Only one team has stopped Tom Brady and Co. in the Super Bowl—twice, in fact—and former running back Brandon Jacobs was part of both those Big Blue title teams, in the 2007-08 and 2011-12 seasons.
Jacobs knows what it takes to topple the defending champion Patriots, and he says the current Giants squad – with new wide receiver addition Brandon Marshall – has the goods to not only make another Super Bowl run, but is capable of winning the Big One for a third time in a decade, if they advance to the title game in 2018.
“If the offensive line can block, I’ve got (the Giants) in the final game. If the offensive line can come alive and they run the ball a little more effectively this year than they’ve done in the past, I think there should be no one out there to stop the Giants,” Jacobs told the Daily News Monday.
Jacobs participated in Mariano Rivera’s charity golf event at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck Monday, which benefits the former Yankee closer’s foundation and White Plains Hospital.
For Giants fans worried that quarterback Eli Manning may be slowing down, Jacobs says the two-time Super Bowl MVP signal caller “is still an elite quarterback for the next couple years,” provided Manning, 36, can withstand the punishing hits delivered by opposing defenses.
One of Manning’s favorite target, wideout Odell Beckham Jr., is a player whose big personality and off-the-field antics don’t bother Jacobs, and he thinks Beckham’s play is elevated by the receiver living his life out loud.
“I like Odell. I like (his big personality) because he feels like he has something to measure up to,” Jacobs said. “He has to keep doing what he’s doing. He has to keep performing on the field to remain in the light where he is now. If you don’t perform on the field, all of the stuff you’re doing now doesn’t matter. It’s ‘What have you done for me lately?'”
Jacobs called Marshall a player who has “never been bullheaded” or “stubborn,” character traits that will serve him well in the cauldron of New York City.
“You can’t be stubborn or bullheaded when you’ve got so many other players around you. I think (Marshall) is going to destroy in the red zone. He’s going to kill there. You’ve got Odell and (wide receiver) Sterling Shepard, who I think is going to be the guy who’s stretching the field,” said Jacobs. “I think if the Giants get to the final game, they’re gonna win, regardless of who they’re playing against.”
