The competitor in me wants to see the New York Giants take a crack at the undefeated New England Patriots.  Yet when using sound logic, that makes about as much sense as the Giants actually beating the Patriots.  Both teams know where they're going from this point on, the Pats back to Foxboro until they go to Arizona and the Giants to Tampa where they've split Super Bowls.

Proponents of the Giants actually showing up in this game will argue that the Giants need to stay fresh and gain some momentum so that if they somehow do knock off the Pats, there will be some confidence boosting carry-over effect that will propell the Giants on a legendary playoff run.  Others will also argue that the Giants aren't going deep into the playoffs anyhow and that this in effect is their "Super Bowl." 

Another point is that if the Giants play and beat the Pats, no matter what they do from here on out, 10, 20, 25 years from now they'll be remembered as the team that beat the 15-0 Pats and ruined the perfect season.  But I'll tell you what, I remember the 1998 Giants who upset the 13-0 John Elway Denver Broncos at Giants Stadium when Kent Graham hooked up with Amani Toomer for the winning score, and the only memorable thing about that team is that they did it and that they were a team that completely underachieved that season and did nothing.  Actually looking back that win for that Giants team might have meant more because unlike that Giants team, this Giants team still has more to play for, namely the playoffs.  Besides how really historical are those Giants along with the Chad Johnson Bengals who upset the Chiefs about five years back or the Marino Dolphins who upset the '85 Bears?

The only fans that have a right to complain and be sour Week 17 are followers of the Vikings, Saints and Browns.  Because with the Redskins and Titans having destiny in their own hands and playing the Cowboys and Colts respectively, those two latter teams have no more of an obligation to show up and play hard than the Giants do. 

Granted they are 7-1 on the road, but for a team that would have to play three straight road games (assuming the Redskins/6th seed doesn't make it to the NFC Conference Championship Game) just to get to Arizona for the Super Bowl, this is in effect their bye week and they've earned it just as much as the Cowboys and Colts.

There's simply no need for anyone on the O-Line to go out and twist a knee, or Eli Manning to re-aggrivate his shoulder or Brandon Jacobs to tear up his hamstring or Plaxico Burress to roll over his ankle or an already thin-depth defense to lose anymore anchors.  You don't play scared or you get injured, therefore there's no reason to play these guys outside of a couple of series if at all in what amounts to a meaningless game.  The last two seasons in Oakland and Washington, the Giants had to go out and grind it to win the division and last year to just make the playoffs.  This season they have the luxury of having clinched and knowing who and where they'll play in the playoffs.

Some will say that two back to back losses to New England and Tampa Bay will be devastating and depressing and with the Giants ending a third straight season of being bumped out in the first round won't distinguish them from anyone and that "what if" syndrome of potentially beating the Pats and making "history," will set in. 

Lets get one thing perfectly straight though, the Pats are the only team playing for history here folks.  They are the only one's with that streak on the line and the only one's outside of the casual football fan and perhaps the '72 Dolphins that should care about it.  This is not the Giants fight, they just so happen to be opponent # 16 on the Pats schedule.  Besides if the Giants actually show up and play there's no guarantee they'll beat them and even if they do and some guys get knocked out for the season, the regret and "what if" fallout from a first round playoff loss in Tampa will be even more historically painful for the Giants and Giants fans.

Finally, if you're the Giants and you do pull off some kind of miraculous playoff run to meet the Pats in Arizona for the Super Bowl, why show off all of your cards now?