Single-game playoffs and truly crowning a champion

You may or may not have heard, but the Giants won the Super Bowl.
Yes, New York has been crowned champions of the NFL world and now, like the sourest of all sour grapes that I am, I must complain.
After 22 weeks of football, I don’t think New York is the best team in football. Don’t get me wrong: they earned the right to be in the Super Bowl. They beat Green Bay, San Francisco and New England, three of the NFL’s toughest teams.
But what indications do we have that New York is a better team than Green Bay, San Francisco and New England? That they beat them in the playoffs? Please.
In a pressure packed game, one game mind you, anything can happen, like Aaron Rodgers playing badly, or Tom Brady giving up an intentional grounding safety.
Single game playoffs make it easier for less talented teams to beat more talented ones. Sometimes, this means that the best team in a single season doesn’t win the championship.
Doesn’t this bother anyone else? I love being able to say that the 2008 Celtics were clearly the best team in the NBA. They beat the best the Western Conference had to offer four times. They proved themselves to be the absolute best. Can the same be said for the Giants?
I understand the argument that predictable sporting events aren’t much fun at all. But shocking upsets should be just that: upsets. We always want to see David smite down Goliath, and in our culture of immediate gratification, we expect to be treated to a shocking Cinderella story every game.
I hate this. The reason David defeating Goliath is a special story is because 99 times out of 100, Goliath crushes David with his pinky finger. If tiny guys with slingshots routinely defeated a nation’s mightiest warrior, it wouldn’t make for a good story. That’s my biggest problem with one game playoffs: the upsets cheapen other upsets. They cheapen the story.
The problem for the NFL is that they can’t go to a multiple game playoff system. The season would stretch too long, the players would revolt against having to play more games since injuries would skyrocket and the league would suffer. Plus, the average fan seems to enjoy the current system. I’m just registering my complaint: I don’t.
Of course, it could be worse. It could be the BCS.