Post columnist Steve Serby slugs it out with football writer Paul Schwartz over this question: Is this year’s Giants team better than the one that went to Super Bowl XXXV after the 2000 season?
SERBY: Paul, allow me to make a guarantee: Tom Coughlin will not be standing in the press room anytime soon saying, “I’m raising the stakes right now. If this is a poker game, I’m shoving my chips to the middle of the table. I’m raising the ante. This team is going to the playoffs.” I’ll give the devil his due: The head coach (Jim Fassel) and the quarterback (Kerry Collins) got hot at the right time and got to Super Bowl XXXV. But I guarantee you the 2004 Giants would have given the Ravens a better game than 34-7.
SCHWARTZ: Steve, allow me to make a guarantee: No one would ever know if Tom Coughlin was bluffing or not if he did engage in a high-stakes card game. Talk about a poker face! It’s in vogue at the moment to dump on Fassel, but if you can shake the cobwebs off your memory you may recall just how good that 2000 team was. Fassel pushed all the right buttons, got the best out of Kerry Collins, and had that dominating John Fox defense to lean on.
SERBY: Paul, do yourself a favor and get to coach Coughlin’s meetings five minutes early. Yes, the Giants rue the day John Fox got away, but I seem to recall you whining that coach Patton … I mean Coughlin … has muzzled a defensive magician named Tim Lewis with one of his infamous rules. I’ll concede that Komeback Kurt isn’t playing as well as Komeback Kerry did at the end of 2000, but the 2004 Tiki Barber is light years better than the 2000 Tiki Barber. And do me a favor and refresh my memory: Who was the tight end, and will you have the gall to suggest he was better than Jeremy Shockey?
SCHWARTZ: The tight end in 2000 was Howard Cross and he was a much better blocker than Shockey. I’d prefer to end that discussion there, if you please. Look, I know you once called yourself Mr. Loser, but even you know the game is won up front. Just look at the lines in 2000. Lomas Brown, Glenn Parker, Dusty Zeigler, Ron Stone and Luke Petitgout on the offensive line – far, far better than the 2004 line. And this year’s defensive line has no one as tough at Keith Hamilton; and don’t forget, Michael Strahan was four years younger.
SERBY: Paul, you insult my football intelligence. Think Collins would have preferred throwing to Cross instead of Shockey? Puh-leeze. And I notice that you’ve conveniently neglected to mention special teams. If Fassel had Mike Sweatman on his staff, he would still be making guarantees. If my Giants played your Giants, we would have forced two or three Collins interceptions and two or three Tiki fumbles. Tiki doesn’t fumble anymore; I even think I heard you say that on Giants Online. Or did I read it in “Tales From the Giants Sidelines?” Whatever. And I can’t remember who Fassel’s punter was, but I know it wasn’t Dave Jennings, Sean Landeta or Jeff Feagles, a lethal weapon who allows the Giants to win the battle of field position. One more thing: You can have Jason Sehorn at corner. I say where there are Wills, there are ways.
SCHWARTZ: I’ll gladly take Sehorn, who could catch the ball on interceptions with one hand better than the Wills (Allen and Peterson) can with two. By the way, Brad Maynard was the punter and he wasn’t bad. You want to talk special teams? Fine. In 2000, Ron Dixon was the kick returner and he was a terror, unlike this year’s three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust return game. By the way, think Dixon (Mr. Alarm Clock) and Coughlin would have lived happily ever after? Another thing, Micheal Barrow was a better middle linebacker than anyone on this year’s team. No further questions, your honor.