Bill Parcells likes this 49ers team, says it reminds him of his 1990 Giants who charged into Candlestick Park and ruined the three-peat dreams of the Joe Montana 49ers in the NFC Championship and went on to win their second Super Bowl against the Bills.
But he also likes this Giants team better than this 49ers team.
“I’m expecting them to win,” Parcells told The Post. “Why wouldn’t I be? You forget the game last week already?”
What does he base this on?
“I think the Giants have a better quarterback. I think the Giants have the better receivers. The Giants have a better overall pressure defense. … That’s what I think,” Parcells said.
Parcells is told about the rainy, windy forecast that could mean the Giants’ version of the Mud Bowl that sabotaged the 1982 Jets in Miami.
“If I got a good team, where do you want to play? You want to play in the Bronx Zoo? We’ll play,” Parcells said. “Good teams are good teams because they’re adaptable.”
But wouldn’t adverse conditions favor the power-running 49ers?
“If they are better, it favors ’em,” Parcells said. “If the Giants are better, it favors them. That’s football. We’re all playing in the same place, aren’t we?”
But what about the Giants’ speed advantage with Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz? With Osi Umenyiora? Eli Manning’s edge over Alex Smith?
“Listen,” Parcells began. “The elements have historically always been a great equalizer. But that doesn’t mean it’s to one team’s advantage or the other. I always looked at it: The worse the weather was, the better it was for my team. I practiced in it. We were ready for it. We knew how to play in it. We tried to minimize mistakes in our territory and try to play the game in the other team’s territory. You gotta teach your players how to play in those kind of games. That’s coaching.”
Indeed, the Tuna is Hall of Fame worthy because he was never a fish out of water when confronted by a wet (or windy) forecast.
“I might do wet-ball drills with my quarterback. … I would do that during the season anyway,” Parcells said. “I’d do some wet-ball drills with my kickers and snappers … and I would make sure everybody wears the right shoes.”
He is certain Tom Coughlin, his receivers coach on the Super Bowl XXV Giants, will be ready.
“No doubt,” Parcells said. “Absolutely no doubt.” Parcells paused and added: “This is not Tom’s first rodeo, you know.”
Nor is it Manning’s.
“He’s got good genes,” Parcells said. I ask Parcells, whom I have known since 1984, if he is surprised that Manning is playing at this (elite) level.
“Were you around in 07,” Parcells said, “or were you just starting out?”
Parcells always has liked Manning.
“Listen,” he said, “what’s not to like? He stays on the field first off, which separates him from half of these guys playing. He hits what he’s throwing at. He’s a good leader. When the game’s tight and on the line, he’s at his best. What do you want from the guy?”
Parcells was thoroughly impressed with the Giants’ 37-20 win over the Packers. He parroted the concern in Apollo Creed’s corner at the end of a brutal first round with Rocky Balboa in the first “Rocky” movie: “That sonovabitch over there doesn’t know it’s a show!” Parcells recalled. “He thinks it’s a fight!” Then he added: “That’s what I think a little bit about the Packer-Giant game. The Packers found out the Giants knew that wasn’t a show. It took the Packers a little while to figure out it wasn’t a show, it was a fight. By that time, the Giants had the upper hand on them.”
These Giants don’t have Lawrence Taylor. But they can be a quarterback’s worst nightmare.
“I think the Giants can knock the quarterback down,” Parcells said. “They’ve got good depth on the defensive line, and those guys are playing with confidence.”
And what’s not to like about Jason Pierre-Paul?
“He looks like he’s gonna be really good,” Parcells said. “I was trying to draft Linval Joseph; we liked him a lot at Miami. Chris Canty, of course, I did draft [for the Cowboys].”
Parcells does have high regard for the Niners, and mentions linebackers Patrick Willis, Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks and defensive tackle Justin Smith by name.
“San Francisco’s got a pretty good offensive line, they certainly have a good runner [Frank Gore]. … I think San Francisco’s more like the ’90 Giants than this current Giants team is,” Parcells said. “That David Akers is a great weapon for San Francisco. He’s a clutch kicker. That’s big, especially in these kind of games.”
Parcells will be watching Giants-Niners at his Florida home. Will he be rooting for the Giants?
“You think I’d be rooting for the 49ers?” he asks incredulously. “The general manager of the 49ers [Trent Baalke] I brought into the NFL. We hired him as a scout with the Jets. I like Trent. But do you think I’m rooting for the 49ers or Giants? Tell me what you think.”
Parcells is asked what he would say to Giants fans this week. Turns out to be exactly what transplanted Giants fans say to him at the local gym.
“Go Giants!”