New York Giants: A Team of Destiny

At 10-5, the Giants entered the playoffs as the 5th of 6 seeds in the NFC. Entering week 17, they were 10-4. They had sown up a playoff spot. They had no reason to put on a game against New England. But they did and in so doing, they may have played themselves into the position of meeting the Patriots in Glendale, Arizona for Super Bowl XLII.

They came within a field goal of beating the undefeated. They led by 12-points at one point. They put it together and went on a run that can only be explained by "destiny."

Tom Coughlin, Eli Manning.

At the beginning of the season, Coughlin was looking like a lame duck - like he would be one of the first head coaches to be dismissed. Today, he's the NFC Champion. Eli Manning finished the season with 23 touchdowns, 20 interceptions. He had a season not unlike his previous two - statistically, he was even worse. Somehow the game with the Patriots woke a sleeping Giant, as it were.

Through three playoff games, he has yet to throw an interception. He has been absolutely solid.

Make no mistake here - the Giants have earned their way into the Super Bowl. They absolutely deserve to be at the pinnacle of the NFL world. One game away from winning the World Championship. This is a team that has demonstrated that they can come together and play for a common goal when the opportunity calls. This is no fluke - in the NFL, playoff teams are rare. The New York Giants earned the opportunity to be considered rare by virtue of their regular season performance.

Super Bowl XLII will be no walk over; no mismatch. The Giants have demonstrated that they have the capacity and the will to keep up with what could be an historic run. They have captured the moniker team of destiny. The Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XL as a 6th seed. The New England Patriots defeated an historic team in the first February Super Bowl as 14 point underdogs. The Giants are the one team who can look at history and make it a game.

The history of rematches of regular season opponents in the Super Bowl is strikingly indeterminate. 10 rematches; 5 wins for the winner of the regular season game, 5 wins for the loser of the regular season game. When the winner of the regular season game wins the Super Bowl, it's typically by a wider margin than when the loser of the regular season game, but there is no clear advantage as to which will win. The two best teams in the NFL are playing on February 3 and it's anyone's game.