Fear and Greed Blog

In other news ...

The New York Giants beat the Green Bay Packers yesterday in a hard fought contest. They will now face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on February 3rd. This will be a re-match of the last game of the regular season, which the Patriots won by a score of 38 to 35.

The early line on the game favors the Patriots by 14 points.

The Patriots are attempting to duplicate the Dolphins' 1972 perfect season in which they won 17 games, including the 1973 Super Bowl. The Patriots' task would be even more impressive as they have to contend with both a longer season (now 16 games instead of 14) and free-agency (the Dolphins were able to keep their team together because players didn't have the freedom to leave).

The Giants, who have set a record by winning 10 road games in a row, have been underdogs throughout the playoffs. As Eli Manning said, when asked about what he likes about the road "I like that we win on the road."

As an avid Giants fan, I am rooting for a third Super Bowl for the team (they won in 1987 and 1991).

The Patriots, under coach Bill Belichick, are extremely tough; and they'll be looking for their fourth Super Bowl victory in seven years. Coach Belichick was an integral part of the Giants two Super Bowl wins as their defensive coordinator. Unfortunately he left before Bill Parcells announced his (first) retirement, and we ended up with Ray Handley. Tom Coughlin (the current Giants coach) also left before the retirement (between the 1991 Super Bowl victory and Parcells' retirement, on May 16th, Belichick left to become the head coach of the Cleveland Browns and Coughlin left to become the head coach of Boston College). I have to believe that the Giants, who still had Phil Simms and Lawrence Taylor, would have been in the playoffs for most of the early 1990s had either Coughlin or Belichick become the head coach after Coach Parcells.

The Patriots are an extremely professional team. They are talented and disciplined. They will be an incredibly tough team to defeat. Coach Belichick will have two weeks to prepare for the Giants (as compared to the week he had in week 17).

The Giants have yet to define their personality. They will have little pressure, since nobody will expect them to win (much like the 1991 contest in which the Buffalo Bills were heavily favored).

Eli Manning has been a better quarterback over the last four weeks. He has moved well in the pocket, made good decisions, and thrown accurate passes. I hope that he has turned a corner and will continue his growth.

Go Giants!!!