Big Blue Domination

We have exceeded unchartered waters with the New York "football" Giants. At the moment, most Big Blue fans are in state of complete shock and amazement at the season the team is having the year after unexpectedly winning the Super Bowl.

If you took a trip down memory lane, you could start after week two last season when the Giants defense had given up 80 points to the Cowboys and Packers, and resorted to avoiding the media's questions by blowing air horns in the locker room. This stunt was meant to deflect criticism of the team's awful defensive performance in its first two-games, and midway through Week 3, with the team trailing 17-3 against the Redskins, most Giants fans were resigned to the thought of a season without a first-round playoff loss, a mid-season firing of coach Tom Coughlin and the dream of benching our quarterback Eli Manning. Most fans were ready to quit on defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, and could not wait for the season to end. But than a funny thing happened to this team. They started playing with an "Us against the World," mentality and went on to beat the Skins in that game with the famous defensive stop of Gibbs' Skins on the one-yard line for four straight plays.

Since that emotional victory, the Giants have gone 24-5 which includes their playoff victories last season, and their "loss" to the Patriots in week 17 of last season. They are doing what the last two unexpected Super Bowl Winners could not do; repeat. The 2001 New England Patriots were the unexpected AFC representative in the 2001 Super Bowl in Tom Brady's first full season. We all know the magic they displayed against the greatest show on turf and Vinatieri's kick could have propelled them the next season to greater heights, but instead they crashed back to earth (albeit for just one season) going 9-7.

The 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers were led to the Super Bowl with a superb running attack, stellar defensive play and the mistake-free execution of rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. They went on the road and defeated the 3,2,and 1 seed in the AFC (all on the road) before dismantling the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. Most figured Big Ben would be able to replicate the success they had in the playoffs with the core nucleus returning the next year. What transpired, though, was an 8-8 season with no playoff berth for Cowher's crew.

Why bring these two teams up as examples? They personify the difficulty level of repeating the next season the way the Giants have at the moment. Only twice in the past 18 years have teams posted a record of at least 10-1 the season after a Super Bowl Victory. The 2004-05 New England Patriots and the 1998-99 Denver Broncos, both of whom went on to repeat as Super Bowl Champions.

Not much is certain in today's NFL, and parody runs amuck week in and week out, but ths year one thing has remaine constant: Even with the losses of Strahan, Umenyiora, Wilson and Mitchell on the defensive side of the football, the Giants as a unit have had the depth and consistency to withstand these losses and are in a position to do what has been done just seven times prior; Repeat as NFL Super Bowl Champions.