While the Giants record doesn't show it (7-4), they still remain the team to beat on the road to the Super Bowl. They showed this last week by routing the Green Bay Packers, 38-10. Similar to how the Patriots have come around to average 49 points in their last three games (and only allowing around 20 points in a bunch of those games), these two teams are reminding everyone why they're the reigning Conference champs.
Most general sports fans tend to root for the underdogs, it's in our blood. Why wouldn't we want RG3, a new national hero, to stuff it to Eli Manning and his salsa-dancing teammate Victor Cruz? New England fans, most of all, probably want Eli to step in front of a bus or two.
While rooting for the underdog is a huge part of America's sports culture (name any sports movie), does it really benefit the culture of the sport? Imagine a world where the underdogs won. This is what the NFL is attempting by scheduling teams by the last season's records ("strength of schedule"). If every city could win a Super Bowl once, there'd be no such thing as an underdog anymore. Every team would finish 8-8, 9-7, or 7-9. On the other side of the spectrum, however, is the great franchise.
There have been some amazing eras in football history. Think Aikman's Cowboys, Bradshaw's Steelers, Starr's Packers. We look back and admire these great eras -- we don't think, "Man, I'm glad everyone has won one Super Bowl each." Sports would be boring. Sure every game might be good but the season would be boring, the legacies would be boring/nonexistent.
I was the only person in the room rooting for the Colts during Super Bowl XLIV, of which the underdog Saints won. The Saints had the country's attention, a team that had never been to a Super Bowl, and with an emotional charge to lead the city of New Orleans out of its Hurricane Katrina-induced slump. The country fell in love. They're a bunch of saps. I think Indy had the chance to be a great franchise -- they would have had two titles, and a long future ahead of them. Now, history will lump Manning into that category of simply great QBs, instead of being a part of a great franchise with multiple title rings. You can list him next to Dan Marino, not Tom Brady, Joe Montana, or Troy Aikman -- players with championship culture enshrouding them for their entire lives.
As a Patriots fan, I've tried to make the case for a Patriots/Giants rematch, round three. Some of my friends fear the very idea, and refuse to entertain the thought. "We'd be screwed," one said. You see, this is because a Patriots/Giants rematch would be the greatest game ever. No one could predict who would win. The Giants would simply be defending their title, but the Patriots would be seeking retribution, and everything would be on the line.
If Washington scraped its way to the Super Bowl with a 10-6 record and faced a team like the Pats (or Houston, or Denver), we'd witness a blowout and half of America would tune out in a drunken stupor around the third quarter. I'd even be more excited to see the Giants have to defend their title against Manning's Broncos, or any of the other consistent-winner AFC teams that just can't seem to get a real break against some of the titans of the Conference (think of the Ravens and Joe Flacco, poor guy).
While a good underdog story is fun, and we can all feel good inside, I want to see a Clash of the Titans. That's good football.
-RM