Had the New York Giants stayed the course, they would’ve met the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII. Not the Arizona Cardinals. And Giants starting running back Brandon Jacobs thinks in that hypothetical, the Steelers aren’t celebrating at the end of the game. Joining former Steelers CB Bryant McFadden on the latest All Things Covered podcast, Jacobs talked a little smack and was confident his Giants team, if given the chance, would’ve won.
“Yup. We would’ve beat y’all in the Super Bowl,” Jacobs told McFadden. “We [were] the No. 1 seed. There’s no way the Arizona Cardinals coming from Arizona, playing in 30-degree, 20-degree weather to win an NFC Championship Game. That wasn’t going to happen. We whooped them earlier in that season in Arizona and it was a convincing win for us.”
The Giants finished the 2008 season as the top team in the NFC, going 12-4. Jacobs served as the team’s starter, leading an impressive backfield trio of himself, Derrick Ward, and an emerging Ahmad Bradshaw. The Giants finished first in the league in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, Jacobs and Ward each going over 1,000 yards.
New York won 10 of their first 11 games, including a 21-14 win over Pittsburgh in Week 8. That gave Jacobs the confidence to beat the Steelers again in a possible Super Bowl rematch.
“I think y’all were the closest game we had throughout that season,” he said. “I think we would’ve played y’all again in the Super Bowl and beat y’all.”
In that regular-season matchup, the Steelers led for the first three quarters. But that was the infamous “James Harrison long snap” game after starting snapper Greg Warren tore his ACL. Harrison flung the ball out of the end zone on an attempted punt, leading to a safety that tied the game at 14.
Getting the ball back off the safety kick with great field position, the Giants marched downfield. QB Eli Manning hit TE Kevin Boss for a 2-yard touchdown pass with just over three minutes remaining. Two potential game-tying Ben Roethlisberger-led drives failed, and the Giants hung on.
But New York would get its comeuppance in the playoffs and never got the chance to host Arizona. Despite being NFC favorites, they fell in the Divisional Round to the rival Philadelphia Eagles, 23-11. The Eagles minimized the Giants’ running game, holding them out of the end zone, while Manning was intercepted twice. The following week, the Cardinals beat the Eagles, sending them to the Super Bowl against the Steelers.
While Jacobs was having fun talking trash in his commentary, his belief seems sincere. The Giants had a great team and were built like Pittsburgh. Strong running game, suffocating defense. But all Jacobs can do is imagine the game. The Steelers didn’t squander their chance. They went to the Super Bowl and won it all. Jacobs can join the likes of Shaun Alexander, as both can only live out a Super Bowl victory over the Steelers in their dreams.
