A Preview of Super Bowl 46 with a Look Back at Super Bowl 42

Super Bowl 46 is set. The New York Giants will take on the New England Patriots for the second time in four years. One can only hope the re-match is just as good as the first act was.

Four years can be somewhat of an eternity in the NFL. For example, each team has 53 players on their roster and a lot of them come and go each year. With that said, there are a lot of striking similarities for this year’s Super Bowl as there were four years ago heading into Super Bowl 42. Below are five reasons why Super Bowl 46 is like Super Bowl 42 and five reasons why not.

Reasons why:

1. Duh! It’s the Super Bowl. In 2008, many believed the undefeated Patriots were headed there and many counted the Giants out. While the Patriots were not undefeated this year, they were heavy favorites in the AFC. On the other hand, the Giants were 7-7 heading into week 16 and had to win their last two regular season games just to get in.

2. We seem to have been here before: Four years ago, Tom Coughlin was on the hot seat and probably would have been fired had the Giants missed the playoffs. After a 6-2 start this season, the Giants lost four straight and fans were calling for Coughlin to be fired once again. And now here he is going for his second Super Bowl championship to cement a possible Hall of Fame career.

3. The kick is good! Lawrence Tynes has now sent the Giants to the Super Bowl twice with an overtime game winning field goal in the NFC Championship.

4. Like in Super Bowl 42, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are seeking their fourth Super Bowl victory which would tie them with Chuck Noll and Terry Bradshaw for the most all-time by a head coach/quarterback duo.

5. It’s Belichick and Brady versus Coughlin and Manning again. The coach/quarterback tandem is the most important key to success in the NFL and these two are obviously among the best.

Reasons why not:

1. This is a more evenly matched game heading in. In Super Bowl 42, it was David versus Goliath. People remember New England’s record breaking offense but forget how good their defense was back then, too.

2. Unlike four years ago when they featured a future Hall of Fame receiver, the Patriots offense is now led by two tight ends: an elite one and a very good one.

3. Eli Manning is better now than he was four years ago. Back in the day, Giants fans worried if Manning would commit a bad turnover in a big spot. Today, he is arguably the best postseason quarterback in the NFL.

4. The Giants beat the Patriots in the regular season this year. In the final week of the 2007 season, the Patriots beat the Giants in a shootout: 38-35. The Giants did not lose after that. The Patriots have not lost since their loss to the Giants in week 9.

5. The Giants do not have Steve Spagnuolo. Give credit to Perry Fewell. He has his defense playing great and like the Giants of four years ago. With that said, Steve Spagnuolo had one of the best defensive game plans ever in Super Bowl 42. Maybe the Giants can pull a Patriots move (when they brought back Josh McDaniels earlier in the month) and hire Spagnuolo to be a consultant for the game.

One thing is for sure: February 5th cannot come soon enough.

Sources: NFL.com, http://www.pro-football-reference.com/


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