STUFFED: Matt Ryan (center) is stopped by Jason Pierre-Paul (90) and the Gaints’ defense on fourth down in the third quarter of Big Blue’s 24-2 victory over the Falcons yesterday. (Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post)
They reached back deep into a violent past, when merciless merchants of mayhem like Sam Huff and Andy Robustelli and later Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson and Michael Strahan defined what New York Football Giants was supposed to mean, and suddenly they are champing at the bit to march onto the tundra of Lambeau Field Sunday, be it frozen or not, and rip the Lombardi Trophy from the clutches of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.
“You know the names, you know the history of what this team has been built on. … I think it brought back a lot of memories today how we played,” Justin Tuck said after Giants 24, Falcons 2.
And now they believe in a way they have not believed in four years. They have believed in Eli Manning all season long, and now they have reason to believe in their running game and even better, a defense that fears no one and nothing, anywhere or anytime.
Big Blue’s strangulation yesterday of Matt Ryan and Michael Turner was so bloodcurdling that less than half an hour after Splatlanta, monster Jason Pierre-Paul was all but doing a MetLife Leap from here to Titletown, U.S.A., when he announced: “We’re gonna win.”
Rodgers crushed the Giants’ playoff dreams last December when he threw for 404 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-17 drubbing. He threw for 369 yards and four more touchdowns, with one interception, in the Packers’ 38-35 victory at MetLife Stadium on December 4.
“He’s played at a high level for a couple of years now, so we got our work cut out for us but,” Osi Umenyiora said, “they got their work cut out for them also, because we’re not any slouches. We’re gonna go out there and we’re gonna try to hit them in the mouth, and we’ll see what happens.”
Champing at the bit to shock the world again.
“We’ve earned the right to be able to do that,” Chris Canty said. “I’m excited about how good this football team can be.”
It won’t be as cold as it was in the 2007 NFC Championship overtime game when Plaxico Burress willed his way through the pain and Corey Webster intercepted Brett Favre and Lawrence Tynes redeemed himself and booted the Giants to Super Bowl XLII, but Big Blue will show up every bit as cold-blooded.
“Pressure on the quarterback,” Umenyiora said. “I think that’s pretty much the only way you can beat Green Bay. Our offense continues to play well, and we force ’em in a situation where all they do is throw the ball, then I think we’ll be able to be successful.”
This is clearly a different Giants defense than the one Rodgers carved up at the end in their last meeting.
“It’s the same team, but it’s a different mentality, so we’re ready to go,” Mathias Kiwanuka said.
A Pack mentality.
“It’s a playoff mentality,” Kiwanuka said.
The Giants are bullies again, from Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw punishing defenders, to Canty defying and denying the Falcons twice on fourth-and-inches with his giant heart, to Pierre-Paul and Umenyiora and Tuck and Dave Tollefson and yes, Rocky Bernard, making life miserable on the quarterback and easy on the defensive backs.
“It’s just a fun time to be playing defense for the New York Giants,” Tollefson said.
Big Blue was Bill Parcells-tough, and Bill Belichick-cerebral. Eleven angry men playing as one again. Relentlessness upfront, and relentless communication in the back end. Perry Fewell’s finest hour.
I informed Tuck of Rodgers’ eight touchdowns and 773 passing yards in the last two games against Big Blue.
“I don’t know if it’s too much of a concern,” Tuck said. “We know he’s a good quarterback, we know he’s gonna get his numbers, but we just gotta do a good job of just keeping him rattled, keeping a lot of pressure on him and not give him the time.”
What’s the level of confidence?
“High,” Tuck said. “High. Put that in capital letters.”
HIGH.