This Sunday got off to a rather inauspicious start. Having DVR’d the Manchester Derby, I awoke at 9 AM downstairs to the sounds of my dad yelling at the television about how shit the referee was. Over the past couple of years, I’ve gotten Dad to become a City fan, so much so that he makes it a point to try to watch a lot of the matches with me when he can and that he often gets angrier at the players than I do. (“Dzeko is lazy! He doesn’t track back! Why isn’t Adam Johnson playing?”)

With that kind of alarm, I had an idea what I was about to endure when I met up with Bowie at 11 AM to watch the game over bagels - a brave, but heartbreaking loss. Chris Foy, Manchester United’s Man of the Match, managed to do what no team in England has this season and completely nullify City captain Vincent Kompany by ejecting him from the proceedings a little over 10 minutes in for making as much contact with Nani as you or I did. United had already scored once against the run of play and, with the added momentum of having City’s best defender sent off, added two more before the half. City, however, would not go quietly into the night - Kolarov scored a free kick shortly after the restart, and Aguero, who was phenomenal as the only true forward on the field for City, added a second setting up a final 20 minutes in which Manchester United, despite being up a man, hung on for dear life after having a 3 goal lead only a half hour prior. I briefly thought I had been hallucinating in the morning because I swore I heard Paul Scholes’ name coming from the TV, but there he was, his exhumed body one of the 11 trying to stop City from a historic comeback. They did, but just barely, and given the 12 on 10 advantage United enjoyed, I’ve rarely felt as good after a defeat, especially to…them.

We were counting on the Giants to set things right, although I briefly feared that Chris Foy would be flown in to East Rutherford to preemptively eject Eli Manning and Jason Pierre-Paul from the game. Luckily, that did not occur. I did expect a close game, but instead, the Giants took it to Atlanta, a satisfying demolition by the score of 24-2. Being the team’s only home playoff game, and after storming back to win the NFC East the final month of the season, including a play-in game last week, the Giants made the most of it, exposing Matt Ryan and cancelling out Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Tony Gonzalez. It’s shocking the difference a healthy pass rush makes to the defense, covering up for a wildly spotty secondary (to be kind). Atlanta rarely threatened aside from two drives that ended on fourth-and-inches in Giants territory. Eli continued his phenomenal season, and got his first home playoff win (he struggled in losses to the Eagles and Panthers in his previous home playoff games). 

Now it’s onto Lambeau Field and the Packers. I do think the Giants can hang with them if they can keep the pressure on Rodgers, although he presents a much more mobile adversary than Ryan (not to mention, a much better one). Whatever happens at this point, it has to be considered a successful season for the Giants, so long as they acknowledge that this playoff run doesn’t mean the team doesn’t have areas in need of improvement.  For now, though, it’s onto next Sunday, and hoping they can catch lightning in a bottle again like 2007. That felt like a once-in-a-lifetime thing and I’m not one to expect miracle championship runs regularly, but at least they’re there with a chance, which is more than can be said for 22 other NFL teams.

So while City’s season will continue on despite their defeat - leading the Premier League, in the Semi-Finals of the Carling Cup, and in the Europa League - the Giants win ensured theirs continued for at least one more. And both played in a way that would make a fan optimistic about the possibilities.