Can The Giants Repeat As Super Bowl Champions?

There have been 46 Super Bowls played. Scattered among those championship games, there have been only eight instances of repeat title winners. The first two Super Bowls, played after the 1966 and '67 seasons, were won by Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers. The second back-to-back winners came in Super Bowls VII and VIII when the undefeated Miami Dolphins capped off their historic season in January of 1973 and cemented their legend with another championship 12 months later. The Pittsburgh Steelers' dynasty was next (and next again), with wins after the 1974, '75, '78 and '79 seasons. Joe Montana's San Francisco 49ers were repeat winners in the '88 and '89 seasons. The Dallas Cowboys turned the trick for the only time in their franchise history in '92 and '93. John Elway finished his career in style, with a pair of Super Bowl wins after the '97 and '98 seasons. And the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady New England Patriots were the last to repeat, in February of '04 and '05.

All of these teams were powerhouses and dynasties, with some (or all) making most Best Team Ever lists. And as we can see, repeating is not an easy thing to do. Greatness is usually involved. There aren't a lot of all-time underdogs winning consecutive titles. Actually, there are none. The 1968 New York Jets couldn't do it. Nor could deserving but not exactly all-time legendary squads such as the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Which brings us to the New York Giants. The Tom Coughlin/Eli Manning/Justin Tuck Super Bowl winners of 2007 and 2011 were underdogs, pure and simple. They were more Joe Namath's Jets than Terry Bradshaw's Steelers. In 2007, there was no way they could beat the undefeated and unbeatable New England Patriots. But they did. The following year, the Giants were looking like they had a very good chance at repeating, but Plaxico Burress' gunshot to his own leg not only sabotaged the receiver's career but the Giants' season as well, as things went downhill for the team from that night on.

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In 2011, there was no way the Giants would be able to qualify for the playoffs, after finding themselves with a 7-7 record with two games to go, but they did. There was some doubt they could defeat the Atlanta Falcons in the first round of the playoffs, but they did. There was no way they could beat the Packers the following week in Green Bay, but they did. There was no way they could come out on top vs. the 49ers in San Francisco in the NFC Championship Game, but they did. And there was no way they could win another Super Bowl against the Patriots, but they did.

And now, there's no way they can repeat as Super Bowl champions. Or can they? The doubters are already coming out of the woodwork, with members of the Packers and 49ers calling the 2011 Giants lucky to have defeated them. The Packers and 49ers just beat themselves, was their take on last season's postseason games. Of course, that's not true. The Giants won both games. If the Giants were inferior, the two playoff games were the chance to prove it. But neither Green Bay nor San Francisco could do it.

If any team can win back-to-back Super Bowls and defy the skeptics, it's Tom Coughlin's New York Giants. It doesn't mean they will, and history is not on their side, but the Giants didn't have a chance to win their eight postseason games in '07 and '11, but they won them all.