The Giants & the Patriots in the Super Bowl Again: A Rivalry for the Ages?

The Giants won the NFC title game off of the foot of David Tyne in yet another overtime decision, for the second time in five years. Almost the same exact scenario as two years ago. This time, it was in soggy San Fransisco, rather than the place that they played at last week as well as five years ago, that being the Frozen Tundra of Green Bay. Should it be any surprise that the team that they are playing against next would happen to be the same opponent as back then, as well?

That's right, the New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl as well, for the first time since these two teams met five years. So both teams are back there, having overcome what obstacles lay in their way these past few years to reach this superb level of play again. Since the Super Bowl XLII classic, neither team had actually won a single playoff game between them prior to this postseason, which is odd for two Super Bowl teams, let alone two teams that would have a rematch within a few years of their meeting there.

The Patriots played in the earlier game, hosting the tough Baltimore Ravens, who can never be taken lightly. Baltimore was tough again, and it seemed an up and down game, where the outcome was not at all certain at any point, until that last field goal attempt sailed wide and secured victory for New England. The Patriots got the victory, but it was a nail biter in a game that was a contrast in styles.

So with the Patriots winning, the NFC Title Game participants knew who they would be playing. It remained to be seen, of course, which team would actually earn the right to be there, though. I have already mentioned some of the storied history between these two teams. They had met in seven prior postseason games, with the 49ers entering this game with a slight 4-3 playoff edge. New York came in red hot, having won four consecutive games, the two last games of the regular season against the Jets and then the Cowboys to secure the division title, and the two postseason games against the Falcons and the Packers. They had more recent playoff experience, as well, with the obvious example of their 2007-08 Super Bowl season, as well as other appearances, when they had failed to win a game.

Yet, the 49ers had a lot of momentum entering this game, coming off their best season in well over a decade, since at least 1997. They finished with a solid 13-3 record, behind Coach Jim Harbaugh, who instilled a very solid return to basics. This was not like those 49ers teams of past greatness, with the ball being thrown around all over the field by Montana or even Young, and putting up an alarming amount of points. This 49ers team was about as conservative as you could get. In fact, they bore an eerie resemblance to the Baltimore Ravens, who are coached by Jim Harbaugh's brother, John. That family must have been getting nervous about the prospect of two brothers coaching each other in the Super Bowl, but it was not to be. Not this year, anyway.

It was a tough and punishing, physical game. Home field in soggy San Fransisco was pretty big for the 49ers, although not nearly as big as it proved to be last weekend against New Orleans Saints, a game that will surely be immortalized by 49ers fans, who have numerous such games to fall back on and bask in. But at least for one day, the Giants would prove a different opponent, and the result was a different story. The 49ers made some crucial mistakes. They did not make many of them, to be sure. Yet, the ones that they made, proved very costly. Deadly, in fact. Particularly once the game went into overtime.

And so, here we go again. The New York Giants and the New England Patriots, playing for it all, this time in Indianapolis.

So, what I wonder is where this will rank now among Super Bowl rivalries. That still largely depends on the outcome, I think. If the Giants win, then this rivalry might be regarded in similar manner to the Steelers and Cowboys Super Bowl rivalry of the 1970's. Both teams enjoyed tremendous success during that era, and they both won multiple championships. But between the two of them, people remember that Pittsburgh won both meetings, and that is really all that matters for most people, because people tend to remember who won, not who lost.

            If New England wins, then it changes things a bit. They would each have a Super Bowl win apiece, and it would be a bit more similar to the Redskins and Dolphins, who met twice, with each team winning one, although that was ten years apart, and it is arguable, at best, whether it could fairly be considered a Super Bowl rematch.

            There have been numerous rematches in Super Bowl history, but most of them have been decidedly in the favor of one team. I already mentioned the Steelers over the Cowboys, although it should be noted here that these two teams actually met three times, the only two teams to have achieved that. The third meeting was in a different era, and with different results – this time, the Cowboys winning it to immortalize their "Team of the Decade" dynasty of the 1990's, much like the Steelers Super Bowl sweep of the Cowboys in the 1970's immortalized Pittsburgh's "Team of the Decade" dynasty of the 1970's.

            Otherwise, besides the Redskins and Dolphins, there have been a couple of other Super Bowl rematches. The Cowboys and Bills met in consecutive years in the Super Bowl, yet this is not considered a classic Super Bowl matchup, since the Bills not only lost both meetings, but indeed, lost all four appearances that they were involved in  The 49ers and the Bengals met twice, in Super Bowl XVI (which was the first Super Bowl that yours truly can remember watching), and then again in Super Bowl XXIII. San Fransisco won both meetings, yet the Bengals played them extremely well, and should have won that last meeting, with a dropped Montana interception pass by Bengal defender Billups in the last minute of play that could have iced the victory for them (the Bengals led at the time). The drive continued, and eventually, Montana hit John Taylor with 34 seconds left to secure the victory, and the title. Like the other Super Bowl rematches, it helped them secure that "Team of the Decade" distinction for the 1980's.

            No one knows yet what this coming Super Bowl has in store, and how it will rank individually with other Super Bowls, or what it will do to immortalize this increasingly fabled and intense rivalry. They certainly seem to have met in some of the most interesting games in the last five seasons. Obviously, the two Super Bowls, one of which has yet to be played. The other two were some of the best regular season games you could hope to watch, and I would be willing to bet that this Super Bowl will be every bit as close. 

           So, this is not a Super Bowl preview. Not yet. I am trying to soak it all in, and will reflect on both teams and their recent history, as well as their history together, with that other very memorable Super Bowl that these two teams famously met in, and the meeting earlier this season, as well as the seasons that they experienced, to get to this stage, and how each has been rolling thus far.