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Tuesday, January 16
Pollack: Vanilla Sunday
By Ron Pollack
Pro Football Weekly
Too damn bad!
That's what I have to say to all the people who are unhappy that the
meat-and-potatoes New York Giants are representing the NFC in the Super
Bowl.
|  | | Jim Fassell got the Gatorade dunk for winning the NFC, but the Giants haven't made a splash with critics. |
TV doesn't like how vanilla the Giants are? Too damn bad!
Columnists don't like the fact that the Giants don't excite like the Rams? Too damn bad!
Football fans don't like the fact that a retread like Kerry Collins will play in the season's biggest game? Too damn bad!
Everybody needs to quit whining about the Giants. Not enough style points,
say the critics.
Well, if you ask me, the Giants put up 41 style points in their 41-0 NFC
title-game victory over the Vikings. Remember the Vikings? If you're looking
for them, they're the purple stain that you can still see on the Giants
Stadium field if you care to check. My goodness, that game was as one-sided
as a condemned man facing a firing squad. The only difference was that the
poor Vikings didn't get a blindfold.
The complaining about the Giants may quiet down a bit after that execution.
Make no mistake, though, the moaning was reaching ear-splitting proportions
about the prospects of the Giants reaching the Super Bowl as they prepared
to take on the Vikings.
Apparently, most people don't realize what the playoffs are about. They are
not about weeding out the boring teams. They are not about creating the
matchup that will earn the greatest TV ratings. You don't wait by the mailbox to see if an invite to Super Sunday will
arrive. If you want to play in the Super Bowl, you go out and earn it -- like
a man. Last man standing gets the ticket. You don't ask for permission. You
storm the walls. You are barbarians at the gate. If people won't give you
respect, who cares? You go out and take it.
The postseason is about determining a champion. Nothing else.
It's not a popularity contest. It's not voted on by the assistant sports
information director in charge of woman's softball who fills out the ballot
for the head coach in college football. This isn't figure skating, where the
Russian judge refuses to give high marks to the American pixie. This isn't
boxing, where judges defy logic with their decisions.
This is the NFL, where the only totals that matter are on the scoreboard.
You earn a spot in the Super Bowl on merit. The Giants have done just that.
And I don't just mean in their NFC title-game blowout win, which was as
competitive as a hammer against a nail.
The Giants were winning on merit well before that. They earned the No. 1 seed
in the NFC on merit. They got to the NFC title game on merit. They've now
reached the Super Bowl on merit. Anyone who doesn't realize this deserves a
demerit.
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Apparently, most people don't realize what the playoffs are about. They are not about weeding out the boring teams. They are not about creating the matchup that will earn the greatest TV ratings. ” |
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The Giants have earned everything, earned a chance to play for all the
marbles because they were the only balanced team in the NFC playoffs this
season. The Rams and Vikings didn't play enough defense. The Buccaneers and
Eagles didn't play enough offense. And the Saints didn't play enough healthy
bodies.
The Giants are the only NFC playoff team that has had everything going for
it.
The defense is terrific. Defensive tackle Keith Hamilton has been one of the most underrated players of the season. Defensive end Michael Strahan has been coming on like gangbusters. Linebacker Jessie Armstead is a play-making, emotional leader whom you want in your foxhole when the bullets are flying.
The offense may not be space-age like the Rams', but the Giants quietly get
the job done. They ranked 11th in the NFL in rushing yards per game and 13th
in passing yards per game during the regular season. While not dominant
rankings, both are above average.
Everybody talks about Collins' missteps earlier in his career, but while no
one was paying attention, he posted the NFC's fifth-best passer rating this
season. Running backs Ron Dayne and Tiki Barber, thunder and lightning, are a tag team
that ran for a cumulative 1,776 yards, which is more than any featured back
had this year. Wide receivers Amani Toomer and Ike Hilliard may not scare you, but they
can beat you. The offensive line may not have huge names, but it has been a
consistent area of strength.
The biggest criticism of the Giants is that they are not the Rams. Well,
that's just fine with the Giants because being the Rams meant getting
knocked out in the first round of the playoffs this season.
The road to a title is about winning by any means necessary. Scratch, claw,
bite. Don't talk about how. Talk about by how much. As long as you have one
more point than the opposition -- or 41 more points, as was the case against
the Vikings -- that's all that matters.
The Giants prove an old adage from the NCAA basketball tournament: survive
and advance. They did that enough during the regular season to earn
home-field advantage and then rode that home cooking to the Super Bowl. Win
or die. Momma can't help you. The voters can't help you. Only you can help
you. And the Giants have helped themselves to a trip to the Super Bowl.
The rest of the world may not like it, but the Giants won't apologize for
their presence during the Super Bowl buildup. As head coach Jim Fassel would
say, I guarantee it.
Material from Pro Football Weekly.
Visit PFW's web site at http://www.profootballweekly.com
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