Tiki Barber began Friday’s show with a pep talk.
It was more a pregame speech, one that may have had some Giants fans ready to run through a wall.
The message was simply this: Big Blue might be the underdog, but there is no reason to doubt that the Giants can beat the Eagles on Saturday and march on to the NFC title game.
“There are so many Giant fans that are okay if the Giants lose, but how can you be okay after getting this far, after exceeding so many low expectations, after blowing through the ceiling that was artificially set for this Giants team because there was so much unknown?” Tiki began. “‘Who's our head coach, who's our general manager going to be, what's our quarterback situation, what about the offensive line? It's one of the worst in the NFL. What about defense? We know this Wink guy, but didn't get fired from Baltimore? What are we doing? We don't have any talent.’
“Guess what? You have a lot of talent. You got a great coach, you got a great general manager, and most importantly, you have belief. You can't discount belief. I'm not talking about us as fans. I'm talking about inside the locker room. Those guys believe that they can win.”
Sure, the Eagles are the top seed in the NFC and have already beaten New York twice this season. But, as they said in “Little Giants,” it only takes one time.
“You know this team very well,” Tiki said. “You know what they do great. You know what they don't do well. Go get them. Have belief, Giants fans! I know if they lose and you'll say, ‘oh well next year we're going to be something to worry about.’ Worry about that in two months.
“On paper, they're outmatched. Of course they're outmatched. I don't even need to go through the statistics, but football isn't played in a notebook, man. Football is played on a football field.”
So, come Saturday, it’s time to throw out the predictions and the scouting reports, because it will simply come down to who plays a better football game for 60 minutes, and the Giants are more than capable of being that team, and continue what would be the latest of multiple improbable playoff runs in their history.
“Go support this team and believe that they could win, because you know that Brian Daboll stood up on probably Monday or Tuesday and told this exact same thing to this team,” Tiki said. “Forget about previous history. Forget about the last 18 matchups. Forget about the two that happened this year. This is a different team right now in the New York Giants, and they believe in their quarterback. They believe in themselves, and I believe that they can win this football game.”
Follow WFAN's midday team on Twitter: @TikiandTierney, @TikiBarber, @BrandonTierney, and @TheHoffWFAN
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