A “Giant” Season

Everyone that doubted the New York Giants can now sit down and bow their head in disbelief because the New York Giants are Super Bowl XLII champions. I repeat: the Giants are Super Bowl Champions.

Yes, this is a "Giant" season.

This is the season that the Giants had to show time and time again what they are made of. This is the season that the Giants did better on the road, winning their last 11 away from Giants Stadium and being dubbed the best road team.

For the New York Giants (10-6 regular season record), the 2007 season was anything but Cinderella, compared to their Super Bowl XLII contenders, the New England Patriots, who had a perfect 18-0 record going into the Super Bowl (now the 1972 Miami Dolphins can still savior their perfect record). But in the end, the Patriots kind of got what they deserved after it was noted that they were spying on the Jets' plays in the first game of the season.

For the Giants, many underlying questions came to light when they had their struggles such as "is Eli the real deal?" and "is Tom Coughlin on his way out?" Those questions were raised before the Giants started to turn the season around and making it to the playoffs and eventually win the Super Bowl. Eli Manning went 19-of-34 for 255 yards and was crowned the Super Bowl XLII MVP, just like his brother was last season with the Indianapolis Colts. And after all the complaining, especially from Tiki Barber, about Coughlin's coaching style, he proved them wrong. Coughlin is a hard charger and all he wants are for the Giants to play hard and have heart. That's what they did in Super Bowl XLII.

"Whether or not I have to utilize this verbally to the team or not," Coughlin said in his daily press conference, "it's there. We've been underdogs pretty much every time we've played. The main theme is having something to prove. We always have something to prove and there's nothing wrong with that."

The play of the Super Bowl XLII came with 35 seconds left in the game and Eli Manning making the pass of his life to Plaxico Burress, a 13-yard touchdown pass on an 83-yard, 12-play drive. This was also the pass that Manning and Burress were practicing all week before the Super Bowl and it paid off. The Giants defense also hit Patriots quarterback Tom Brady hard, sacking him five times, with Brady throwing 29-of-48 passes for 266 yards.

The momentum for their stake at the Super Bowl title started in the wild card round of the playoffs when the Giants beat Tampa Bay, 24-14. They then went to the divisional round and beat Dallas 21-17. The Conference Championships was where everyone doubted the determination of the Giants against the Green Bay Packers and said that "they had no chance." Well, everyone was wrong. Yes, it was a nail-biter but the Giants walked away with a 23-20 overtime victory and their chance at greatness came true.

"We like making things tough on ourselves," Eli Manning said to the media. "We like the tough situations ... You are going against a team that is undefeated in the Super Bowl, and it is not going to be easy. It is going to be a tough game, but that is when we have been playing our best football."

For the Giants as a franchise, they are used to having winning seasons. They have won six NFL titles (1927, 1934, 1938, 1956, 1986, and 1990) and have found many ways to win — just like this season on the gridiron. The Giants last Super Bowl appearance was in 2000 when Jim Fassel was head coach and that season was in question. 2000 was a make-or-break year for the team and after two back-to-back losses at home against St. Louis and Detroit, the Giants' record went to 7-4 and them making the playoffs was bleak. Fassel said in a press conference that "they are going to the playoffs." They responded winning the rest of their games and facing the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV, losing to them 34-7.

For every Giants team, they find ways to win when their backs are against the wall, from the 2000 team to the '07 team. When Tom Coughlin took the team over in 2004, it was a struggle. His tenure produced inconsistent results with a 25-23 record and two playoff losses and media scrutiny how he has been guiding the team. However, this season the team found ways to win and without scrutiny of the coaching staff or the many negative headlines the were plastered all over the tabloids last season.

"We're not going to please everyone and we know that," Coughlin told the media. "Sam Walton had said you shouldn't worry about what's written in the newspaper. You should focus on the customer. At the same time, we also need to tell our story better."

A better story this year than past years and wins that have made many say this is a great team. This season, the Giants tied the record for most sacks as a team in an NFL game, after sacking Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb 12 times on their September 30 meeting. They were also the third franchise to win 600 games, defeating the Atlanta Falcons 31-10. They defeated the Miami Dolphins in their October 28th game at London's Wembley Stadium, outside the United States, 13-10. This paved their way to make it to the Super Bowl and a winning season. They also set the record for most consecutive road wins with 10 and are the first team to defeat the No. 1 seed of their division since the 1990 playoff realignment.

"If you are as good as you can possibly be, the rest of that stuff will take care of itself," Coughlin said. "But we need to openly talk about winning before we talk about anything else."

Something that the Giants know now with the ring of Super Bowl XLII champions.