25-YEAR ITCH
FOXBOROUGH – It has been easy to overlook just how remarkable a treat we have in store for us today because of all the sounds and all the furies that inevitably surrounded both the Jets and the Giants this week.
It has been easy to get caught up in the Bill-and-Eric Friendship Fest, and in the Eagles’ vows to get medieval on Eli Manning, and on Chad Pennington’s new trophy, and on the target on Tiki Barber’s back, and in the mutual contempt that covers every molecule of Jets-Patriots, and the mutual loathing that floods every ounce of Giants-Eagles.
It’s understandable, of course. On the Jersey side of things, you have a team that entered the season with massive expectations, that underachieved woefully for the entire second half, that filled back pages and nightly sports newscasts with more reliable noise than any New York team since the Bronx Zoo Yankees, that was so fortunate to qualify for the playoffs that some of their own fans have talked about how “embarrassed” they are to be there, when they aren’t praying for the demise of their wildly unpopular coach.
On the Long Island side, you have a team that entered the season with zero expectations, that overachieved so heroically across the whole 16-game adventure, that couldn’t have filled reporter’s notebooks with more empty quotes if they’d been a hefty team of mimes, that roared through December with such single-minded purpose that they’ve emboldened their normally glass-half-empty fans to not only hope for an upset today, but expect one, the better to more easily canonize their wildly popular coach.
All of that promises to climax with one of the grandest football Sundays in New York’s long football history. In the 47 seasons they’ve shared the city, this is only the fifth time the Jets and Giants have been in the playoffs together; beyond that, this is only the second time ever that they’ve played playoff games on the same day. On Dec. 27, 1981, the Jets (as they are today) played an AFC East rival (Buffalo) in the early game and got their hearts crushed, 31-27; the Giants (as they are today) played the Eagles at Philly in the late game and earned their first postseason win in a quarter of a century, 27-21.
And hey, while we’re at it, it’s probably worthwhile to mention this, too, since we so often wring our hands and stomp our feet and brood about how much better things used to be: 2006 will stand, forever, as the first time in the 45 years they’ve all been around that the Yankees, Mets, Jets and Giants made it to the postseason together.
So these are the good old days.
And this, today, ought to be a grand day, no matter how things work out, but especially because the Jets will be here, in Foxborough, at Gillette Stadium, getting 60 minutes to see what they can do against the big, bad Pats.
This is taking nothing away from the Mets and the Yankees, a couple of division champs who earned their way into October across a grueling 162-game grind. It’s taking nothing away from the Giants, whose cynical fans will be singing a far different tune if they beat the Iggles today and who still have a chance to salvage something special if they just follow the old Jim Valvano parlor trick of survive and advance, survive and advance.
Still, it’s the Jets who, in many ways, served as a reminder this year just why so many of us continue to invest so much of our time in a pastime, sports, that can so often seem so fruitless and unforgiving. In New York, we’re rarely allowed to be surprised, because we almost never allow ourselves the patience or the serenity of actually being patient. We hear all the time about how New York fans won’t sit still for rebuilding, and for the most part that’s true. It’s the singular burden of big-market life.
So we almost never give ourselves a chance to let the ’69 Mets happen, because in today’s culture too many Mets fans would have been too angry about the ’68 Mets finishing in ninth place. Really, the only other team in recent memory besides this year’s Jets that was allowed to surprise us so completely were the ’99 Knicks, who rose from the ashes to the Finals and took the city on one of the most enjoyable sporting rides in its history.
That’s what these Jets have done, no matter what happens today. They’ve surprised us, and we’ve let them. They’ve thrilled us, and we’ve let them. They’ve reminded us that no matter how many doomsayers persist at the start of a season, it’s what happens at the end that matters most of all. Good for them.
Better for us.
FLASHBACK: DECEMBER 27, 1981
This is the fifth time the Jets and Giants have advanced to the playoffs in the same season. But today marks just the second time they’ve played a postseason game on the same day. Here’s a look at what happened on Dec. 27, 1981:
BILLS 31 , JETS 27
The Jets’ first visit to the playoffs since 1969 got off to a disastrous start as Buffalo’s Charles Romes scooped up Bruce Harper’s fumble on the opening kickoff and returned it 26 yards for a TD. The Bills extended their lead to 24-0, but the Jets clawed back on Mickey Shuler’s 30-yard TD reception and two Pat Leahy field goals. Even after Joe Cribbs’ seemingly back-breaking 45-yard run made it 31-13, the Jets closed the gap on Richard Todd’s 30-yard TD pass to Bobby Jones and Kevin Long’s 1-yard scoring run. With Shea Stadium abuzz, Todd started the final drive on the Jets’ 20 with 2:36 to go. They made it all the way to the Buffalo 11 with 14 seconds left, but Bill Simpson intercepted Todd’s final pass at the 2.
GIANTS 27, EAGLES 21
The Giants ended an even longer playoff drought, making their first appearance since their 1963 NFC title game loss to the Bears. Big Blue charged out of the Veterans Stadium gate to a 20-0 lead on Scott Brunner’s TD passes to Leon Bright (9 yards) and John Mistler (10 yards) and Mark Haynes’ recovery in the end zone of a fumbled kickoff. The Giants then answered a Philly TD with a 22-yard hookup from Brunner to Tom Mullady to take a 27-7 lead into the locker room. The Eagles made it close on a TD runs of 6 yards and 1 yard by Wilbert Montgomery, but Ray Perkins’ Giants were able to salt away the victory thanks to Rob Carpenter’s 161 rushing yards.
