The New York Giants have always been one of the classiest franchises in football. Between the Mara and Tisch families, the team has been owned by quality human beings who care about their players, coaches, and fans. The front office of the team is led by another top notch guy in general manager Jerry Reese.
We as Eagles fans hate the Giants because we are supposed to, but I guarantee most of us would switch ownership and front office with them in a heartbeat. That being said, if the Giants do end up winning their second Super Bowl in five seasons, the powers that be should honor the one guy outside the organization who’s made it all possible: Andrew Walter Reid. That’s right.
Reid has definitely had a hand in what could very soon end up being a mini-dynasty. In 2007, the Eagles head coach went into the season deciding the Eagles would be fine with Greg Lewis returning punts. Two fumbles later, the Eagles lost on opening day to the Packers and never quite recovered. The team finished the season 8-8 and allowed the Giants to win the Wild Card. The Lewis fiasco wasn’t the only thing that held the Birds back that year.
They were a preseason Super Bowl favorite (as the Gold Standard, aren’t they always?), but the usual poor play calling and time management marred them and deflated any chance at making the playoffs. The Giants, as we all know by now, made the playoffs, won three games on the road, and shocked the undefeated Patriots in the big game. This year was even worse.
The Eagles were easily the favorite to represent the NFC in Indianapolis (again, aren’t they always?) but once again played well below expectations and finished 8-8. If they don’t blow a 20-point second half lead at home against San Francisco, or let Joe Montana, err I mean John Skelton beat them in the fourth quarter (again at home), none of this is even being discussed right now. They would have won what was thought to be a brutally weak NFC East and the Giants would be playing golf. But as is usually the case with an Andy Reid led team, it didn’t pan out that way.
So as the Giants travel to San Francisco this weekend, they are on the verge of yet another miracle. New York is a very talented team, and if they do win it all (which I actually expect them to do), it will be well deserved. But this team better realize they had help to get where they are. That help materialized in the shape of a man who has fire in his belly. Giant fans, do yourselves a favor and thank the man who helped make it all possible. Andy, take a bow.
– Tidbits
-If the Giants win Super Bowl XLVI, Eli Manning will have cemented himself as an absolute lock to make the Hall of Fame. I can’t believe I just wrote that last sentence without throwing up, but it’s true. A New York win would give Peyton’s little brother two championships in five years and a reputation as winner who just happens to play in the biggest city in the world.
Prior to 2007, Eagles fans could count on two things: Andy Reid singlehandedly destroying their aspirations of attending a parade, and Eli choking when the game mattered most. No longer can we refer to him as “her” or “Sheli” or any other of the pet names that Manning earned early in his career. Nope, if he wins two games within the next three weeks, he will go down as an elite quarterback who, rightfully so, will have a place in Canton. Again, Andy Reid deserves some credit for this. I need a drink.
-When watching the NFC Championship game this Sunday, think back to Week 4 as the game that ultimately made this matchup possible. The Eagles were easily beating the 49ers, leading 23-3 in the second half. No one needs a history lesson to recall the huge collapse that led to San Fran squeaking out a 24-23 victory. The Niners win catapulted them to what wound up being a wildly successful 13-3 season. The week before they traveled the Philly, Jim Harbaugh’s team played in Cincinnati and beat the Bengals.
Instead of flying back home to prepare for the Eagles, the rookie head coach kept his team in Ohio as a way to build chemistry. When San Francisco came back to beat the Eagles, they bought in to what Harbaugh was selling and now are on the doorstep of their first Super Bowl appearance in 17 years. Meanwhile, if the Eagles don’t blow that 20-point lead, they would have finished the season 9-7 and won the division. I think about this kind of stuff as I cry myself to sleep at night.
-Steve Spagnuolo absolutely made the right decision in signing on as the Saints new defensive coordinator. Now he gets to go work for a team that’s already won a Super Bowl and boasts one of the most potent offenses in the NFL. Turning that defense around and possibly winning another title will be just what Spags needs to capture another chance at a head coaching gig in the future. I don’t blame him one bit for not wanting to come back to this debacle. Looks like another Juan-derful year on the horizon.
GREAT ARTICLE JOHN. I feel your pain brotha.
I am not sure what th eEagles have had to do with th eGiants Success..
The Giants are a better team,with better players who get better coaching..
I am a life-long EAgle Fan, And I can admit this easily because it’s true..
Eagles were sluggish and going thru the motions from Preseason to the 1st month of the Season essentially knowkcing them out of any real post-season chance… A real sad thing to me is that the Eagles 2011 Team was probably the heathiest one in many years that I can remember.. Besides DT A Dixon who had a season-ending injury, and a couple games missed by Vick/Maclin,Tapp,Parker, but this Team was fully loaded and healthy for the most part… I would definitely say that the chances of this occuring again anytime soon in very unlikley and a missed opportunity to not take advantage of having so few injuries
Paulman I dont believe that the Giants are better than the Eagles one bit. Just like I dont think man for man the Eagles are better than the Cowboys if you want to get real about it. What I do believe is philosophy and the the right coach for the right players means everything. The 49ers yes are littered with 1st and 2nd round picks but have sucked for years. Get the right coaches in and guess what wow they are in championship game. The Cowboys roster is LOADED with talent yet have only won 1 playoff game in 15 years are you kidding me? What do you think Sean Payton could do with Romo, Whitten, Bryant, Austin and Murray? are you kidding me? With the best defensive player in the NFL in Ware? Eagles, Giant and Redskin fans are sooo lucky the Cowboys havent found the right coaching staff in Dallas. . Soooo lucky. My point point is I believe most teams in the NFL have talent it comes down to philosophy and the right coach. IMO
Valid points dag,
Bottom line is that Giants won 9 Ganmes and won the NFC East in 2011 so they are the Better team as their record indicates and their play in the Playoffs justify’s them making it in… Giants had a tougher schedule than the Eagles and eneded up with the Division Crown.. I do agree that the OCahing and PHilosophy has a lot to do with it, but in the end, it’s the players who makes plays and Giants QB Eli, WR Cruz & Nicks made many more big plays than the Eagles top playmakers in QB Vick & WR D-Jax & Maclin all season long and that’s the reality of the matter..
Cowboys are still an under achieving team because they have not updgraded their OL and Def Secondary for the last 3 Seasons when everyone knows it’s their biggest weakness.. They keep bringing in skill players at WR, RB but they can’t protect Romo consistently and they can’t cover in the Secondary..
What a moronic headline by a moronic reporter. The Eagles are NOT a better team than the NYG by any standard. I would take Victor Cruz and Nicks over Maclin and Desean any day! Eli is having his best year as a pro and our defensive players as a unit are better than yours! we beat New England we beat the Bills we Beat the Packers teams you did not beat this year we over came. Nicks more TD’s than Desean and more yards than desean. Cruz more yards and more TD’s than Maclin. I could go on and on but how can you say the Eagles are a better team and not have any thing to back up your statement with?
Eli, Tuck, Osi, JPP, etc are what make the Giants go. Coughlin is no world beater. Good players make good teams. Ownership has little to do with it either, but that would be taking away another of Philadelphia’s whipping boy. Players make plays.
MVP’s for the Giants were JPP on Defense and WR Victor Cruz on Offense..
WR Cruz carried this Offense the 1st half of the Season when WR Nicks & Manningham and RB Bradshaw were all injured and hurting, Cruz made some real big catches and some real momentum swing plays when the Giants Offense was struggling early in the Season
Same could be said of JPP who was the most consistent Defender with the injuries they had with Umenyuri,Tuck and all the Secondary issues..
I am not sure who many Eagles fans realize how many key players for the GIants were hurt and did not play full Season this year…
Look at WR’s Nicks & Manningham,RB Bradshaw,FB Hedgecock,DL Tuck,Umenyuri, LB’s Goff & Boley, CB’s T Thomas & D Johnson and even their Top Pick in Prince Amukarama missed 1/2 th eSeasons and 2nd Round Pick DT Marvin Austin who was hurt in SUmmer and was out all-Season..
If the Eagles sustained these amount of missed games from many of their own key players, the Eagles would have been lucky to win 5 games..
Believe me, I am no Giant fan at all, but they are more talented,deeper and have better Coaching than the Eagles do, hands down…
I forgot to mention all the Giants Injuries along their O/Line too.. where they had 3 new Starters to start the Season even befiore the injurues started,,,
I said earlier that the Eagles were one of the most healthiest Teams in the NFL this Year and failed to take advantage of their good fortune.. The fact that only 1-2 Players was on IR all season (A DIxon for most the Season,
M Fokou after Week 10 and then S/Teamer Colt Anderson & Safety Coleman right at the end of the Season) is almost unheard of and very unlikely to occur again..
Joe, I would take Coughlin over Reid any day…I think any reasonable football fan would as well…Listen we all hate the Giants, and we have pretty much owned them over the years but as much as it hurts to say I think the Giants might be starting to separate themselves from the rest of the division. They have loads of talent…on defense and offense now. They easily have the better ownership and coaches…they pay the right guys and draft better players.
Yes players make plays like you say but guess what we could have easily had some of those players if it wasn’t for Reid and the FO’s deficiencies…Remember we took BG over JPP, we took Maclin over Nicks…When Rolle was available in FO, they paid him when he could of filled that spot on our team that has been killing us for many seasons.
We need a coach in here that will finally put value in the Linebacker and safety position which are easily the most important in the NFL right now on D. We need a guy that will spend that first round pick on him or go pay they best ones in FA, not the scrubs like Ernie Sims and Jarad Page.
I can see right now Barron or Hightower being there in the draft when we pick staring Reid right in his face…and him picking a DE that is best suited for a 3-4 system (BG anyone)…or trading back for more lower round picks.
Nobody thought Coughlin was a super-genius when the Gmen were falling apart, again, after starting off 6-2. I would suggest that JPP was considered a huge risk when they took him, and BG was playing at least as well in their rookie season, until the knee blew up. Is Nicks better than Maclin, or does he have a better qb throwing to him? Plus, linebacker is not the focal point of defenses, it is still and will remain defensive linemen, DEnd in particular, as well as cornerback.That being said, everybody now knows the question was not why take BG? It is and remains why did they not take Earl Thomas? It was such a painful need, and such large shoes to be filled following #20’s departure. But the desperate need for pass rush makes team do strange things to aquire pass rushing talent. Teo instead of Bowman haunts me as well. I was screaming at my television in that 3rd round that he was sitting there waiting.
I remember that too Joe about OLB Bowman who most has a mid-2nd Round Prospect and he fell to the 3rd Round… I looked at my notes from 2010 Draft and the Birds screwed up big time with those 1st 3 Rounds with the Trade ups, then Trading one of their 2nd Rounders to the Damn Cowboys who took ILB Lee (who was leading the NFC in Tackles and had a few Int’s before getting hurt mid-season when playing the Eagles and breaking his hand..)
They started that Draft with 6 Selections out of the Top #110-#120 Players and ended up with B Graham, N Allen,Teo Neisham and Trevor Lindley which has set this Franchise back 2 yeqars in my opinion.. I am not as down on B Graham as many others are.. I don’t think he ever be a Trent Cole or anywhere close to a Pro-Bowler, He’ll be a decent Rotational Player who should give the Eagles 8-10 Sacks per Season and play ok versus the run but definintely not worthe trading 2 3rd Round picks to move up 11 Spots in the 1st Round to get.. They really should have stayed put at #24 and drafted the best CB (McCourtey) or OT (Roger Saffold) or DT (Jared Odrick) which is what I had down in my notes as far as my Mock went and all 3 are playing very well so far in the NFL and are Starters and McCourtey has made the Pro-Bowl….
***Paulman’s SC Presidential Primary Predictions****
Winner – Newt Gringrinch 32 % of the Vote
2nd Place – Mitt Romney 27 % of the Vote
3rd Place – Ron Paul 22 % of the Vote
4th Place – Rick Santurom 18 % of the Vote
5th Place – Steve Colbert 1 % of the Vote
Turnout is considered strong
I hate to admit it, but I agree with you EaglesSuck. But you can still GFY!!! LMFBO!!!
Disagree..For evidence, where has having quality corners and D-end play gotten the Eagles=Nothing. Remember that was Reids philosophy and it blew up in his face this year. You need linebackers and safeties today…You have TEs in this league now that are unstoppable. Just ask the Saints safety, who cost them the game getting beat up and down the field by Davis.
I like Maclin don’t get me wrong but Nicks is much better than him lets be real…he would also be better for this team since we already have a smallish fast WR on this team who hates getting hit.
How was JPP a risk for the Eagles but BG wasn’t? BG is not suited for a 4-3 defense…Hell most drafts had him rated as a freakin linebacker which tells you all you need to know. And like you say Earl Thomas was there for the taking…everyone in PHilly though it was going to be Thomas…EVen SAl Pal said he was goin to be the pick during the TV coverage right after they traded up. Huge mistake right there.
Don’t even get me started on Teo whatever his name is…The guy himself didn’t even think he was that good to be picked that high since he was sleeping when they drafted him.
Paulman how can you say your not as down on BG, and then say he will be a rotational player at best for about 8 sacks a year…3-4th rounders are suppose to give you that production not a guy who you traded up for in the first round. Further, People can’t just say we have DE’s right now so who cares if the Eagles blew it. TC and Babin and Jenkins are not young at all…we will need replacements in the near future which is why that pick will kill us..
They should trade BG to the Steelers, they would like his fit more than us and need some young faces on that D. Trade BG and Justice to the Steelers for Antonio Brown, who is a stud and could easily fill DJax’s place if he bolts.
Pheags, look at facts man – Maclin isn’t small. And BG is not unsuited for the 4-3. Think Freeney. Think Dummerville. Not too small at all. They said that same linebacker thing about Cole… and….
You’re thinking with an ‘in the box’ closed mind – that’s weak.
Paul, who gives a crap about the Republican clowns.
have to agree with eaglesuck that’s moronic to somehow relate the giants success to eagles failure, and paulman taking, keeping notes on the draft, man you are one football geek, but I guess there’s a price to pay for being so knowledgeable about football, the king of gcobb
Shiller 1st off Maclin plays small. He cant break tackles, he doesnt fight for balls and is looking for the first opportunity to lay down on the grass after a catch. His speed is over rated I havent seen him blow by any DB deep in years. His lone long reception was on a trick play from Kolb against Atlanta. Talk abourt a dime a dozen reciever. He better hope DJax stays or I dont see him getting open on his own at all. Alot of fans talk about Jason Pierre Paul and Brandon Graham being the same weight. I dont care what the scale says. Brandon Graham looks like a little boy next to JPP.
Dag, I can’t disagree with you more about Maclin. But I guess you want everyone to be Andre Johnson. Oh well.
I have a feeling that if I gave you a stack of $100 bills, and one of them wasn’t crisp, you’d be disappointed.
I’d say pass rushers are the premium talents on defense. In that group i count OLB in 3-4 defenses. They are really stand-up defensive ends in a 5-2. Matthews (GB) drops into coverage about as often as does Trent Cole, occasionally but not much. Same for D Ware. Those guys certainly are not covering tight ends. There are very few if any that could cover V Davis, and no DC would attempt to try. Inside LB do not make huge money for the simple reason that they are easier to aquire than premier edge rushers. Pass rush is the single most important factor in modern NFL defense. The top end qb’s are simply too good to be allowed to have much time to throw.
What I mean about not being as down on BG as a bum/bust like many of you are..It’s not his fault the Eagles traded up and gave up what they did to get him..I jsut don’t think think he’s an everydown,play 60 Snaps a game an be a real gamechnger, this doesn’t mean I hate the guy or think he’s a bust.. I see him as 30-35 Snap a game players who can get you 8-10 sacks and make some plays behind the line of Scrimmage.. It this production worthy of the 13Th Overall Selection in the Draft, absolutely no, but again, I don’t balme GB fot this, the Eagles GM/AR made that decision… I just wan to see BG cant a full camp in where he’s 100% and then see how he does nex tSeason before I say he’s a bust or a bum..and one thing that continually cracks me up and why even bother with comparing him to JPP.. The Giants have a history of not only drafting but really developing very good DL due to their schemes and their great Coaching .. Go back to Strahan,Umenyuri,Tuck and now JPP, mnone of these players were big names out of College .. The Giants are known for this just like the Eagles ahve been known for Developing Godo QB’s and used to be Good Secondaries, but not anymore..
I think that if Jpp was was drafted and copached byt Segrest his Rookie Season, he would probably would be up like V Abriamri or Trent Laws, M Patterson, B Bunkley until Washburn had a chance to coach him up this Season..
I don’t know how you attach Andy Reid to the Giants success in either of their super bowl years. You could make a stronger case that the Giants owe their success to the underachieving (Mike McCarthy lead) Packers. Did the Giants not go on the road and beat the 13-3 Packers in 2007 and beat the 15-1 Packers in 2011?
If you thought of the Eagles as being the preseason favorite to win the super bowl in 2007, or in 2011 then you are as naive as Vince Young.