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?
