Giants Wire
Super Bowl LIX will kick off on Sunday night in New Orleans. The two-time reigning NFL champion Kansas City Chiefs will face the equally talented Philadelphia Eagles.
For New York Giants fans, the question is: Who do you root for?
The Chiefs have become a behemoth under head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo — a former defensive coordinator and interim head coach with Big Blue.
Kansas City is in their fifth Super Bowl in the last six seasons. They have won three of five and two straight. They are attempting to become the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
The Eagles, a team that lost their leaders in the trenches on both sides of the ball (defensive tackle Fletcher Cox and center Jason Kelce), have not missed a beat and have become unstoppable with Saquon Barkley in their backfield.
Ah, and therein lies the rub. Giant fans are torn as many want to see the classy Barkley, the former face of their franchise, achieve the ultimate success in winning a Super Bowl.
But he will also be doing it for their most hated rival, Philadelphia. We all know co-owner John Mara’s feelings on the subject (he’s not sleeping), and we’ve been hearing from several of Barkley’s former Giants teammates that they are in his corner this Sunday.
From the New York Post:
“I thought they were crazy,” said Nick Gates, a member of Barkley’s rookie class with the Giants who is now an Eagles backup center. “How do you let that type of player go? The offensive line groups I was part of weren’t super-great. We were always ranked bottom-half. He still did pretty well with what he had. It’s cool to see him reach the goals everybody knew he could reach.”
Greg Rosenstein of NBC Sports says no matter how you slice it, Giant fans are the biggest losers in this year’s game. The Eagles are one win from a championship while their 3-14 Giants remain without a franchise quarterback and there’s no real winning for them this weekend.
“Every time I see Barkley running for a touchdown, it’s just like a total gut punch,” Giants fan John Lopez told NBC News this week. “Every Giants fan dies a little bit inside thinking about seeing Saquon Barkley, confetti everywhere, hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.”
True. No matter how good you feel for Saquon, it won’t help the Giants. His success is a constant reminder of the Giants’ dysfunction and ineptitude.
Barkley, naturally, holds no ill will towards the Giants. They have disappeared in his rearview mirror. Unfortunately for the Big Blue, they can’t seem to get Barkley off the hood of their car.
