2007 New York Giants: What Destiny Awaits?

The 2007 Giants may be a team of destiny. They have won 10 straight road games, 3 playoff games on the road. They enter Super Bowl XLII underdogs by double digits to a team poised to enter the history books as the best team of all time. We find there are a couple of appropriate comparator teams in their Super Bowl run - the 1985 New England Patriots and the 2001 Patriots. How will this story end?

The 1985 Patriots went on the road to play 3 playoff games - the first time in the Super Bowl era that a team won 3 road playoff games - to advance to Super Bowl XX. There, they met the juggernaut that was the Chicago Bears. They were 15-1 in the regular season - defeated in the thirteenth game of the season 38-24 by the Dolphins. The Bears were so good, the first points they allowed in the post season were the first 3 in the Super Bowl. They defeated the Giants 21-0, and the Rams 24-0, and at the end of that Super Bowl, they were regarded as one of - if not THE - best team in the history of the league.

The 2007 won one less game that that Patriots squad during the regular season (10-6 to the 11-5 record of the Pats). They too have made the journey that Patriots team made - defeating the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers on the road.

The '85 Patriots also played the Bears earlier in the season, taking a 20-7 loss. The '07 Giants played the Patriots during the season as well - a 38-35 loss.

The 2001 Patriots came out of nowhere, reaching .500 on the season at 4-4 and again at 5-5. From there, they finished the season at 11-5 - their last loss? A 24-17 loss to the St. Louis Rams, the team they would face in Super Bowl XXXVI. A high powered; high octane offense that went into the Super Bowl as 14-point favorites.

The 1985 Patriots were a good football team - 11-5, an earlier game against their Super Bowl opponent and three road playoff games under their belt, they had every reason to be confident they could keep with the Bears. They utterly defeated the one team who had beaten the Bears - the Dolphins - in the AFC Championship game.

The 2001 Patriots were a surprising team - after losing their starting quarterback early in the season, their second year quarterback Tom Brady came out of nowhere to lead the team to the Super Bowl. They played a snowy game against the Raiders in the Divisional Round and won in overtime. They went into Super Bowl XXXVI as double digit underdogs and pulled off one of the biggest upsets of all time.

What of the fate that awaits the New York Giants when they kick off Super Bowl XLII against the New England Patriots?

The parallels to both the Champion Patriots of 2001 AND the defeated Patriots of 1985 are there with this Giants team.

In 1985, on the high of having reached the Super Bowl, the team had two weeks to prepare for the Bears. The 2001 team had no time - the Super Bowl was the week after the Championship games. And there in lies the biggest parallel for the Giants.

Facing an historic team with 2 weeks to prepare for their destiny, the Giants are likely to face a similar fate to that of the 1985 New England Patriots. A good team, matched up with an historic team with 2 weeks to prepare for the game.