Giants Scale History

They scaled Mount Everest. Defense wins championships, losses are inevitable, momentum spirals, tenacity trumps flash… these clichés prove insufficient. They demean the accomplishment’s enormity.

In Super Bowl XLII, the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots 17-14. With their victory, the Giants garnered their third Super Bowl (XXI & XXV). They nixed New England’s undefeated season.

The Giants were not solely defense. Blitzing and thumping merely underscored their triumph. Eli Manning and Plaxico Burress won this championship. Brandon Jacobs and Amani Toomer negotiated the playoffs. Obviously, Mathias Kiwanuka, Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck, and Osi Umenyiora were important. However, their wallops without points were meaningless.

For nine weeks, the Patriots were invincible. For nine weeks, they were vulnerable. They were never mythological. Ultimately, history was both their ambition and ruin. Akin to Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana, Tom Brady started his fourth Super Bowl. Bradshaw and Montana never lost.

The Giants upset was not historic. In Super Bowl III, the Jets were eighteen point underdogs. In Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots were fourteen point underdogs. The Giants upset was epic and monumental. The Patriots were perfect. Their offense was spectacular. Their defense was underrated. Yet, the Giants opposed them. They hit them. They knocked off the behemoth.