case that the Bears were worse last year because of Rex Grossman, but that's about it.

Amen brother!! And that 2000 Giants team got their doors blown off by the a team that couldn't score points to save their life. I see a blowout coming to put a big mfing exclamation point on a historic season!!

 

[Watson's IQ]

I just don't know why people think the Giants have a shot at this game. It's not like this team comes into this game on a 9 game winning streak or anything. Sure, they won 3 playoff games in a row, but they also were 4-4 in their last 8 regular season games. It's not like this team has been hitting on all cylinders for two months. They beat a very mediocre Tampa Bay team. Big deal. They beat a Dallas squad that they had already faced 2 times and also has not won a playoff game since 1995. Dallas has talent, but it's not like they were this playoff tested team. Then they go out to Green Bay and win against a Green Bay team that was solid, hardly great.

There's a world of difference between saying the Giants have no shot and saying they probably won't win. Every matchup I've looked at favors the Pats, every stat favors them, playoff experience favors them, "Destiny" (if you want to include that) favors them, etc etc.

And still, weird things happen sometimes. I could envision scenarios in which the Giants win. Do I think it will happen? No. Would I be shocked? Yes. My gut is the Pats win by at least 17. But it's ridiculous to say the Giants have "no shot". It's just pointless homerism and doesn't add anything.

 

[Absurdly Metro]

There's a world of difference between saying the Giants have no shot and saying they probably won't win. Every matchup I've looked at favors the Pats, every stat favors them, playoff experience favors them, "Destiny" (if you want to include that) favors them, etc etc.

And still, weird things happen sometimes. I could envision scenarios in which the Giants win. Do I think it will happen? No. Would I be shocked? Yes. My gut is the Pats win by at least 17. But it's ridiculous to say the Giants have "no shot". It's just pointless homerism and doesn't add anything.

Okay. They have a shot. A snowballs chance in hell.

 

[JaredOfNazareth]

These Giants wouldn't beat this years Browns in the SB had they the opportunity. The Browns would score 31+ and I believe Romeo would come up with a way to slow down that Juggernaut offense Eli leads. All the AFC playoff teams would beat these Giants as well. Seriously. Who would they be favored against? The Titans? They would shut the Giants out.

 

[Nordy]

This Patriot team would beat the tar out of the 05 Steelers.

 

[realtime]

These Giants wouldn't beat this years Browns in the SB had they the opportunity. The Browns would score 31+ and I believe Romeo would come up with a way to slow down that Juggernaut offense Eli leads. All the AFC playoff teams would beat these Giants as well. Seriously. Who would they be favored against? The Titans? They would shut the Giants out.

Umm....no. I would say that the Giants right now are a better version of the Jags, with the ability to rush the passer better than J-ville and with a QB-receiver combo (Manning to Burress) that is much better than the Garrard to generic tall receiver combo that the Jags had.

 

[karran_s]

The game will not even be close.. The Giants will always trail and never be in the lead throughout the game...

After the first half, the only question for BB is whether to be a little merciful or give them the drubbing of their lives..

 

[realtime]

The game will not even be close.. The Giants will always trail and never be in the lead throughout the game...

After the first half, the only question for BB is whether to be a little merciful or give them the drubbing of their lives..

Nice analysis. You've convinced me.

 

[Ring 6]

They are more like the 85 Pats, because the 85 Pats played in the FAR weaker Conference, while the 2006 Steelers played in the FAR superior conference.
The 5 (if not more) best teams in the NFL are in the AFC this year.