PHIL SIMMS AND FINAL THOUGHTS ON XLII

I am not a very big Mike Francesa fan, but he did a beautiful job articulating all of the storylines for this Super Bowl. In a nutshell, this matchup has the ability to live up to the hype for the first time in a long time because of the 18-0 season of the Patriots. And if the Giants were to somehow pull off an upset, it would also imply an epic game and one of the biggest upsets in all of sports. So we are going to see some form of history tonight, and if the game is competitive it will be very special.

Phil Simms was on for an hour. Newer blog readers know that I think the world of Simms for too many reasons to list here, but suffice it to say that I respect his opinions and views immensely. Phil can be wrong- he picked the Raiders over the Bucs in the Super Bowl ~5 years ago. He also contended that the Giants were fine for being conservative on offense in Q4 vs Dallas, something I disagree with in a HUGE way.

Against Dallas (3 weeks ago) he thought the Giants would be competitive and had a chance at possibly winning the game. TODAY HE THINKS "THE GIANTS CAN HAVE A CHANCE TO BEAT THE PATRIOTS." So his sentiments are eerily similar. What does that mean? It simply tells us that we are not completely subjective and biased for thinking that the Giants have a chance.

* Almost everyone he has spoken with thinks the Patriots are going to score in the 40's and and are going to win easily, but that he is not of that opinion.
* It will be a lower scoring game than most think and it will be more competitive.
* The NYG are on an emotional high that he has not seen in sports.
* Two keys are (1) can the Giants DL be disruptive (2) can the Giants be more physical on offense.
* Has heard this fast turf is in excellent condition and will be even faster, which benefits speed.

In terms of the players who benefit from speed, this means Moss, Welker, Umenyiora and Bradshaw.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Win the game, win it ALL, win the SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP. Are we underdogs? Yes. But if we have that small chance to win, I want to win. I will leave it with the final thought from Michael Strahan after the Patriot loss in W17:
"It's frustrating because when you have a team like this up against the ropes, you can't afford to do that," Strahan said. "I guess I am supposed to be happy that we are going to the playoffs and we played well and we came almost close but that is not good enough for me. I'm not out there to play and be fish food," Strahan continued. "I'd rather be the fish. I want to eat it." Beat the Patriots tonight and win the title!