Giants see strong similarities to '07

There was the 6-2 start, followed by the late-season swoon, the speculation about the coach's future and the skin-of-their-teeth playoff berth.

There was that woeful home loss to the Redskins that nearly derailed their playoff hopes.

And, of course, that exhilarating 38-35 loss at home to the NFL's only unbeaten team.

The Giants' 2007 season?

No, the Giants' 2011 season.

There are some pretty remarkable parallels this season to the Giants' last Super Bowl championship season four years ago. There was the strong getaway in 2007, the late-season struggles that led to speculation about Tom Coughlin's future, the December loss to the Redskins at home, followed by the season-saving and playoff-clinching win at Buffalo and the three-point loss to the unbeaten Patriots in the final game.

The Giants went on to a remarkable playoff run, winning in Tampa, Dallas and Green Bay before knocking off the 18-0 Patriots in Super Bowl XLII in one of the biggest upsets in NFL history.

As this year's team enters the playoffs after a stirring performance against the Cowboys in an NFC East winner-take-all regular-season finale, memories of that 2007 season were very much in evidence in the Giants' locker room.

There still are several key players from that team: quarterback Eli Manning, running backs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, offensive linemen Chris Snee, David Diehl and Kareem McKenzie and defensive end Justin Tuck. And, of course, the coach.

Coughlin can only hope those comparisons translate into a similar result. The journey begins Sunday at MetLife Stadium in a wild-card game against the Falcons as the Giants attempt to put together another memorable playoff streak.

"I think that comparisons deal with the circumstances on how you got there and what took place during the course of the season," Coughlin said. "I'm hoping that the fire and the momentum and the confidence and the way in which we played can be reflective of how it was in '07."

The wide swings of momentum in both seasons are remarkably similar. The Giants started off 6-2 in 2007 and 2011, and both teams had plenty of second-half struggles before barely qualifying for the tournament with clutch performances down the stretch.

Four seasons ago, a 38-21 win over the Bills in the next-to-last game clinched a wild-card berth. This year, a 31-14 win over the Cowboys on the final night of the season got them in.

In both seasons, there were 38-35 losses to the only unbeaten teams in the league: 15-0 New England in '07 and the 11-0 Packers this season.

"There are comparisons, but this is a different team and there are a lot of different people involved," Coughlin said. "But those that were with us then, they're very much anxious to have the type of playoff [in 2007] be repeated."

While we're at it, let's throw another comparison into the mix: The last time the Giants were in position to win a Super Bowl four seasons after they'd previously won one, they got the job done.

Like Coughlin this year, Bill Parcells had failed to win a playoff game since the 1986 Giants' epic run. And like Coughlin, there were questions about Parcells' future in 1990.

Parcells wound up winning the Super Bowl in an upset, as he overcame the loss of Phil Simms to an ankle injury and won three postseason games with Jeff Hostetler as his quarterback.

Hostetler beat Joe Montana's 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, then helped the Giants to a 20-19 upset of the Bills in Super Bowl XXV.

And Parcells resigned as the Giants' coach before the following season.

Coughlin could very well walk off into the sunset if he pulls off a Super Bowl run during the next four weeks. But he knows not to look too far ahead, which is why the comparisons to 2007 won't mean anything unless there is a similar result at the end.

Same goes for those who were a part of that special time four seasons ago.

"Every time you get into the playoffs, it's the same great feeling," Tuck said. "I feel the same way I did in '07 when we made it. '08, for that matter, too."

Tuck hopes this will end the same way as it did for the 2007 team, with confetti pouring down from above after a Super Bowl win.

And not the way it ended for the 2008 team, with heads bowed as the Giants walked off after a divisional-round loss to the Eagles at frigid Giants Stadium -- their most recent appearance in the playoffs.