The Giants Resurgence Changed the Perception of the NFC

Last night, one of the NFC's best teams: the Falcons, beat one of the AFC's best teams: the Ravens in a thrilling game. Some were billing it as a Super Bowl preview, with many picking the Falcons to overcome the Ravens. Flashback a month ago, the Seahawks, and the Bears were early leaders in their divisions, while perceived powers the Cowboys and Vikings were struggling. The general perception was, whoever the NFC sends to the Super Bowl will have a nice parting gift in the George Halas trophy, but there is now way they have a shot against the mighty AFC. Then something funny happened on the way to the playoffs, Eli Manning and the Giants turned their season around, and their playoff experience, Super Bowl pedigree, running game and stout defense shot them to the top of many power rankings. Now NFC teams like the Falcons, Packers and Eagles look a lot stronger by comparison. Combine it with the Saints starting to look like last year's team and the winner of the Big Game in February is no longer a foregone conclusion.