Loading ...Perhaps the 2007 New York Giants will never be replaced as biggest underdog story ever. They won three consecutive road games in the postseason and eventually knocked off an unbeaten New England Patriots team in Super Bowl XLII. Depending on how much weight one places on knocking off the unbeaten, 2007 may never be topped.
But that doesn't mean that 2011 wasn't a bigger miracle in almost every way.
Statistically, the Giants should never have sniffed the Super Bowl. They were dead last in rushing. The worst rushing team in the NFL has never won the Super Bowl. They were outscored in the regular season. A team that had been outscored in the regular season has never made the Super Bowl.
They were 27th in total defense. No team had won the Super Bowl with a defense worse than 25th. They lost seven regular season games. Since going to the 16 game format, no seven loss team has ever won the Super Bowl.
If Tom Coughlin ultimately does make it into the Hall of Fame, he will likely do so on account of having taken two separate franchises to multiple conference title games and winning a Super Bowl against an undefeated team. It's an impressive resume no doubt. But his ability to turn teams around in time for the post season is absolutely incredible.
Since week 16, the Giants had not lost a fumble and Eli Manning had only two interceptions. A defense that had allowed Rex Grossman to run roughshod over it twice, did not allow more than 17 points.
All of this accomplished against the likes of Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.
Factoring in the 15 on injured reserve, and the deck was stacked against the Giants in every possible way. They were the most unlikely world champions ever.
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Does Chad Jones get a ring?
Yes, he’s on the team. He is still a player on the Giants roster, under his rookie contract. He has never been released to my knowledge, just placed on IR.
Speaking of rings, they should go ahead and give Accorsi another one too IMO. And another for every one Eli wins. We owe this era of Giants football to his staking his entire reputation on that decision.
The Duke himself had serious doubts about the price, but had enough respect for Ernie that he would not override the decision. Hopefully, he passed knowing that it was the right move. The last Giants moment he was aware of was the 2 TD 4th quarter comeback vs. Denver.
+1.
Acorsi hated Tom Coughlin and would never have hired him. Wellington shoved him down Acorsi’s throat…which is why John feels such affection for him because it was his Dad hired him. Who knows how Eli would have turned out without Coughlin’s faith in him and guidance.
We’ll never know.
I saw an article down thread written by Erin Smith. I’m relatively new here, and I’m just curious as to who she is. Is she an occasional writer for G101?
Lol has anyone watched the Sound FX videos yet? After one of the plays where JPP batted down a pass, Brady is on the bench and goes, “Its like throwing into a forest dude. The guys arms are like…” and he kinda trails off. Made me laugh.
Start at the 0:50 mark or so:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-films-sound-efx/09000d5d826c94b6/SB-XLVI-Sound-FX-Patriots-fire-back
Wow, if you keep watching a bit up to the hold that killed our drive… Wilfork is talking to the ref and says the hold was a bad call. That’s surprising lol. I mean, I thought it was too, but I didn’t think Wilfork would admit it.
That holding call totally changed the game. The Giants were pushing it down New England’s throat and on their way to a 16-0 lead and the ability to bring pressure on Brady that wouldn’t have been coped with.
Things turned out okay in the end, but that call could easily have cost the Giants a championship. The really obnoxious thing about it was that the zebra was grabbing the flag as soon as the ball was snapped as if he had decided in advance to make a call. If you look at the tape the yellow flag hits the ground almost as soon as the ball is handed off. He was ready to throw it before the play began.
what were the final holding stats for all teams in this year playoffs. I remember someone writing I think post the Frisco game that there had been 10 holding calls in all play off games and 8 went against us and even more shocking not one called in favor of our def line. Add the Super Bowl in and I think you had one against and finally one that went our way. Some very tough calls went against us through not just the play offs but the entire year. But we still won!
There’s really no longer such a thing as an “unlikely world champion”. I’ve been saying for the entire season that the point is to get to the playoffs and then see if you can get hot. And the whole deal with records and points for and against can be very misleading. Those all depend upon the quality of a team’s opposition and their difficulty of schedule. You cannot measure those numbers in a vacuum.
The Giants had a very tough schedule this season (it will be even tougher in 2012). Having survived to reach the playoffs they were primed to play well, especially against teams that had played against lesser competition. They weren’t nearly as unlikely as many supposed.
Right now the Giants’ coaches and management are evaluating and grading each and every player on the roster and the practice team. They’ll probably finish that over the course of the week and then start laying plans for next season.
There aren’t going to be a lot of C’s and lower on this team. Blackmon gets one. Beckum probably gets one. Scott gets worse than that. Jernigan won’t score high. Jones will probably get a C. I think there’s a chance Tollefson, Paysinger, Herzlich, and Sash get no more than C+. I’ve no idea about the practice team players because we never saw them play. I also cannot score Carr because he had no opportunities.
Anyone else deserving less than a B- ?
Speaking of Accorsi…
The other day I posted an excerpt from his original scouting report on Eli. I’m guessing that everyone here who didnlt see it then has read it at one point or another. I know I had. But in re-reading it the other day, I was awestruck by how uncannily prescient it was. Accorsi was prophetic.
I’ve posted the link below. Here are some excerpts that I thought were especially spot on:
“Eli doesn’t trust his protection. Can’t. No way he can take any form of a deep drop and look downfield. With no running game (10 yards rushing the first half) and no real top receivers, he’s stuck with the three-step drops and waiting til the last second to see if a receiver can get free. No tight end either. No flaring back. So he’s taking some big hits. Taking them well. Carried an overmatched team entirely on his shoulders”
“Makes a lot of decisions on play calls at the line of scrimmage, but they ask too much of him. They don’t just let him play. This is a guy you should just let play”
“When he’s inaccurate, he’s usually high, but rarely off target to either side… Plays smart and with complete confidence. Doesn’t scold his teammates, but lets them know when they line up wrong or run the wrong pattern”
“Throws the ball, takes the hit, gets right back up… Has courage and poise. In my opinion, most of all, he has that quality you can’t define. Call it magic. As [former Baltimore Colts defensive back] Bobby Boyd told me once about Unitas, “Two things set him apart: his left test!cle and his right test!cle.”… Peyton had much better talent around him at Tennessee. But I honestly give this guy a chance to be better than his brother.”
http://www.charged.fm/blog/post/1463/eli-manning-according-to-ernie-accorsi-in-2002
great post Norm, I’m assuming this came from Vachiano’s book on Eli he wrote after 2007. I was thinking the same thing about that excerpt and how Ernie saw that potential way back in college on a bad team. Interesting to me that he was smart enough back then to call plays at the line of scrimmage. Before this year the people who didn’t see Eli’s ability on the field never discussed this or missed that rare ability. There are only a handful of QB’s in the league that are allowed to call plays at the line through-out an entire season and when done well the advantage that brings to the offense.
Absolutely REQUIRED LISTENING FOR ALL G101 FANS.
Everything you want to relish in a New England Fan meltdown is on display.
http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=7554950
Bill Simmons ESPN POD CAST and huge Pats fan crying up a storm with his Cousin Sal the huge Cowboy fan. PRICELESS!!!
It has it all : the we were lucky
no respect for the Giants
how dare Tom Brady fail
Eli overrated/not worthy of HOF
Wes welker thrown under the bus
throwing Miles Austin under the bus for dropping a big pass, that would have ended our season?? does that mean in their universe the Pats win the Super Bowl by forfeit?
questioning Belichicks draft philosophy
not one mention of the Cundiff missed FG
Enjoy!
1. The NFL’s dirty little secret: the regular season doesn’t matter anymore. It’s no surprise the Giants got jobbed on call after call. If the regular season games don’t matter, if you can just turn it on at the end, like the NBA, then less people will watch. That means less money. And a meaningless 18 game season with more injured players? Could get ugly.
2. Some circus-level comments on Tom Brady going around recently. Are people gonna act like the Patriots are in the playoffs at all with this roster with one of 10 other AFC quarterbacks? Like Gronkowski’s such an all world athlete that Matt Moore would have thrown 20 touchdowns to him as well? Like Brady didn’t throw 16 straight completions Sunday, something 91 other Super Bowl quarterbacks have never done? Like Brady didn’t take the ball down the field on the Rams to win his first Super Bowl?
3. The parade, as always, was awesome!
4. The Giants are Super Bowl champions.
5. I haven’t slept in 4 days.
6. Despite #2, Eli is currently better than Brady.
7. No one here has any idea how the cap will work out. Not that it isn’t cool to take guesses. But, folks could be surprised who gets resigned and reworked.
8. Yup, Eli owns Brady.
9. Brady made a below-average throw. Welker should have caught it. Both are guilty. But Phillips also played a role.
10. I would also choose a cheaper Ross over Thomas if that’s how it works out. Because, as FF55 and others mentioned, it worked out OK.
1a. The regular season never mattered. The difference between now and previously was that the teams that dominated in the regular season before the cap were just so much better that they dominated in the playoffs. Now, the top teams have great regular season records against cap strapped also-rans but are so even with playoff teams that it’s anyone’s ball game.
But that’s what makes the NFL so great. The fact that any team can get hot at any time and go on a run is what makes this sport great.
Less people will watch?
You can’t be serious.
As things presently stand, a late October regular season matchup between two of the NFL’s weak sisters commands significantly higher ratings than the World Series. Even the freakin’ Pro Bowl – as big of a joke as it has become – drew respectable ratings this year. Because it was the only NFL action that week.
No one will ever care if the NFL regular season is ultimately rendered meaningless. Just like a crackhead wouldn’t really care if the quality of rock is worse than it was a few years back.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/02/08/plaxico-wants-to-play-for-the-eagles/