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http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/giants/2008-08-18-underdogs_N.htmBy Larry Weisman, USA TODAY
ALBANY, N.Y. If the New York Giants came from nowhere to win the Super Bowl, they managed to make it a round trip. They are, once again, nowhere.
Best team in the NFL? Hah. Go find someone anyone willing to make that declaration.A favorite to repeat? Please. They're not even expected to win the NFC East, a division the Dallas Cowboys ruled in 2007, though they couldn't derail the Giants in the postseason.
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"We were the underdog in every game we played through the playoffs last year. No one thought we were going to win those games, and we went out and won them," quarterback Eli Manning says. "We're still the underdog. That doesn't upset us. We don't mind going under the radar a little bit. We're still the Super Bowl champions."
That should be impossible to forget. Think back to February, when the New England Patriots needed only to defeat the Giants a team they'd already beaten to become the greatest team of all time. A win in Super Bowl XLII and the Patriots would post an unprecedented 19-0 record.
They fell less than a minute short of earning their place in NFL lore. Manning brought the Giants down the field and threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left, and the Giants claimed a 17-14 upset and the NFL title.
The Patriots, winners of three Super Bowls in seven years, would truly have been the NFL's modern-day dynasty. The Giants? More like pretenders to the throne.
They reign. They do not rule. A bit like the British royal family. They beat the best the Patriots to be the best, but they somehow have become champions without a portfolio. They weren't supposed to win three road playoff games and prevent the Patriots from making history. Yet they achieved all of that without raising their status, then or now.
It's an issue of pride for some of the Giants, a point of mild amusement for others. A little to rile up the blood for some of the guys, just more blather for their friends.
"I think we do have a chip on our shoulder. You read the papers, we had no chance in the NFC," defensive end Justin Tuck says.
So this is a spur to perform?
"If you need motivation at this level, you don't need to be here," Tuck responds. "If you can't hype yourself up when you walk out into a stadium and see 85,000 screaming fans, there's something wrong with you."
Interesting dichotomy.
"Players love that kind of stuff," general manager Jerry Reese says. "It's good to write about, and players love to talk about 'us against the world,' and we played that role well. It worked for us. If it helps players get a little chip on their shoulder, I'm OK with it. It (the Super Bowl) is in the books for me. Whether it was a fluke or what, it's in the books."
The Giants flamed out at the end of the 2006 season, slipping into the playoffs with an 8-8 record and exiting in one defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles. Running back Tiki Barber retired after that game, essentially blaming coach Tom Coughlin's gruff style and uncompromising ways for his unwillingness to return. Then the Giants opened 2007 with a pair of losses, allowing 80 points.
"At the end of '06, it was the same basic formula: fire the coach, get rid of the quarterback, fire all the players. We go 0-2, and it's: fire the coach, fire the quarterback, get rid of the players. You just hang in there," says Coughlin, given a one-year extension before the 2007 season and a five-year contract worth $25 million after the Super Bowl.
The Giants weren't supposed to hit any high notes in the season past, and they aren't supposed to again.
"Nobody picked us last year to do anything," left tackle David Diehl says. "What is the difference this year?"
Ah, the differences are many. The question is: What difference will they make?
Consider the personnel.
Two players of outsized personality and production, defensive end Michael Strahan and tight end Jeremy Shockey, have left the premises. Strahan, the 15-year veteran, retired. The Giants traded Shockey to the New Orleans Saints. Three other Super Bowl starters safety Gibril Wilson and linebackers Kawika Mitchell and Reggie Torbor exited as free agents.
"It's sad to see people go, but it's part of the business," defensive end Osi Umenyiora says. "I've been around for a while, I've seen a lot of people come and go, and, luckily, I've been the one to stay around. Hopefully I stay around a little bit longer.
"It's a challenge every year, not only to have success but to also meet new people and have new experiences with people."
Strahan had nine of New York's league-leading 53 sacks and was still among the NFL's best run-defending ends. Shockey missed the final two regular-season games with a broken leg and barely registered a presence with the club during the playoff run. The Giants looked to trade him to the Saints before and during the draft in April and finally made the deal in July.
