Both of the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl losses during the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era have come at the hands of the New York Giants — and had the Patriots and Giants squared off a third time in Super Bowl LI, Patriots owner Robert Kraft evidently believes that game would have played out the same way.
Speaking Monday at the NFL Annual Meeting, Giants co-owner Steve Tisch said Kraft told him New York would have defeated New England if they’d met on the sport’s biggest stage again this past season.
“Looking back, I could not have been happier (about the Giants’ season),” Tisch said, via SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano. “Would I like to have gone deeper in the playoffs? Of course. Would I have liked to end up Houston? Absolutely. Especially because Bob Kraft, after the Super Bowl, told me, ‘You would’ve beat us.’ So that was a nice compliment. …
“When I heard that. I agreed with him.”
Of course, we’ll never know how that matchup would have turned out. The Giants bowed out in the wild-card round with a 38-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers, and the Patriots went on to hoist their fifth Lombardi Trophy since 2002, beating the Atlanta Falcons in overtime in one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played.
The Giants have not won a single playoff game since knocking off the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.
Thumbnail photo via Robert Deutsch/USA TODAY Sports Images
