Packers linebacker Clay Matthews recently said that the Giants didn’t beat the Packers in the divisional playoffs last season, but that the Packers beat themselves.
49ers safety Donte Whitner offered up a similar explanation in comments aired before the 49ers preseason opener against the Vikings.
“We felt like it was ours to lose,” Whitner said. “Especially after we beat the Saints, we felt like it was ours to lose. We felt like the Saints and Green Bay Packers were the two best teams in the playoffs and once they went down we felt like it was ours to lose, and we let it slip through our fingers.”
Coupled with the RG3 hype in D.C. and the Eagles’ sky-high expectation and non-stop talk of whether the Cowboys’ window is closing and that five-letter word that has dominated the coverage in New York, the Giants have to be loving every minute of this.
No defending Super Bowl champions has flown farther under the radar, nor had so much ammunition to get themselves lathered up regarding the perception and/or reality that their accomplishments are being disrespected.