ONWARD! Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul celebrates after one of the team’s six sacks of Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo that put Big Blue in the playoffs for the first time in three years. (AP)
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No one believed the Giants could make a Super Bowl run four years ago, and no one believes they can make one now.
But as the Road to Indianapolis begins Sunday against the Falcons in East Rutherford, suddenly there are more than a few reasons why fans can believe in the Giants again, not the least of which is they believe in themselves.
I asked Mathias Kiwanuka what he thinks teams are looking at the Giants and thinking right now.
“Oh, s – – t !” he said. “Just ’cause [of] the intensity that we’re playing with, and how bad we want it.”
You think you can win the Super Bowl?
“There’s no doubt in my mind, if we play the way that we’ve been playing, that we’ll be there,” Kiwanuka said. These battle-tested Giants will field 18 players with Super Bowl experience.
“There’s 12 teams left; we’re in the playoffs,” defensive end Dave Tollefson said. “Everybody’s dangerous. It ain’t like we gotta go 16-0 to get where we want to be.”
No, all they likely have to do to be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy is beat Matt Ryan at home, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees on the road and, let’s say, Tom Brady or Ben Roethlisberger in Super Bowl XLVI.
Reasons to believe:
SUPER BOWL XLII MVP ELI MANNING
“He understands what it takes exactly to get to where we need to be,” the amazing wide receiver Victor Cruz said. “It’s just an amazing feeling just to have him there and him being a guy we can talk to that’s been in a Super Bowl, that’s made a great run before and stuff like that, so it’s good to have a guy like that on your side.”
THE PASS RUSH
“Anytime [Manning is] playing like he’s playing, and we’re playing like we’re playing upfront, we got a chance against anybody,” Tollefson said. “That’s kinda been the math equation of success in the NFL, right? You need a guy that can throw the ball really, really well. And then who’s the guys that get after the guy that throws the ball really really well? It’s the defensive linemen. It’s kinda yin and yang of each other. You need both of them to exist successfully, you know?”
Both of them existed in spades against Brady four years ago, remember? And have you heard of this fellow Jason Pierre-Paul?
“That’s the blueprint for a blueprint for a championship right there,” Kiwanuka said. “When [Manning] steps up, and he has guys like Cruz going down, making plays where maybe a play isn’t as easy to be made, and then we have our pass rush getting to their quarterback and we have our DBs, Antrel Rolle, coming down, taking picks away, that’s how you play football, that’s how you win championships.”
When the Giants bring their “A” game, they can rattle any quarterback.
“There’s no doubt in my mind when we put it together and we have that collective desire to get there, we’re gonna get there,” Kiwanuka said.
Big Blue has been stuffing the run of late and making offenses one-dimensional. “And we got back — I don’t know, you heard of him? Tollefson said. “Osi Umenyiora?”
COACH TOM COUGHLIN
The elite head coach who does not get the respect he deserves. He has been there, done that.
“I have many different reasons why I play as hard as I do, and one of them is Coach Coughlin,” Antrel Rolle said. “He’s his own person, I’m my own person. You’re not expected to agree on each and every thing. But through it all, we have one common goal in mind, which is go out there and win a championship.”
HUNGER
The Giants missed the playoffs in 2009 and 2010.
“I can feel it in the locker room, in the practice field,” Cruz said. “Guys are kinda bouncing around, guys have bounce in their step, and it’s just a good feeling right now.”
Rolle said: “I’ve been hungry ever since ’08 when I was seconds away [with the Cardinals] from getting my Super Bowl [win].”
THE 12th MAN
For the Falcons, there’s no place like dome.
“Having the crowd behind us is huge,” Kiwanuka said. “I think it’ll be similar to this past week’s game, only just turned up a little bit more.”
The Packers survived a life-and-death struggle at MetLife Stadium against the Giants. If the Giants advance to the divisional round, they likely would head to Lambeau Field, where cheeseheads remember Manning beating Brett Favre four years ago.
“All I can say is this here: We’re in the playoffs, and if we keep playing like we’re playing, I don’t know of many teams that are gonna want to be playing us,” Tollefson said.