NEW YORK – Step aside Mets and Yankees, it’s NFL football season and it appears your rivalry, as intense as it may be, may be sitting on the back burner until after the New Year.
The intercity rivalry between the first-place New York Giants (10-1) and, this is NOT a typo, first-place New York Jets (8-3) has found new life since Brett Favre jumped into the fray, joining the Jets after their underachieving season last year.
While the Jets struggled last season, the Giants were putting together a win streak that took them all the way to their Super Bowl upset victory over the undefeated New England Patriots.
Trash-talking in the parks and cafes are picking up steam since the first place Jets defeated the Titans last week who came into that game with a 10-0 record.
The Giants in the meantime are continuing where they left off and have only lost one game all year and are a favorite to make a return trip to the Super Bowl.
I spoke to several fans from both sides of the fence over this Thanksgiving weekend and clearly the passion for this rivalry has elevated. I discovered when you bring up the words ‘Giants’ and ‘Jets’, everyone is willing to drop their sandwich to jump into the discussion.
Giants fans believe if the two teams met, Favre would be running for his life and buckle from the pressure of the Giants defense and the Giants would “cakewalk” through a “blowout”.
Jets fans laughed that off and were still excited about Favre leading the Jets to the blowout of the previously undefeated Titans 34-13. They challenged the Giants fans, “Bring it on” and said their Jets look unstoppable now and that Eli Manning would need to be “scraped off the turf when the game was over if the two teams met”.
It’s great to see the passion Favre and the rejuvenated Jets have injected back into this rivalry.
Today’s week 13 schedule puts the Giants in
Washington and the Jets at home against the Broncos.
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