One Expected, One Not

We are now only a couple hours from Super Bowl XLII, which pits a team that was supposed to be there and one that was not.  In fact, if you think about it, at no point all season have the Patriots NOT been the favorite to represent the AFC in the Big Game.  On the other hand, at no point all season (until the final Tynes kick) have the Giants been considered the favorite to represent the NFC.  I am sure that you are all sick of Super Bowl previews, analysis and predictions, so I will save you all from more, but I did do a little research into my email inbox and found something interesting.  A good friend of mine is a die-hard Giants fan.  He is also a very intelligent sports fan, who is not prone to over-exaggeration.  I want to post his email, not to embarrass him or rub in his incorrectness, but to express how unpredictable and surprising this Giants’ run has been.  Anyway, here is the email I received on Monday, August 13, 2007:

“Dude,

So I watched the first Giants preseason game and they looked absolutely awful. Just terrible. They may be as bad as 4-12. They can’t run the ball, stop the run, control the line of scrimage, convert 3rd downs, cover anybody, and they have a coach they hate playing for. It’s like the perfect storm of things you don’t want to see on your football team.

But what really amazed me was that the thing that stuck out as sucking the most was our new defensiver coordinator who used to be with the eagles (Spagnulo). What is this guys deal? Is he a complete moron? Are you still cutting him checks? The scheme was dreadful. It looked like the defense you’d see in an 6 year old girls soccer game: random chaos with someone occassionally chasing the person with the ball.

For example, we’re playing a 4-3 a defense that’s designed to stop the run. It’s a running down. He has the defensive line stunt. How retarded is that? You stop the run by being disciplined, filling gaps, and getting penetration. The best way to do NONE of those things is to have your defensive line start the play going laterally. Result: the Panthers first team averaged over 12 yards per carry. 12 yards per carry!

But at least he’s going to import some of those classic eagles blitzes, right?  Wrong. The blitx packages were also moronic. For example, for some reason he likes to blitz the outside linebacker up the middle. You know, the middle, the furthest place on the whole line for the outside linebacker to get to. The middle, where the center is the only guy on the line who isn’t already blocking someone since there is no nose tackle in the scheme. It didn’t seem so much like he wanted to get to the quarterback as much as he wanted to just make sure everyone on the offensive line had someone to block. Result:  Delhomme didn’t even need pads.

Our safties twice broke the cardinal safety rule: If the QB has the ball, nobody gets behind you. Result:  One 85 yard touchdown pass, one almost 85 yard touchdown pass.

Needless to say that in his first foray into the defensive coordinator position, the guy didn’t exactly impress. I’m going to hope that he just didn’t want to show the “real” defense we’ll be playing because it’s only preseason. Yep, that’s my rationalization and I’m sticking to it.”

By the way, this is the same team that will be playing for NFL Championship in a little over three hours from now.