By MICHAEL SMITH
Staff Writer
The New York Giants are on another tremendous playoff run this year. They are 5-1 in their last six games, going back to the 37-34 win in Dallas.
In that time, despite the embarrassing loss to the Redskins at home, the Giants have beaten their inner-state rival, the Jets, and the Cowboys twice. Then, entering into the playoffs, they laid a 24-2 beat down on Atlanta, and went to Green Bay to beat the Packers, who previously owned a 15-1 record.
These Giants share a lot of similarities to the team that won the Super Bowl in 2007. They were built on the principles of strong defense, and a good running game. However, the similarities end there.
While this team finished the regular season with a worse record than the ’07 team, this team appears to be stronger. That team fought their way to a 10-6 record, squeezed into the playoffs, and got hot at the right time.
This team was a disappointing 9-7, a record that is reflective of injuries suffered, not of poor play. Now as players are getting healthy, the team is getting hot and turning it on at the right time, again.
Although the teams were built to a similar blueprint, the personnel is very different. Both defenses were built around the defensive line. 2007’s line was built on Michael Strahan, and a crew of young guys, like Justin Tuck, and Osi Umenyiora. Now Tuck and Umenyiora are the veterans who have been in this situation before, and are guiding the young star, Jason Pierre-Paul, to handle the stress of playoff football.
The 2007 running game was centered around Brandon Jacobs, who got more handoffs than any other Giant. This year’s version is still heavy on Jacobs, but the feature back is Ahmad Bradshaw, a kick-returning rookie in ’07.
Though the personnel are different, it is not so different that one team would have a definitive edge over the other. One player puts this year’s Giants over the top, Eli Manning.
Eli has been a part of both teams, but Eli-then and Eli-now, are two completely different quarterbacks. Though, he still turns the ball over too much, with 20 this year, 16 interceptions and 4 fumbles lost, he has highly improved his passing. He finished with 4,933 passing yards and 29 touchdowns, and he did this with a remodeled offensive line, that allowed him to get sacked 28 times.
This team still has two hurdles to clear before they can join that ’07 team in Giant lore. The 49ers are the first, a team that has been underrated by most, but can play with anybody. Though they are considered to be weak at quarterback, they have the NFL’s best rushing defense, and it’s not even close. They also have one of the league’s best running backs, Frank Gore.
But if they get past them, they will be forced to play either Baltimore or New England. Baltimore’s got Ray Rice leading a strong running game, and Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, heading a prolific defense. Or New England, with the double-headed tight end attack, in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, and their great quarterback Tom Brady.
It is undoubtedly a rough road ahead for the Giants, but they did the impossible in ’07, why can’t they do it again?
