A rare moment when even Trent Dilfer can't talk smack

It’s not often that I can wake up, turn on ESPN radio, and avoid the frigid January chill for a few lingering moments by savoring the universal praise of my team.

In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever been able to do that. (At least not in the last few seasons.)

Normally, the Giants are a blip on the map compared to the likes of the Packers or the Saints. And of course there’s always the local team (I live in Boston), the New England Patriots. They’re the ones who grab talking time.

But today, not even 24 hours removed from the Giants impressive 37-20 win at Lambeau against the defending champion Packers, Tom Coughlin’s team is central to NFL discussion. And what is more, they're impervious to the usual attempts to discredit them.

No matter how hard Trent Dilfer tries, he’ll have a hard time finding ways to not give the New York Giants credit. And that feels pretty great.

But onto business.

Defense Strikes Back

All season, the loose narrative for the NFL has been wrapped around the mind-boggling numbers. Multiple quarterbacks broke Dan Marino’s single season passing record. And three other quarterbacks were close.

Rob Gronkowski officially dispelled the notion that tight ends are anything less than primary receivers, scoring more touchdowns than any wide receiver and becoming the deep threat in the prolific New England offense.

Dominant teams had defenses ranked near the bottom of the league, and we all began to wonder whether or not that would actually matter.

Yet if there was one general theme from the divisional round of the playoffs this week, it was the return of defense.

The 49ers obviously highlight this theme best. Facing a Saints offense that had set a playoff record for total yards the previous week against Detroit, San Francisco physically beat up the Saints. They recorded 11 quarterback hits and forced five turnovers.

The Ravens also won the turnover battle, as did the Giants and Patriots.

So after a season in which offense reigned supreme and we all began to question how the modern NFL was any different than Arena League Football.

As it turns out, defense and turnovers still matter. Strange thought.

Patriots probably feeling pretty good

After not only surviving Tebow Time, but eviscerating it, the New England Patriots are probably relishing their chances in the rest of the postseason.

True, their defense is by far the weakest one left in the playoffs, but that’s only a measurement on paper.

In practice, the Patriot defense was pretty good last week. Seemingly for the first time since Mike Vrabel wore the Patriot uniform, New England had a dangerous pass rush.

That, probably more than Tom Brady’s record-setting night, must be a comfort for Pats fans.

And a quick glance at the quarterbacks left in the playoffs, there’s no doubt that Tom Brady is the best.

Playing the Ravens will be as stiff a challenge in the AFC as the Patriots could have imagined. Baltimore’s defense has a history of playing Brady tough. That puts all the more pressure on Belichick’s defense.

They will have to make plays to avoid repeating their disappointing playoff loss to the Ravens in January 2010 (a game in which Ray Rice ran the first play from scrimmage for a touchdown).