Ahmad Bradshaw and LaDainian Tomlinson could go head-to-head on Feb. 6 in Dallas (AP)
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I can assure you that by no means am I predicting Jets versus Giants in the Super Bowl. Brett Favre hasn’t even gone trick-or-treating yet, for crying out loud. How many times over the years have I had egg on my face after hysterically jumping aboard one of the New York bandwagons?
Don’t answer that.
It’s just that when I look around the NFC, I don’t see anyone better than the Giants.
It’s just that when I look around the AFC, I don’t see anyone better than the Jets, with the possible exception of the Steelers.
And guess what: When Vegas looks around the AFC, it doesn’t see a better sure shot to reach the Super Bowl than the 5-2 Jets (Ravens and Steelers are 7-2). And when Vegas looks around the NFC, it doesn’t see a better sure shot to reach the Super Bowl than the 5-2 Giants (Falcons are 3-1).
Jets versus Giants in the Super Bowl? What a joke, right? Only Roger Clemens misremembers that the Jets haven’t been to a Super Bowl in 42 years. The Giants’ most recent crown, in 2008, was their first since the 1990 season and third in all.
But hey: The Yankees are dead; the Mets are still trying to replace Frank Cashen and Davey Johnson; the Knicks haven’t gotten Melo yet; Messier can’t play for the Rangers; and with the Olympics long over, we can’t count on curling to get us through any winter of our discontent.
What does it cost to dream, be it The Impossible Dream, or The Improbable Dream, about whether we might yet have one or two Dream Teams on our hands and in our hearts?
It’ll never happen. You know it. I know it. Coach Nostradamus might even know it.
But what if it does?
The Jets have won five in a row and are atop the AFC East. The Giants have won four in a row and are atop the NFC East.
“I feel confident if we play our best football, we can beat anybody in the NFC. I honestly do feel that way,” Giants lineman Barry Cofield said.
I think we all know how Rex Ryan feels by now.
You say you like defense? Big Blue have knocked out five quarterbacks this season. Osi Umenyiora is playing like his hair is on fire. As is Justin Tuck. As is Cofield.
Darrelle Revis vows he’s 100 percent again, which means you have to like Gang Green’s chances of again being the NFL’s
No. 1 defense.
The head coaches: The Jets would run through a brick wall for Ryan. The Giants have bought into Tom Coughlin’s never-ending emphasis on team.
The quarterbacks: Eli Manning has won a Super Bowl. Mark Sanchez has learned how not to cost your team the chance of getting to one.
The running backs: LaDainian Tomlinson is forever young. Ahmad Bradshaw is forever churning. Shonn Greene puts the Pound in the Ground & Pound. Brandon Jacobs is again a sadistic merchant of pain.
The weapons: Once Santonio Holmes gets his groove back on, how many cornerbacks will be able to cover him one-on-one? Dustin Keller can get open with his eyes closed now. Braylon Edwards hasn’t blown a .16 on a Breathalyzer in ages. Hakeem Nicks … Hakeem Nicks! Talk about a rising star! Those hands! That swagger! Steve Smith has been getting open with his eyes closed for years now. Mario Manningham with the ball in his hands? You just tackled air, suckah.
The bodyguards: The Jets think they have the best offensive line in the league now that Matt Slauson is no longer incurring the wrath of Joe Namath. The Giants are long in the tooth, but they have been able to compensate with experience and cohesiveness.
The special teams: Is there a better coordinator than Mike Westhoff? Not on this planet. If the field goal kicker keeps this up, he’ll be a Folk hero. OK, you got me with the Giants. Darius Reynaud? Matt Dodge? Works in progress, to be kind. I never said either team was the ‘72 Dolphins.
But to borrow a marketing slogan from the Jets, opportunity has never knocked so hard for the Giants. Tell me: Who scares you in the NFC?
No one.
Not the Michael Vick Eagles, not the Saints, not the Seahawks, not the Packers, not the Favres … maybe the Falcons a little. The Bucs? C’mon, man.
The Jets better face Big Ben and the Steelers at New Meadowlands Stadium. The Ravens are in the conversation, even if Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Bills pushed them to overtime.
Belichick and Brady means the Patriots won’t go away. Peyton Manning’s Colts will find a way, even without Dallas Clark. We’re still waiting for the Texans to get over the hump. The Titans are barroom brawlers. The Chiefs? C’mon, man.
The first New York Super Bowl arrives in 2014. Maybe then, our New York-New York Subway Super Bowl dream will become a reality. Death, taxes, and it can’t happen this year.
Or can’t it?
Giants 24, Jets 21 — just in case it does.
steve.serby@nypost.com