Review: Giants Win In Green Bay

No matter what trend or stat or Fahrenheit reading you put the most faith in, I thought before Sunday's Giants-Packers game that New York's nine-game road winning streak was the biggest thing to consider when trying to pick a winner before kickoff. San Diego didn't have a chance to upset New England, but I thought the Giants could pull it off against the Packers.

Sure Green Bay was the home team, but the smart money doesn't necessarily have to give the game to the home team in a rare cold-weather game. It's uncomfortably freezing for everyone, not just the visitors. And in this case, in fact, the cold weather favored New York.

The football Giants were -- and are -- playing hot football, and in any team sport, the postseason is the right season for a team to be playing its best. You don't always have to be the best team, but if you're playing your best, you can certainly beat the best team. Look at the Patriots' first Super Bowl championship, after the 2000 regular season, over the seemingly invincible St. Louis Rams.

The Boston Red Sox won their memorable 2004 World Series championship from the Wild Card slot because they were playing hot baseball. You hear the term "hot goalie" when hockey people are talking about how one player can carry a team deep into the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Cleveland Cavaliers weren't the best team in the NBA's Eastern Conference last year, but they played their best basketball in April and May and eliminated a superior Detroit team.

In college basketball, the Florida Gators were a lock to repeat as national champs in 2007, but their first title the previous year was a result of clicking at the right time, not because they were the best team in the sport.

And the Giants? Now winners of 10 straight road games, they started 0-2, allowing 90 points in those first two games. They had a quarterback who looked just six or eight weeks ago like he wasn't capable of winning a high-stakes game. Now he's won three of them this month alone, all away from friendly -- most of the time -- Giants Stadium.

So why did I believe in the Road Warriors once more? Easy: Green Bay's offense isn't geared toward cold-weather success. A month ago, good friend, Wisconsin native and die-hard Packers fan John Boel lent some insight when he said, "I'd like our chances against New England in the Arizona heat better than in an NFC championship game in January in Green Bay." I agreed.

New York's offense features the hard-charging, two-headed rushing monster of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. And with Manning rifling passes to reliable Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, and with New York's defense playing with pride, this has become a very complete football team, and I don't expect New England to blow them out in two weeks.

BUCK, AIKMAN AT TOP OF GAME: FOX's broadcast was one of the best shows I've seen in a long time in high-stakes sports. And they did it practically seamlessly despite the sub-zero weather, which can often add an element of trickery to all those electronics. Even up to the bump-out music playing underneath 60 seconds of game highlights as the broadcast team signed off, the show was top notch. I'd never previously been a fan of Curt Menefee, but he earned straight A's Sunday night.

And I'll never tire of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, who were better than usual last night. Unlike their understandably unheralded BCS counterparts of Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis -- um, Charles Davis -- who called a mediocre OSU-LSU title game two weeks ago, Buck and Aikman get high marks for chemistry, timing, insight and occasional humor.

I really liked this nugget from Aikman when the Giants were taking their time with the clock when they began a new set of downs in Green Bay territory, game tied at 20-20 and less than five minutes remaining: "They're trying to figure out if they want to go at their normal speed, or if they want to slow things down between plays to chew up some of that clock." I thought he was going to say the Giants would only be giving themselves less time in case Green Bay gets the ball back and ties the game or takes the lead. But no, he made a much better point: "When you decide this late in the game to slow things down, especially when you've been having success moving the ball, you run the risk of disrupting your offensive rhythm and losing your focus."

GREAT SHOT, MAN: In late-game dramatics, control-room heavies direct their photographers to focus in on all the key players as a critical play unfolds. I loved the tight shot of Giants coach Tom Coughlin watching the game-winning kick send his team to the Super Bowl.

LOOK-A-LIKE: I couldn't help but think of jolly old St. Nicholas each time FOX showed Coughlin and his rosy cheeks. And if NBA player Darius Miles had normal hair, he and Plaxico Burress would be twins.