What exactly is taking place Sunday at Gillette Stadium?
“It’s the Giants versus the Patriots,’’ left guard David Diehl said. “This isn’t the Super Bowl.’’
It’s not even close, though it’s a game both teams will be looking at to establish something positive. The Giants, at 5-2, barely turned back the winless Dolphins, 20-17, but nevertheless understand they have put themselves in excellent position in the NFC East, two games ahead of the pack.
They also understand the competition, starting this week, gets much, much tougher. The Patriots are also 5-2, smarting coming off a 25-17 loss in Pittsburgh and suddenly in a dogfight in the AFC East, tied with the Bills and one game ahead of the Jets.
No matter the situation and circumstance, though, no one can think of Giants-Patriots without thinking back to Super Bowl XLII, when the Giants, as a huge underdog, ruined a Patriots undefeated season with a stunning 17-14 victory in Glendale, Ariz., that can be considered among the best Super Bowls in NFL history. That game forever stamped Eli Manning as a champion and Super Bowl MVP, branded Tom Coughlin as a championship coach and was dubbed by co-owner John Mara “the greatest victory in the history of this franchise, without question.’’
Coughlin, on cue, said he’s not planning on bringing back those memories this week when he introduces the Patriots to his team.
“That was a long time ago,’’ Coughlin said. “There have been many changes on both sides, so we will focus on ‘the now.’ ’’
The now looks quite different than “the then.’’ There are only 14 players with the Giants who played in Super Bowl XLII, and the Patriots have undergone an even greater turnover, with only seven players on the roster from that game four years ago. If Coughlin waxed poetic about that game or Belichick dealt the revenge card, it’s likely both coaches would be met with blank stares from the majority of their players.
“That was four years ago,’’ said Justin Tuck, who could have been named the MVP of Super Bowl XLII for his ferocious pressure on Brady. “If we’re still living in the shadow of 2007, that’s one of our greatest downfalls. We’ve got to move on. Obviously they have, and we do, too.
“Obviously 2007 was a great year in all our careers, but that’s not going to help us going up there this year. A lot of guys are back from those two teams and a lot of guys are gone. The better team this year is going to win the football game, not the better team in 2007.’’
The walls of the Giants Timex Performance Center practice facility are filled with images of Super Bowl XLII, with Manning’s still-unbelievable pass to David Tyree on the game-winning drive given special artistic treatment. On one wall outside the weight room there are two pictures of the play, one of the ball stuck to Tyree’s helmet and another of Manning as he wriggled out of trouble getting his jersey pulled by Richard Seymour. Featured on the glass wall of the cafeteria entrance is an emblazoned end zone shot of Manning reaching back to make the famous throw.
That game still resonates within the walls of where the Giants work.
“I think it’s just the fact of being a champion and winning a championship as a team,’’ Manning said when asked his greatest memory of Super Bowl XLII.
You can bet Manning isn’t dwelling much on that memory this week.
“This is a whole new environment, this is a whole new situation,’’ he said. “It’s obviously an important game. We have to have great preparation. We know we’re going against a great team, a Hall of Fame coach, a Hall of Fame quarterback down the road. We’ve got to know we have to go in there expecting to play sound football.’’
Kind of like what the Giants did to beat the Pats in the Super Bowl.