Back in Business- The People's Super Bowl Pick

After yesterdays heart wrenching post, I felt it best to go back to my roots and start bringing The People's Blog back to The People. No, this isn't a one day "guest appearance" ala The Return of the Ultimate Warrior, and it's a far cry from the Ferris Buehller shill sure to be one of the best Super Bowl commercials even though everyone saw it already (thank you Honda for that much needed bathroom break in advance. I'll always have you in mind over Toyota and Nissan). Will The Champ post every day? Come on.....Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Creativity doesn't come in a bottle you know. With that we proceed.

I'm not going to break the game down like all the talking heads. You've heard all the angles, you've seen video, broken down the game tapes, listened to the crazy interviews at media day and even read poor Giselle's prayer to the Lord Above. No, I will tell you what will happen how it will happen and how at the end of the day, the Super Bowl Champ will be ____________.

To start, Boston has been a royal pain in the rear for New York for way to long, and despite 2007, 2004 really sticks in our craw. We could care less about the historic Red Sox collapse this past September/October (ok, that's a lie. We enjoyed it very much...) or that the Giants beat The Pats earlier this year with the JV starting. No. We need to bury Boston. Stick a fork in them and send the Patriots and Red Sox back to being the cursed franchises they always were.

NE last Super Bowl team was a squad that had a throwback defense- was tough, a team that would smack receivers down at the line, that was led by guys like Teddy Bruschi, Asante Samuel, Richard Seymour, Rodney Harrison and Mike Vrable, a team that intimidated, a team that stood toe to toe with the Greatest Show on Turf and came out standing. A team that is remarkably similar to this New York Giant squad.
This years version? Yes, they have the possible GOAT in Brady (as I have discussed prior), they have Belichek, who even though I think is slightly overrated is still an All Time great coach, they have the great Gronk- Hernandez TE combo; but in the end they lack toughness. They get pushed around. They get scored on. Even the GOAT gets a little frazzled when he gets hit.The toughest guy they have will be far from 100% (in Gronk).

The Giants? They are New York tough to the bone. They have a QB who personifies toughness. A guy a few years ago was being run out of town in ways that would embarrass Mark Sanchez. A guy that despite throwing 59 times and getting hit on approximately half those throws by the NFL's toughest and most turnover driven defense, kept coming back like Rocky Balboa, not turning it over and throwing for over 300 yards and 3 TD's and led his team to another NFC Championship ("he's not human" in Drago voice). They were battle tested all season, barely getting into the playoffs and then taking the toughest road possible (after beating a soft Atlanta squad- on a separate topic has there ever been a tough Atlanta squad in any sport?) by beating the defending World Champs and All World QB on their home turf and then doing the same to the NFL's toughest defense.The Pats? The best QB they since October was Tebow.

Did the Giants under achieve all season? Of course they have. Yes, they had huge injuries to Tuck and Osi but still. Everyone has big injuries. This is the National Football League for crying out loud! It's my biggest knock on why Coughlin cant be considered in the class of Belichek, Walsh, Parcells, et al.  His teams go to war with him but they also quit on him. Remember in 2007, he was on the verge of being fired before their great run. Still, when he gets the troops going, they go. And despite their 9-7 regular season record they have far more talent on both sides of the ball than does NE. It's not even close. If they put all their players in a pool and had a draft today, here's how it might come out.

1. Brady 2. Manning 3. Pierre Paul 4/5 Nicks/Cruz 6. Tuck 7. Gronk 8. Mayo 9. Osi 10. Light

Maybe you switch a guy here or there but generally the talent lies on the NY side of the ball. The toughness lies on the NY side of the ball. Even the GOAT is ofter now that he's married to Giselle (ok, I don't really believe it but you gotta love the New England paranoia that does) Experience? Even. Only advantage the Pats have are on Special teams as the Giants are very weak and vulnerable there. That's it. And I think the Giants find a way to adjust there.

At the end of the day, after all the wings, the beer, the stupid prop bets you made when you were  drinking too much and throwing around way too much testosterone, the New York Football Giants will once again be Kings of the Football Road.

ED NOTE: I am a full fledged Oakland Raider fan so no bias except a singular pure hatred of New England sports went into this post.