The latest has the No Fun League will try and forbid advertisers from using the term "The Big Game."
But we will still be able to use terms like "professional football championship" and doesn't that sound so inviting?
This Sunday Come To The Regal Beagle For The Ultimate Professional Football Championship Party!
(10 points if you know what TV show the Regal Beagle is from - answer below)
So here now are my thoughts on the Pigskin Skirmish that will take place on the 3rd day of February in the year 2008.
Can anyone, outside of those with a New York State of Mind, actually pick against the Patriots? I mean the Pats are 18-0 for chrissakes. Why would this week be any different?
The last I checked the Pats have the best QB on the planet, the best coach on the planet and (arguably) the best wide-receiver on the planet?
What do the Giants have?
They have the "other" Manning. A lame-duck coach. And... well believe it or not they very well could have a little thing called momentum on their side.
I know, I know... whatever it is I'm smoking you want some. How could a team that has won 18 straight games NOT have the momentum?
Easy... the Giants are playing better football right now and have been for the past month than the Patriots.
Football Blasphemy? Perhaps but check the numbers, they don't lie.
Immediately following the Giants defeat of the Pack, I said aloud that this was the worst case scenario for the Patriots. Despite the fact that the Packers were the higher seed and had the Hall-of-Fame QB, I really believe the Giants will pose a much tougher threat.
Yes, part of it is due to familiarity -- the Giants of course played the Patriots to the wire in Week 17. So there will be none of that "feeling out process" that would normally accompany this game. At least there shouldn't be.
But the Giants have that intangible, along with some pretty darn good players. That intangible of the "us against the world" mantra. Do not underestimate the fact that the Giants know full well that many people do not give them a chance in you know what to win.
Yes, the Patriots have a stalwart offensive line. But the Giants Defense, I think, will cause enough disruption and get enough pressure on Brady, to make the Patriots adjust to them, rather than the other way around.
I know all about the genius that is Bill Belichick and when you give him 2 weeks to prepare. Since he took over as Patriots coach in 2000, New England has gone 6-0 in playoff games following an off week.
But, something tells me Giants Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will have some tricks and not many treats for the Patriots. If he can disguise his coverages and schemes just enough, the Giants stand a very good chance of winning.
Of course that's not just any QB on the other side of the ball we're talking about.
The current line is the Giants +12.
So what's my pick?
In the end, experience will rise to the top.
Patriots 27
Giants 21
'Til next time.
The Regal Beagle was the bar frequented by Jack Tripper, Janet Wood, Larry Dallas, et al, on Three's Company.
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