Judging by the amount of ink being spilled about Super Bowl XLII this week, you'd think that the game was played this February.
That's incorrect, of course. That game was played in February of 2008, which makes it hard to understand why it is getting mentioned just about every time someone brings up this Sunday's matchup in Foxborough between the Giants and the Patriots.
We realize it is the same two teams doing battle, the same two coaches and even the same two quarterbacks. But it seems we are alone in also realizing that three-and-a-half football seasons represent at least that many lifetimes when it comes to the teams that will actually be on the field.
Plaxico Burress, Randy Moss, David Tyree and Laurence Maroney scored touchdowns in that game. None of them will be on the field come Sunday and not a single Giant who caught a pass in that game remains on the roster.
Michael Strahan, Tedy Bruschi and Rodney Harrison will be on TV Sunday, but they'll be in suits yukking it up with studio crews instead of in the uniforms they wore that night. The list of names that mattered back then that have no bearing on this contest goes on and on, yet there's still an attempt to draw some line between now and then in the runup to a game that needs no help when it comes to storylines.
You have a Giants team that is once again 5-2 staring at a killer schedule while trying to overcome their history of falling apart in the second half of the season under Tom Coughlin. They have issues running the ball and stopping the run to go with a general issue when it comes to putting forth a complete effort from whistle to whistle.
On the other side is a Patriots team that was eviscerated through the air by Ben Roethlisberger last week while Tom Brady threw for just 195 yards on offense. Bill Belichick has worked and worked to solve the team's defensive issues for years now and the team continually falls short because they can't make stops when they need them.
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And then there's Eli Manning authoring an MVP-type season at quarterback for the Giants facing off against the man he was mocked for comparing himself to in the preseason. It hasn't been a laughable comparison through the first seven games of the season, making it all the more interesting to see the two of them on the same field.
That right there is the easiest way to know that this game and Super Bowl XLII have about as much in common as current films and those of the silent era. Manning was along for the ride in the 2008 playoffs and he's now carrying the Giants almost by himself.
With all of that, why would you look backward? It was a great game, an absolute classic, but, unless Victor Cruz pins a ball to his helmet, it has absolutely nothing to do with what happens on the field Sunday.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter and he is also a contributor to Pro Football Talk.
