Giants' Rolle says ‘we cant be beat'

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If this guaranteed-win thing gets your delicates into a knot, well, there may be a flaw in your delicates.

You know what were talking about -- Giants safety Antrel Rolle essentially saying his team would win Sunday. This is much less newsy an item than him saying, We have no chance; I just I hope I can see my loved ones before we leave for the game, but thats not how it will be flogged.

But heres what Rolle told a series of reporters who patrolled the Giants locker room Monday, and you tell us when you think hes crossed a line of either logic or intent:

"We're not going to be denied. We understand what we have as a team. It's not all about talent, it's all about chemistry. We're jelling at this point."

And ...

"I might be a little biased, but in our minds, we cant be beat, Rolle said via the New York Daily News' Peter Botte. Were extremely confident and weve given ourselves the reasons to feel that way. We have to continue to give ourselves those reasons, and we will. We have no doubts. Its right there at the tip of our tongues.

And ...

You can put an All-Star team in front of us, and were going to go out there and compete, he continued. We dont fold. No matter what happens, if theres a bad call, or things arent going our way, were not going to break. Were not going to lose focus on whats at stake and our ultimate goal.

Now we dont doubt that Jim Harbaugh already has little elves in the 49ers Bunker Of Solitude turning these quotes into Alex Smith is evil, stupid, and made entirely out of Jenga blocks. We will kill him, skin him, gut him, season him, fry him and eat him at the 50-yard-line after Sundays game. Its what football people do -- the fabricating, not the cannibalism. At least not as far as we know.

But to get worked up about it is the height of stupidity. Antrel Rolle gets to talk, and he gets to brag about his team. Theyve earned it, in exactly the same way that Donte Whitner would have earned it if he said the same things (again, not the cannibalism part). Youre supposed to believe your team is ready for the big job. Youre supposed to.

I mean, hell, Jason Pierre-Paul, who is likely to create a good deal more havoc Sunday than Rolle, guaranteed a win over the Packers two weeks ago ("Were going to win," Pierre-Paul said after New York beat Atlanta. "One hundred percent were going to win ... because were the best."), and that worked out fine.

But the win had nothing to do with the oration, and all sentient beings understand that. Its all just words, and words are free.

So heres to Antrel Rolle, and whatever the 49ers have to say in response. Unless one of them loses their minds and says, This will be so easy that were actually just flying straight to Indianapolis on Saturday and skipping all those grass stains, this is nothing. Less than nothing, in fact. It doesnt even rise to the level of tedious clich any more. And anyone who wants to make this a big deal is just going to bore his or her friends.

Although, if this helps, Rolle said after the Giants lost to Washington in Week 1, As a team and organization we know that the Washington Redskins are not a better team than us. We know that. Hands down. If we played them 100 times they might win five. He might be right, but the Redskins beat them again in Week 15.

That was New Yorks last loss. So maybe if Harbaugh wants to call Mike Shanahan and ask him how he beat the Giants without resorting to murdering and consuming any players, fine. But this looks like a rhetorical dead end to us, and it should to you, too.

Ray Ratto is a columnist for CSNBayArea.com.

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