NY GIANTS ARE THE CLASS OF THE NFL

Maybe last year's stunning Super Bowl victory wasn't as huge of an upset as it appeared to be. Make no mistake that stopping an 18-0 team from perfection is a monumental upset, but the New York Giants may have just been getting started with that historic win back in February. There is no question right now who the best team in the NFL is at the end of the first quarter of play.

You can say the Dallas Cowboys or San Diego Chargers have better offenses when everything is clicking, and you might be able to say the Tennessee Titans have a better defense. But the Giants are the most balanced team in the NFL. HANDS DOWN!

The Giants have perhaps the most underrated offensive line in all of football. They have made a star out of Brandon Jacobs and the other two backs simply get the job done as well. The Giants receiving core is very deep and just got done hammering the Seahawks without Plaxico Burress. Most importantly, Eli Manning has not come back to Earth after his amazing playoff run last year. I doubt he'll join the elite ranks of Tom Brady and his older brother, Peyton, but he is becoming a superstar who will be the Giants man for years to come.

Perhaps the most stunning part of this team is the bottomless depth of the primary portion of the defense. This team lost the future hall-of-famer, Michael Strahan, to retirement, and Osi Umenyiora to a season-ending injury. But even without those two studs, the Giants defense has not missed a beat. Mathias Kiwanuka, Fred Robbins, Justin Tuck and others have been simply outstanding. The one knock on the Giants defense last year was their secondary, but that part of their team has improved greatly this year. Remember Aaron Ross is a year older and the rest of the secondary has fallen in line.

The only part of this team that you have a chance to exploit is their special teams. If you can dominate field position and somehow stop their running game, maybe someone can stop this team. As it stands right now though, I don't see a team beating them. The Cowboys are showing major warts, the Eagles are nobody without Brian Westbrook, and it may be too soon to take the Redskins real seriously. Outside of the division there really isn't another big time team in the NFL. Maybe the Panthers can get there, but it is a really weak conference outside of the East. Of course we know the AFC empire is crumbling down before our eyes. As I said many things can happen (injuries, breakdown of team chemistry), but it is hard to imagine the Giants won't have a great shot to win their second consecutive championship.

Pat Morgan

Third Tyme the Charm; Giants Claim NFC Championship

-Giants 23, Packers 20/OT
Heroes: Eli Manning & Plaxico Burress
Goat: Brett Favre
Turning Point: Brett Favre's INT in overtime to set up Tynes's third FG chance and game-winner
Next: Super Bowl XLII vs. New England

The New York Giants are going to the Super Bowl! Lawerence Tynes's 47-yard field goal in overtime completed an unlikely 3-0 run through Tampa, Dallas, and a frozen Green Bay. Now they will have two weeks to prepare for their second crack at defeating the perfect Pats in Super Bowl XLII.

Eli Manning was absolutely spectacular in leading the Giants on this march. He went through the entire NFC playoffs without throwing an interception! How his career has changed drastically since the regular season finale vs. New England. Manning managed another brillant game by picking apart the Green Bay defense with short stuff all over the place. He was extremely efficient in getting the Giants down field. He was only 21 of 40, but sometimes statistics lie as he was much better than that today.

Plaxico Burress had a tremendous game by catching 11 balls for 154 yards. Green Bay made the mistake of leaving Al Harris alone on Burress for most of the game. Harris is a good cornerback, but he was schooled today by Burress. Most importantly, the Giants dominated field position for most of the game. Even if a drive did not amount in points, they made the Packers' defense work. Only once did they go three and out, and that was only because Amani Toomer dropped a wide open pass. The Giants held the ball for over 40 minutes.

The Giants' defense did a tremendous job in giving Brett Favre problems. They didn't really get to hit him much, but they did take away his receivers down field. Other than the broken play that resulted in a 90-yard touchdown to Driver, the Giants had Favre forcing passes all day. He threw two interceptions, but he really could have thrown two or three more. The Giants also took Ryan Grant completely out of the game. After having 201 yards last week vs. Seattle, Grant ran for a mere 29 yards. Conversely, Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw ran for a 130 yards between them.

The Giants really dominated this game in a lot of ways. They really should have won this game easily if it wasn't for missed field goals, dropped passes, key penalties, and a few big plays from Green Bay that kept the game close. Conventional wisdom tells you the Patriots from the much stronger AFC will beat them handily in the Super Bowl, but it's hard to bet against the Giants giving them a big, big test the way they are on this magic carpet ride. It should be a great game in two weeks in Glendale, Arizona.

Let the two weeks of media nonsense in beating this game to death in every possible way begin!

Pat Morgan