The New York Giants have clinched a playoff berth for the first time in five seasons, and Victor Cruz has no problem already thinking ahead to the Super Bowl — especially when that involves the possibility of facing the New England Patriots again.
On Tuesday, Cruz told Seth Walder of the New York Daily News that he believes the Patriots would be scared to play the Giants for a championship a third time.
“They don’t want to see us,” Cruz said. “I’m sure if you ask them (they’d say) they’d play anybody, they don’t care. I’m sure they don’t want to see us. That’s for sure.”
While Cruz may be right about the Patriots not wanting to face the G-Men, he’s wrong that they would say they’d play anybody. What Bill Belichick’s team would say, if asked, is that they are focusing on the Miami Dolphins in Week 17. And once that game is finished, they’d say they’re only thinking about their first postseason opponent.
Cruz insists he’s not looking too far ahead, either, but he has no problem fantasizing about Patriots-Giants III.
“Oh man, you can’t even put it into words almost,” he said. “For it to be round three, us and them in another epic Super Bowl showdown. It’d be for all the marbles. The third time is when, I mean they’ll have a lot riding on it, we will have a lot riding on it. It’ll just be one of those moments you (couldn’t) forget.”
Cruz eventually said it “doesn’t matter” who the Giants play, but he gushed about the “rivalry-style energy” that is present anytime his team faces the Pats. The Giants, of course, ruined New England’s undefeated 2007 season and then beat the Patriots again in another thriller four years later.
A lot has changed since the last time the Giants squandered the Patriots’ championship hopes. Those Giants teams, which were coached by Tom Coughlin, were always a nightmare matchup for Tom Brady. Would the same be true now? New York would have to win three playoff games and New England would have to win two before we’d have a chance to find out.
If we learned anything from the last Super Bowl meeting between the two teams, the G-Men love trying to get under the Patriots’ skin. Cruz has decided to continue with that very early this year.
