--Irony associated with parity? The four teams the Giants had to beat in order to win Super Bowl XLII all failed to make this year's playoffs. They are (in order of the teams the Giants beat last season) Tampa Bay, Dallas, Green Bay and New England.
--The Giants' final record of 13-3 was their best since the 1990 season. They had home-field advantage throughout the playoffs then, too, and emerged as winners of Super Bowl XXV. The franchise won 14 games in 1986, most ever for a 16-game schedule. That led to their first Super Bowl victory in XXI.
--WR Domenic Hixon, who caught a 23-yard TD pass from reserve QB David Carr, on the Vikings' game: "We knew they were very talented and that they absolutely had to have the victory, but we weren't going to make it easy for them. I think they will admit they had to earn it."
--MLB Antonio Pierce, usually curt and abrupt, said: "What good does it do to talk about the regular-season now? It's over. It's like talking about the last Super Bowl. It's over. It's irrelevant."
