Surprise, surprise: Giants again look like NFL's most dominant team
The New York Giants are the best team in – Whoa! Did you see that RGIII touchdown run?
The New York Giants are the best team in – The Pats lost? Tom Brady must be bent!
The New York Giants are the best team in – Romo fail!
Our football attention span is too short and our desire for big headlines is too strong to appreciate the budding dynasty in our midst. The Giants are only 4-2, but they are still the best team in football. And Sunday, in what was supposed to be a "revenge" game for the 49ers, the hit men from Jersey traveled west and proved again they deserve far more buzz than they get.
The 26-3 drubbing was vintage Giants: efficient, decimating and borderline boring. That's the problem. We're all so set on controversy and debate that the Giants don't move the needle even when they move mountains. What's to debate? Eli Manning is outstanding. The running game is overpowering. The receivers are reliable. The pass rush is fierce. The allegedly weak secondary picked off Alex Smith three times Sunday. And the coaching is unflappable.
Yawn.
The Falcons and Texans have looked terrific. But what have they really proven? Nothing. If the Giants played either of those teams in the playoffs, would you really bet against Big Blue? Are the Falcons and Texans really that much better than the team the Giants destroyed on the road Sunday? The Ravens? The Cardinals? The Bears?
[Also: Tim Tebow looks like unwanted man with Jets]
Sunday's matchup was nonsensically billed as a revenge game, but that gives the Niners too much credit. The only revenge the Niners can get is if they win a Super Bowl, and that wasn't going to happen in Week 6. Instead, the Giants got revenge on all those who thought they got away with something in the NFC Championship. People have laughed at teams who have come to Candlestick trying to run the ball on the Niners. Well, the Giants ran the ball down the Niners' throats. They played physical football against an extraordinarily physical team, and they bent Jim Harbaugh's boys into a pretzel. It was the worst loss of the San Francisco coach's career. Next!
Remember, the Giants' schedule is brutal – among the toughest in the league. So a 4-2 record so far is a little deceiving. And the Giants have never threatened to run the table anyway. They just win playoff games and statement games, like they did Sunday.
There is no lightning rod on this team. No matinee idol. No Next Big Thing. No Gronk. There is no "Is this guy a cancer? Is this guy a savior?" Even Justin Tuck, with his multiple Super Bowl rings, just isn't as interesting as predecessors like Lawrence Taylor or Michael Strahan. Tom Coughlin isn't as quotable as Bill Parcells. Martellus Bennett isn't as New York as Mark Bavaro. The Giants are even in the shadow of the Giants. The only real debate is whether Eli is better than his brother, which he is. But everyone still talks about Peyton Manning because of his comeback and his commercials. That's fine. More likely than not, however, Peyton will be watching his brother in January just like the rest of us.
[Also: Q&A: Drew Brees criticizes NFL's investigation of Saints' bounty investigation]
The funniest part is that the Giants play in the biggest media market in America and they're still taken for granted. All the East Coast bias in the world can't save the Giants from their own excellence. (Seriously, if you walked into a bar and asked "How did the Giants do?" you might get a comment about Buster Posey or Madison Bumgarner.)
Yet this is a team that's on the cusp of being a dynasty. Think about it: The Patriots were a team of the decade with three titles; the Cowboys were a team of the decade with three. The Giants have a legitimate shot at that level of achievement. And with two titles in their pockets, they look better than ever.
It is only October. Lots can happen. But a lot has already happened to the Giants. They lost Mario Manningham and Brandon Jacobs to free agency. They lost Hakeem Nicks to injury. And they keep on going, with hardly a hiccup. We'll keep gossiping and bickering and rightfully praising the season's surprises, because that's how we are as a football society. But until further notice, the New York Giants are the best team in – When is Tebow going to start?!
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