The final four. It’s been four years since the Giants played on this weekend and it’s felt like 40 given what’s gone on with them since they beat the 49ers in San Francisco in January 2012. From the 2-6 finish to the 2012 season to the 0-6 start to the 2013 season to the seven-game losing streak in 2014 to the six last-minute losses in 2015, the Giants have done the exact opposite of what I thought they would do when they won Super Bowl XLVI and started the next season 6-2. The point is you don’t know when you’re going to get back to this round or if you’re ever going to get back, so when you get here, you better win.

So about me wanting to dominate the divisional round picks … (crickets … crickets). By dominating, I must have meant going 0-4 and falling to 2-6 in the playoffs. The good news is there are still three games to pick to finish the season on a winning note and the better news is that I’m 13 games over .500, so no matter what happens in the last three games, the season was still a success.

DENVER +3.5 over New England
I can’t believe I’m in this spot again: rooting against the Patriots from reaching the Super Bowl. Actually, I can. The AFC East was once again a joke, the rest of the AFC wasn’t much better and with the Patriots able to wrap up a first-round bye and then divisional round home game, I’m not sure why I ever think they won’t be in this spot. Since 2001, the only time they haven’t been in the AFC Championship Game was 2002 (missed the playoffs), 2005 (lost to Denver in the divisional round), 2008 (lost Tom Brady for the season in Week 1), 2009 (lost to Baltimore in wild-card round) and 2010 (lost to the Jets in the divisional around). Take out 2008 because of injury and that’s 10 AFC Championship Games in 14 seasons with Tom Brady as the quarterback. Right now, if you were to tell me that Tom Brady will be healthy for all of 2016 then it’s hard not to think the Patriots won’t be back in this game again next season. Now the only thing standing between the Patriots and me drinking heavily to avoid dealing with a Patriots championship a little over two weeks from now is Peyton Manning.

I never thought Brock Osweiler should remain the Broncos’ quarterback when Peyton got healthy and couldn’t understand the people that thought he should. Maybe Osweiler will eventually be a top-tier quarterback, but for anyone who watched him play in Peyton’s absence (or bet on the Broncos during this time), a healthy Osweiler isn’t even close to a barely-hanging-on Manning.

Peyton was horrible in the regular season, but was saved by his defense after years of carrying his team, and his performance last week against the Steelers and one of the worst secondaries in the league wasn’t exactly promising. The greatest passer in the history of the game has been downgraded to game manager and the rapid decline of Peyton’s health and career couldn’t have come at a worse time.

The theme all week has centered around the idea that Peyton will be forced to beat the Patriots deep and he won’t be able to. No one is talking about what the Broncos’ defense is capable of or how special teams could impact the game, but why would they? It’s Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady (kind of) and one’s career is coming to an end and the other’s has no end in sight.

I want Peyton Manning to beat the Patriots, give the Mannings another postseason win against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, go to the Super Bowl, win it and ride off into the sunset as a champion. I want that to happen. But most importantly, I need the Patriots to lose. Let’s take care of the need first and then we can get to the wants.

CAROLINA -3 over Arizona
There is a Regular Season Carson Palmer and a Postseason Carson Palmer, and if you think the near-MVP you saw for 16 weeks was going to be the guy that showed up last week, your bank account can’t be doing too well.

Carson Palmer was bad in the divisional round, but he wasn’t the only one. The Cardinals’ defense was surprisingly bad, and Bruce Arians, managed the clock in the final minutes like he was paying tribute to Tom Coughlin’s 2015 season and installed a defense on the final drive of regulation as if he had bet against his team with the spread. The Cardinals mailed it in in Week 17, had a week off and showed up for their home playoff game as the 2-seed as if it were a preseason game in August. There was nothing to feel good about from the Cardinals and for a team that has historically been embarrassed on the East Coast, they couldn’t have a worse matchup for the NFC Championship Game.

I still don’t believe in the Panthers, even after their 15-1 regular season and even after they ran off a 31-0 halftime lead against the two-time defending NFC champions. But if they win two more games, I will have been wrong all along. I guess even getting to this point shows I was wrong all along. If the Broncos can’t beat the Patriots and they go to Super Bowl 50, the Cardinals aren’t going to beat them, but the Panthers can. In the event the AFC Championship Game doesn’t go the way I want it to, I’m going to need the Panthers to be in San Francisco in two weeks. It’s time to believe in the Panthers.

Last week: 0-4-0
Season: 136-123-5

Prior to Ben McAdoo being introduced as the next head coach of the New York Football Giants, I had never heard him talk. Never. From watching him talk to Tom Coughlin or Eli Manning on the sidelines or talking into his headset during games, I tried to imagine what his voice sounds like, but until Friday, I never really thought about it. So when McAdoo said, “Thank you all for coming today,” it was the first time I had ever heard him talk.

McAdoo did a decent job in his first press conference and his first public setting as a head coach in the NFL. He could have had better opening remarks and could have answered some questions more honestly, and he certainly could have used a suit that fit, but overall it was your average introductory press conference for a head coach.

No one knows what to expect from McAdoo. He’s a mystery. If the Giants had made Steve Spagnuolo the head coach or gone outside the organization with Doug Marrone or Mike Smith or Lovie Smith, we would have some idea as to what to expect from the new Giants head coach. But with McAdoo, any guess or prediction is reasonable. The Giants could finish off the games in 2016 that they shouldn’t have lost in 2015. Or they could be the same postseason-less Giants of the last four years. Or they could be a complete disaster and we’re looking at a new head coach again for 2017. It’s all possible.

Here are four things I took away from McAdoo’s first words as Giants head coach. For not seeing anyone else in this role for the last 12 years, it certainly felt weird, so here’s to not having to do this again for another 12 years.

1. Thank You to You and You and You and You
After McAdoo thanked “you all” for coming today, he then went on to thank every person he has ever come in contact with in his life. His family, the people from his hometown, his former coaches, his former players, the guy who sold him his first bike as a kid, the barber who gave him his first haircut, the owners of the liquor store where he bought his first case of beer and every person who has ever held a door open for him entering a building.

Oddly enough, McAdoo didn’t thank Odell Beckham Jr. Without Beckham (well we saw what the Giants’ offense looks like without Beckham in Week 16 against Minnesota), McAdoo isn’t having this press conference. He’s probably no longer an offensive coordinator in the NFL. He’s probably back to being a quarterbacks coach or having some made up title at some college. Beckham is single-handedly responsible for the success of the Giants’ offense over the last two seasons. He should have thanked him first and maybe only thanked him.

2. The Four Keys
McAdoo talked about the keys to winning and the structure he will instill in the Giants, which were broken down into four categories. They are …

1. Strong leadership
2. Talented men and women
3. A positive working environment
4. Comprehensive structure and function

McAdoo does realize he’s coaching a football team and not serving as the Director of HR for a Fortune 500 company, right? I mean I understand No. 1 and to some extent No. 3, but what is with No. 2 and No. 4? It’s one thing to have “talented men and women” in the organization, but McAdoo won’t be coaching any women because there aren’t any women on the Giants. And “comprehensive structure and function” just sounds like some BS phrase a company uses in their company handbook or on some unnecessary paper you have to sign on your first day. Someone might want to remind McAdoo he is the head coach of the team and not the CEO or president.

3. The Coaching Staff
McAdoo dodged every question about who would be on his staff and frequently said the staff is “fluid” as if a group of football coaches were in liquid form. Sure, nothing is set in stone, but at the time of his press conference, there were obviously already decisions made. There was no need to hide any information if deals had already been made with staff members or returning staff members.

When asked if he will continue to call the plays, McAdoo wouldn’t say and cited “a competitive advantage for the opponent” if he were to say. Either McAdoo has no idea if he will call the plays or he thinks the Giants have a game this week because I’m not sure how saying who will call the plays would give any team a competitive advantage for the Giants’ next game which is in eight months. I mean this is about WHO is calling the plays and now WHAT the plays are. I hate to break it you McAdoo, but between now and training camp, he’s going to have make it known, who is calling the plays for the Giants. I just hope that simple fact doesn’t give the rest of the NFC East too much of an advantage.

4. Reloading Not Rebuilding
A main reason I wanted the Giants to make McAdoo the head coach and also why I thought they would is because even though the Giants were a 6-10 team, they could have easily been a 12-4 team if they handled the final minutes of six games differently. Ownership didn’t need to clean house when it came to the roster or staff, and they could have easily kept Tom Coughlin. But the most important thing with this team that could still be playing moving forward is continuity. The Giants are close. McAdoo clearly believes the same thing as he said, “We’re not looking to rebuild, we’re looking to reload and we’re going to start in a couple minutes.”

It must be weird to start a job on a Friday, especially on a Friday before a holiday/three-day weekend, but I respect McAdoo for getting to work right away. The Giants shouldn’t have missed the playoffs this season, their fourth straight season without reaching the postseason and if they miss them again in 2016, we’ll be having this same press conference for a new general manager next January.

I desperately wanted the Giants to get rid of Kevin Gilbride for a long time because I couldn’t stand to watch another third-and-7 draw to the third-string running back for a two-yard gain. I couldn’t take an unnecessary amount of drives created by passing stall in the red zone thanks to an awful running game. So I welcomed the hiring of Ben McAdoo as the Giants’ new offensive coordinator before the 2014 season because I thought change was needed even if Gilbride has been the offensive coordinator for Super Bowl XLII and XLVI.

Eli Manning quickly became a more accurate passer with McAdoo as the offensive coordinator, though the addition of Odell Beckham Jr. could be the reason for that and McAdoo’s entire tenure with the Giants might be one big smoke-and-mirrors act built solely on having the best wide receiver in football on his team. (Let’s hope this isn’t the case.) McAdoo wasn’t exactly the coordinator I thought he would be after being the quarterbacks coach for the Packers and Aaron Rodgers, and, if anything, he was more Gilbride than not.

I have spent the last two seasons wondering why third downs were going through Preston Parker and why Andre Williams was asked to get a critical yard or why a four-man running back rotation became a thing. I made jokes about McAdoo’s facial hair and questioned whether or not he used a four-restaurant chain rotation to eat at every night between T.G.I Friday’s, Applebee’s, Chili’s and Ruby Tuesdays similar to the running back rotation he created with Rashad Jennings, Andre Williams, Shane Vereen and Orleans Darkwa.

The minute Tom Coughlin was fired and it became more and more apparent that McAdoo would be the next Giants head coach, which seemed like the exact plan ownership had instilled when they hired him two years ago, I got sick. The Giants are going to hand over the franchise to a 38-year-old with zero head coaching experience and a goatee that instantly takes away some of his credibility? How did we get here? (Well, I actually I know how we got here and it started in the final minute in Dallas in Week 1.)

The more I thought about it, I actually talked myself into Ben McAdoo being the next head coach of the New York Football Giants. It’s half because I know the Giants are going to make him the next head coach and half because there isn’t a better option out there. There are three reasons ownership is going to pick McAdoo and the rest of these interviews are all for show.

1. Eli Manning
In the two seasons with Ben McAdoo as his offensive coordinator, Eli Manning has thrown for 65 touchdowns and 28 interceptions, completing 62.8 percent of his passes for the best two seasons of his career. Unfortunately, the two seasons were all for nothing thanks to the Giants’ defense.

Eli spent the first 10 seasons of his career under the same offense before Kevin Gilbride “resigned” (the same way Tom Coughlin resigned) and the Giants brought in the Packers’ quarterback coach, McAdoo. Eli struggled through the beginning of the 2014 season under the new offense before the debut of Odell Beckham Jr. mainly because he was the only player on the offense who seemed to fully grasp the complexities of the new system and the intricate hand signals. Last week, Eli told Mike Francesa on WFAN that he could see McAdoo being the next head coach and has enjoyed playing in his system. Now I don’t expect Eli to say on the biggest sports radio program in the country that he doesn’t like McAdoo if he really doesn’t, but I also don’t think he would go out of his way to say the things he did say if he didn’t actually like him. And if Eli didn’t actually like McAdoo, he would have already been fired because the franchise quarterback gets to pick who his coordinator is.

After spending a decade in basically the same offense followed by two years learning a new one, which produced the best two years of his career, there’s no way the front office wants Eli to learn yet another offense at 35 years old having the success he had with McAdoo. If McAdoo is the head coach then he’s like also the offensive coordinator calling the playoffs. If he’s not the coach or Steve Spagnuolo isn’t the coach, then the new coach is going to have the opportunity to pick his own staff and it’s more than likely that McAdoo won’t be part of it. No new head coach is going to want ownership’s Golden Boy on his staff always lurking in the background as a replacement at any time.

2. The Giants’ Family Tree
The Giants aren’t going to hire a head coach that doesn’t have some sort of connection to the Giants. Once upon a time, Tom Coughlin was the Giants’ wide receivers coach (1988-90) and also happened to be the head coach of John Mara’s alma mater (Boston College). Jim Fassel had been the Giants’ quarterbacks’ coach and offensive coordinator (1991-92). Ray Handley had been part of the Giants’ staff, including as offensive coordinator (1984-90). Bill Parcells had been the Giants’ defensive coordinator (1979 and 1981-82). The only exception since the Parcells era, which began in 1983, was Dan Reeves, who was the Giants’ third choice and only hired after the coach they wanted decided to stay with his college team. That coach was Tom Coughlin.

McAdoo has now been part of the Giants’ family for two seasons and that gives him a leg up on any outsiders like Adam Gase (no, thank you), Lovie Smith (please, no) or Mike Smith (NOOOOOOOOOO!). The only person who matches him here is Steve Spagnuolo, but McAdoo is younger (38) than Spagnuolo (56) and Spagnuolo’s stint as Rams head coach and the Giants’ defensive performance this season has to hurt him head-to-head against McAdoo even with McAdoo having no head coaching experience.

3. Continuity
The Giants were 6-10 this season, but could have been 12-4 if they had finished off the Cowboys, Falcons, Saints, Patriots, Jets and Eagles, and even 9-7 if they finish off half of those teams, and that would have given them a postseason berth and Tom Coughlin would still be the head coach. The Giants aren’t as bad as their record suggests (sorry, Bill Parcells) and aren’t in need of a complete overhaul.

The Giants got their out to get rid of Coughlin, but it makes no sense to retain Jerry Reese if they’re then going to risk losing McAdoo and Spagnuolo by going outside the organization for a new head coach. The Giants were in playoff contention until Week 16 and should have been a playoff team. They will return the core of their offense in 2016, will get back injured players on defense and have a lot of salary cap space to fix some holes through free agency. The Giants are going to be a contender again in 2016 and there’s no way the front office wants to push the team in a completely new direction.

Tom Coughlin should still be the Giants’ head coach. Unfortunately, he’s not. But just because ownership wanted him out doesn’t mean they want what to destroy what they built.

Someone will win Super Bowl 50, but it won’t be the Giants. Unfortunately, this column is becoming an annual thing because of the Giants’ inability to reach the postseason.

1. Vikings
My girlfriend is a Vikings fan, so with the Giants out of the playoffs, I’m an honorary Vikings fan. (Hopefully, this goes better than when I became an honorary “12” for the Super Bowl after going to the NFC Championship Game in Seattle.)

2. Broncos
If the Broncos hadn’t been able to win home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs, then writing all of this wouldn’t have mattered because the Patriots would be going to the Super Bowl and the only that would matter is backing whichever NFC team reached Santa Clara. But at home in a potential AFC Championship Game where the Broncos beat the Patriots two seasons ago, well I can get on board with that happening.

The return of Peyton Manning in Week 17 to clinch home-field advantage and now healthy and ready for the postseason could be the start of the best end to a career since John Elway. Peyton is going to need a second Super Bowl win to be considered the greatest quarterback ever and not just the greatest regular-season quarterback ever. He had his chance in Super Bowl XLIV and again in XVIII and I hope he gets the chance again in 50 because that will mean the Patriots won’t be there.

3. Texans
The Texans have no chance of winning the Super Bowl. Zero chance. They actually shouldn’t even have a postseason spot because of their zero chance they have of winning. (This also goes for the Redskins.) But one can imagine how fun it would be for Brian Hoyer to be a Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

4. Cardinals
In 2013, Bruce Arians’ Cardinals finished 10-6 and missed the playoffs because of the deep NFC West, while the 8-7-1- Packers won their division and hosted a first-round game. Last season, Arians lost Carson Palmer for Weeks 2, 3 and 5 (they had a bye in Week 4), and then to a season-ending injury in Week 10. The Cardinals went 6-0 when Palmer was their quarterback and 5-5 when he wasn’t. The Cardinals then lost Drew Stanton and had to start Ryan Lindley in the playoffs and there they lost to the Panthers. The Cardinals are finally in the postseason with a real starting quarterback, but fr as much as I would like to see Arians win it all, I can’t say the same about Carson Palmer.

5. Bengals
A.J. McCarron believes he can go on a Tom Brady-like run and mirror what Brady started and did 13 years ago. He has the offensive weapons to do so and the defense to back him, so it’s not that outrageous to think McCarron could lead the Bengals to the Super Bowl as long as he doesn’t ruin a postseason game for them. Being a Bengal and having Marvin Lewis as his head coach in the playoffs is working against him and that might be too much to overcome.

6. Chiefs
Andy Reid as a Super Bowl-winning head coach? Alex Smith as a Super Bowl-winning quarterback? Kansas City as Super Bowl champions just three months after winning the World Series? Hey, it could happen.

7. Panthers
The Cam Newton MVP and hype train is insufferable, but at least he’s deserving of the attention he gets and it’s not like he’s the one giving himself the attention. I’m not rooting against the Panthers though I’m not rooting against them, I just can’t see them beating the Patriots if it came to that next month and that’s really what this is all about. And let’s not forget …

I’m still mad at the Panthers for their Super Bowl XXXVIII loss to the Patriots that gave the Patriots their second Super Bowl in three years. And I’m still mad at the Panthers, well mainly just Jake Delhomme, for destroying that divisional round game against the Cardinals in 2008 with five interceptions, costing me the Panthers -10 pick.

8. Steelers
If Ben Roethlisberger wins a third Super Bowl then we’ll have to hear the hot takes like “Is Ben Roethlisberger the best quarterback of all time?” and he’ll certainly be given the nod as the best quarterback of the 2004 draft class over Eli Manning and I can’t stand for that.

9. Redskins
I already don’t like that I have to root for the Giants’ division rival in the first round this Saturday and I certainly wouldn’t want to see them win the Super Bowl or even get there for that matter. We saw what the Redskins did against the Patriots this season, and after Pete Carroll handed them a championship last season, we don’t need the Patriots being given anymore championships.

10. Seahawks
After Pete Carroll’s goal-line decision in the Super Bowl, I promised myself I would never root for the Seahawks again unless they were playing the Patriots in the Super Bowl again. The last thing I want to see is Carroll and Russell Wilson hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, a year after they gave it to the Patriots, pretending like last year never happened. If the duo wins again, it would overshadow what happened last year and I need that to be their lasting Super Bowl memory after ending the Patriots’ nine-year championship drought.

11. Packers
Let me remind you of how the Packers’ seasons have ended in the Aaron Rodgers era:

2008: Missed playoffs
2009: Lost in wild-card round
2010: Won Super Bowl
2011: Lost in divisional round (first game)
2012: Lost in divisional round after beating Joe Webb and the Vikings in the Wild-Card round
2013: Lost in wild-card round
2014: Lost in the NFC Championship after blowing a 12-point lead with just over two minutes left

In the seven years with Rodgers as the starter, the Packers have won six playoff games with four of them coming in the same year. And if the “Miracle at the Meadowlands” doesn’t happen, the Packers don’t even make the playoffs in 2010 let alone win the Super Bowl. If the Packers win the Super Bowl, the never-ending praise for Rodgers is only going to get worse.

I’m so sick of Aaron Rodgers. The idea that he’s the best quarterback in the world is ridiculous and the excuses made for him because his receivers are Randall Cobb, James Jones and Davante Adams are disgusting. That trio would go down as one of the best trios Tom Brady would have ever had in his career, yet when Rodgers isn’t successful with them, it’s not his fault, it’s theirs.

12. Patriots
From the 2010 playoffs:

There is no way I want the Patriots to win the Super Bowl. None at all. I would rather walk across the George Washington Bridge naked, during rush hour, while it’s freezing rain than see the Patriots win.

From last year’s playoffs:

I’m scared that this is the year the Patriots finish the job after losing two Super Bowls, three AFC Championship Games, two divisional round losses, a wild-card round loss and a missed postseason over the last nine years. But the one thing keeping me from penciling the Patriots in as the Super Bowl XLXI champion is Mike Hurley telling me that he has seen better Patriots team he thought would win the Super Bowl and they didn’t.

The Patriots have to lose.

Well, they didn’t. Thanks, Pete Carroll. The only way to put even the slightest dent in what happened last year is if the Broncos beat the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game and then Peyton Manning wins the Super Bowl and rides off into the sunset as a champion. This has to happen.