As it turns out, the Giants didn’t merely batter Tony Romo and bury the Cowboys on Monday night.
Winners of four straight, the Giants vaulted themselves into being the smart-money choice to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XLV, where Las Vegas says they’ll meet up with none other than the Jets in the first Subway Super Bowl.
Imagine how that would play in Texas for the Feb. 6 game at Cowboys Stadium.
Yes indeed, Las Vegas has established the Jets and Giants as the favorites to meet in the Super Bowl. Jay Kornegay, executive director of Las Vegas Hilton Sports Book, yesterday posted each team as 5-2 favorites to win their respective conference championships. The Jets are 5-1 favorites to win the Super Bowl, best in the AFC, and the Giants are 7-1 to win the Super Bowl, best in the NFC.
That’s what happens when one team (the Jets) mounts a five-game winning streak and another (the Giants) heads into its bye week with a 5-2 record after 31 unanswered points fueled a wild 41-35 victory over the Cowboys.
Kornegay would make the Jets 2 1/2-point favorites over the Giants in an all-New York Super Bowl.
“I like the Jet defense better as a whole, and their offense, even though it’s less explosive, it doesn’t turn the ball over like the Giants’ offense,” Kornegay said. “They take care of the ball better.”
Analysis of such a dream matchup can wait. For now, Giants safety Antrel Rolle is so confident in what’s going on with his first-place team that yesterday he couldn’t help but be boastful on his weekly WFAN radio spot.
“I don’t think it, I know it; we are the best team in the NFC,” Rolle said. “Hey, we are the best team in the NFL and that’s hands down.”
Despite some troubling bouts of extreme sloppiness, the Giants are atop the NFC East and thinking there’s no reason why they can’t be considered among the elite in their conference. Rolle wasn’t operating on much sleep after the return flight home from Dallas, but he certainly sounded clear-headed as he lauded his own team and did not back away from making strong and bold statements.
“Our defense is the best defense in the business, no doubt about it,” Rolle added.
Time will tell if Rolle is accurate in his assessments, but there’s no doubt the Giants are on a roll as they enter their bye week. They are a game ahead of the Eagles and Redskins (both 4-3) in the NFC East and all-but eliminated the Cowboys (1-5), beating them up and putting Romo out at least 6-8 weeks with a fractured left clavicle.
The Giants have left a trail of domination on both sides of the ball. They are third in total offense and second in defense. With 24 sacks, the Giants are third behind the Chargers and Titans. Ahmad Bradshaw is leading the league in rushing with 708 yards. Hakeem Nicks is tied with Antonio Gates for the NFL lead with eight touchdown receptions and Osi Umenyiora with eight sacks is even with the Cowboys’ DeMarcus Ware and right behind the Packers’ Clay Matthews (81/2) for tops in the league.
The Jets have been similarly dominant. They’ve won five in a row and share the NFL’s best record at 5-1. Their 101 points allowed is second best in the NFL.
Mark Sanchez has thrown just two interceptions all season. LaDainian Tomlinson is averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Their 26.5 points per game is fourth-best in the league. Their plus-10 turnover differential is the best in the league.
Add it all up, and it’s a recipe for another New York invasion in Big D.
paul.schwartz@nypost.com