So, as much as I want to write a self-righteous rant about how much the Giants don’t deserve to control their own destiny and how I hope they lose next week since they don’t remotely deserve to be in the playoffs, I’m not going to lie to you or to myself. When Sunday comes, like an amnesia patient, I’ll be pulling for a team who’s been absolutely disgusting for the last six weeks, yet who somehow controls their own destiny. Then, when next Sunday rolls around, I’ll be pulling for New York to get back a little of the Sports Karma it lost in the NLCS a few months back.
I was discussing this with Hulse a couple days ago. He took a different approach. He wants the team to lose next week. He wants Tom Coughlin fired. He wants Tiki Barber and Michael Strahan to retire. He wants Plaxico Burress cut. He hopes that by the Giants losing next week, the rotten core will fall out and the new General Manager, whomever that may be, can start over. He wants a coaching staff brought in who has some idea on how to train a young quarterback, offensive stars that won’t throw the staff and team under the bus whenever something goes wrong, and a training staff that actually prevents injury.
While I don’t necessarily disagree, I know better. I’m not going to pretend I want them to lose or pretend that I won’t root for them in the playoffs. I’m not going to pretend that the only thing on my mind last week was that “we’re not out of it, yet.” I’m not going to pretend the only thing I’ve been thinking about, in regards to the playoffs, was the Cardinals’ improbable road to the title not three months ago. I’m certainly not going to pretend that I’ve not officially repaired the bandwagon, painted “Five Wins” on the side, and got behind the wheel.
But, this wasn’t the whole column I wanted to write. I watched the Eagles/Cowboys game in disbelief as the Eagles found their third straight road win. One of the interesting things about NFC East, and it doesn’t really exist in any other division, is that each of the teams in the division treat every other team in the division in the same manner as Chicago treats Green Bay and Oakland treats Kansas City. There are three teams who have been a part of their respective city, and divisional opponents, for more than 70 years. The fourth team, the Cowboys, between their incredible success in their relatively short history, Washington’s opposition to the creation of the franchise, and various key defeats the Giants and Eagles have suffered, there are four fan bases who would likely celebrate a plane crash if it involved any member of the other three teams. That long aside was just to set-up how “against all odds” it was for the Eagles, in successive weeks, to run through all three divisional opponents, on the road. In much the same way as a Chicago fan considers a 2-14 season a success, as long as both wins came against Green Bay, this is much the same as all four NFC East teams feel against each other.
Which led me to conclude that Sylvester Stallone paid Roger Goodell a tidy sum to promote the current Rocky movie.
Think about it for a minute. Stallone appeared on Monday Night Football for the December 4th home game against the Panthers to promote Rocky. He talked about the city of Philadelphia and how Rocky was, as always, the ultimate underdog story. Meanwhile, less than a month earlier, the Eagles had been left for dead when Donovan McNabb went out for the season. Coming off the bench, however, wasn’t a random sixth round draft pick who’d never played a game in the NFL. Coming off the bench wasn’t the guy who’d replaced McNabb in previous instances, much to the apparent chagrin of Eagle fans. Coming off the bench was a guy who’d won a Grey Cup, had set records for the 49ers, was named to three Pro Bowls, and had struggled in recent years. A guy who’d lost his starting job and signed on to be a backup in a city that doesn’t much care for guys who used to play on other teams and a city who very heartily booed him off the field after a rough first half performance in that first home game and openly cheered when he looked like he might be hurt.
Philadelphia: classy as always.
But something happened on the way to the NFC East’s cellar.
Even though the Eagles’ were finished, with three division road games, a Giant team supposedly ready to break a losing streak, a Redskin team that always plays division rivals hard, and newly anointed NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys led by new NFL golden boy Tony Romo, they ran off three wins.
On Monday night, with the national stage, the low-key, aging underdog from Philadelphia went into a game against the flashy, media-darling favorite, and came out on top, winning respect and the fans in the process. As the clock was ticking down, you could almost hear Gonna Fly Now playing. Since Stallone appeared on Monday Night Football, Jeff Garcia’s run can only be called Rocky-like, up to and including winning over a group of fans who would have happily watched him carted off the field with an amputated leg four weeks ago in favor of AJ “we would have lost all three games on the road” Feely. Four weeks later, Garcia is going to come home with the division in his pocket (technically, it’s not in his pocket but if I was still writing “Locks of the Week” this would be one. No way is this Energized Eagles team, after plowing through the division on the road is going to come home and let the Falcons’ snap a losing streak and get into the playoffs at their expense and forcing them to go on the road for the playoffs. Not happening. If the spread on this game is any less than 14, it’s a lock).
Of course the difference between real life and the movies is that Philadelphia sports franchises fail in spectacular ways. The other thing is: if Jeff Garcia somehow does manage to win the Super Bowl this season, he’ll still be an old quarterback. He won’t be Philadelphia’s starter next year and it’s likely, if not certain, that he won’t have a starting job anywhere else. If this were a movie, Garcia would certainly go against all odds and run through the playoffs, knock the Chargers in the Super Bowl, and ride off into the sunset a champion. And you know what? The way the Eagles are playing right now, if their road to the Super Bowl is New York (-8), at New Orleans (+6), and Chicago (+3), it’s even possible.
If I was Donovan McNabb, I would be terrified at the Manning-esque media fallout waiting for me next season if Garcia somehow gets through the NFC Championship. The TO saga will pale in comparison.
