Super Bowl 46: NFL’s premier franchises collide
Super Bowl 46 includes the NFL’s premier franchise, the Patriots. This is New England’s fifth Super Bowl in the last 11 seasons, a mark of consistent excellence thought impossible in the free-agent era.
But the Patriots’ opponent also is regal, even recently. It’s hard for any franchise in the NFC to stand out. These Giants ended one of the great streaks in modern sports history. In the 10 seasons from 2001-10, 10 franchises won the NFC. In order: St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Philadelphia, Seattle, Chicago, the Giants, Arizona, New Orleans, Green Bay. And look how close we came to making it 11-for-11, with the 49ers. That would have been mind-blowing.
But also look just beyond the streak, on both ends. The same franchise that ended the streak is the same franchise that kept it from starting earlier. The Giants. The G-Men beat Minnesota (look, the Vikings aren’t on the 10-for-10 list) in the 2000 NFC title game, and now are in Super Bowl 46.
That’s three Super Bowls in 12 years for the Giants, which is no dynasty, except in the context of the ultra-parity world of the National Football Conference. Then it’s virtual domination.
The crazy world of the NFC goes back even further. In ’99, the Rams won the NFC. In ’98, the Falcons. Go from the 1998 season through 2010, the NFC had 13 champions, won by 11 franchises, with the Rams and Giants winning two. The Giants this year get to three in 14 years.
If you want to go back 20 years, give Green Bay two more and Dallas three (that’s right; the Cowboys haven’t won the NFC since the 1995 season. Haven’t even been to an NFC title game since January 1996).
It’s still a parity-driven conference, but the Giants clearly are the elite franchise in the NFC. Their consistency is superb. In the last 25 years, the G-Men have been to Super Bowls under three head coaches and three quarterbacks. They haven’t had a losing season since 2004. The only NFC franchise that comes close to that is Philadelphia (2005).
The status of New England is clear. The Patriots under Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and Robert Kraft have been the league’s standard of consistency. But the Giants have been the long-time class of the NFC. And now they meet again, in Super Bowl 46.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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